German
German Postage Stamps
Donated by Bob Izumy 506th PIR. Born in California, one of his high school classmates was Norma Jean Baker (a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe). He was among the 120,000 ethnic Japanese and their families placed in internment camps after Pearl Harbor, but he left the camp to complete his education in Iowa. After graduating, he volunteered to join the Army in June 1944, and his extraordinary career began. Izumi signed on with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese-American unit, and then moved on to the 101st Airborne Division as a paratrooper. The 101st was deeply involved in fighting the Germans in Belgium and Luxembourg during the bitter winter of the Battle of the Bulge. Izumi helped liberate many people from concentration camps and, in May 1945, moved on to Berchtesgaden, Hitler's hideout in the Bavarian Alps. While there, he says, "I was shocked to see this little girl in an abandoned house. She was holding a sheet of stamps with Hitler's head printed on them."
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