April 5 – National Go for Broke Day

nPostednon April 5, 2016

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Inused to associate the phrase “go for broke” with gambling. Afternall, the phrase DOES mean “bet everything” or “wagerneverything.” n

nI’mnnot big on gambling. I don’t have fun playing poker for money with mynfriends, I don’t buy lottery tickets, and I don’t vacation in casinosnin Las Vegas, even though it is quite close to my home in SouthernnCalifornia.

nButntoday I gained a new respect for the phrase “go for broke.”nBecause today I learned two surprising things about it:

n1)n It comes from Hawaiian Pidgin, and

n2)n It is associated with one of the most highly decorated militaryn units in World War II.

So,nyou may ask what Hawaiian Pidgin is…

nAn“pidgin” is a language that is created when two groups of peoplenwho do not share a language must find a way to communicate with onenanother. In the case of Hawaiian Pidgin, a pidgin language wasncreated when Native Hawaiians, foreign immigrants including Japanesenpeople, and English-speaking settlers tried to communicate as theynran and worked on sugarcane plantations. n

nHowever,nHawaiian Pidgin ended up transcending the plantations and even thendefinition of a pidgin. It became a full-fledged language based innpart on English, with different grammatical rules and a bunch ofnwords imported from Hawaiian, Japanese, and Filipino.

nYouncan sometimes hear Hawaiian Pidgin spoken on the TV show HawaiinFive-O. n

nAndnit is this language, which I have heard but which I never realizednwas a different language, that is the origin of the phrase “go fornbroke.”

nWhatndoes “go for broke” have to do with that military unit?

nYounprobably know that the United States didn’t fully enter World War IInuntil the nation came under attack by the Japanese. It was PearlnHarbor in Hawaii that was attacked.

nInam ashamed to remind you that the U.S. government treated manyncitizens with Japanese ancestry terribly. Yet a lot of JapanesenAmericans volunteered to fight in the armed forces (in some cases atnleast partly to prove their loyalty). n

nThen442^ndnRegimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army was made up of mostlynJapanese-American volunteers. These men fought with such valor, theynbecame the most decorated infantry regiment in the entire history ofnthe U.S. Army!

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nAsna whole, the regiment earned:
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8 Presidential Unit Citations fornoutstanding accomplishments in combat,

21 Medals of Honor,

52nDistinguished Service Crosses,

1 Distinguished Service Medal,

560nSilver Stars,

22 Legion of Merit Medals,

15 Soldier’s Medals,

4,000nBronze Stars, and

9,486 Purple Hearts!!!

nOnnthis date in 1945, the first Medal of Honor recipient in the regimentnwas killed in action in Italy. Private First Class Sadao Munemorinsacrificed his life for the men in his unit.

nThenmotto of this amazing regiment was “Go for broke!” There have been movies, songs, and books about the 442^ndnby that name.

nCelebrate!

Considernyour passions, your projects, your goals. Once you know what you wantnto accomplish, give it all you can. Leave nothing on the table –nwhich means don’t hold back out of fear. Risk making mistakes andnlooking foolish. n

n(Again,na reminder: I’m not talking about gambling. It’s very foolish to risknall of your money on a game! I’m talking about risking thenembarrassment of having people say “she’s not good enough” orn“he’s a wanna-be.” If you want to dance or act or sing or playndrums or play baseball, just do it!)

nAlsonon this date: