as the battle of midway was well underway on 4 june 1942, 1,432 nisei of the hawaii national guard had their weapons taken away and boarded the u.s. army transport usat , formerly a matson liner, under the cover of night and shipped to the mainland without saying goodbye to their family or loved ones. under the title "hawaiian provisional infantry battalion" the week-long zigzag journey took them to a port in oakland where they were designated the 100th infantry battalion on 12 june 1942. the unit number was an indication of the army's recently formulated plan for a modern organization for combat arms. under normal prewar army procedures, all infantry battalions were organic to the regiment they were a part of and were known as, for instance, "1st battalion, 5th regiment."