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Go for Broke Day falls on Monday, April 5, 2027. That is 160 days away.

Go for broke is an old piece of Hawaiian pidgin slang. It means to risk everything on one throw. In World War II it became the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up mostly of Japanese American soldiers, and the day carries that phrase forward as a way of remembering them.

Many of the men who served were Nisei, the American-born children of Japanese immigrants. Some volunteered from Hawaii. Others enlisted from the mainland while their own families were held in government incarceration camps. The 442nd fought in Italy and France alongside the 100th Infantry Battalion, which later became part of the regiment. The unit is remembered as one of the most highly decorated of its size in American military history.

The day tends to be marked quietly. Families share photographs and service records. Museums and community groups in places with large Japanese American communities, such as Hawaii and California, hold talks and display artifacts. Some people read oral histories recorded by veterans, which give the story in the soldiers' own plain words.

The motto itself is easy to overlook because it sounds so casual. It came from dice games, where going for broke meant putting the whole stake on the line. The soldiers who chose it were describing exactly what they were about to do.

Ways to celebrate

• Read or listen to an oral history from a Nisei veteran.
• Visit a museum or library exhibit on Japanese American history.
• Look up whether anyone from your town served in the 442nd.
• Share a family photograph or story with relatives.
• Write a note of thanks to a local veterans group.

Dates

All national days on April 5

Also on April 5

• National Deep Dish Pizza Day
• National Caramel Day
• First Contact Day
• National Raisin and Spice Bar Day
• National Dandelion Day
• Gold Star Spouses Day
• Read a Road Map Day

Categories: History daysCommemorative days