Gender

Male

Birth date

1923-1-1

Place of birth

Lawai, Kauai HI, U.S.A.

Inducted

, Schofield Barracks HI

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

I Co. 442nd Infantry

Military specialty

Mortar

Stationed

U.S.A., Italy, Germany

Separated

Ft. Sherman IL

Unit responsibility

To defend our country against the Axis powers.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Italy - Appenines - Rome, Massa Mtn., Carrara, Genoa and La Speua; France - Vosges, Bruyeres, Biffontaine, Belmont and rescue of lost battalion.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Combat Infantry Citation w/ 3 clusters - for combat duty in Italy & France; Purple Heart Medal w/one Oak Leaf Cluster for wound received, rescuing lost battalion and for wound received in final Italy push; Bronze Star for battle in France & Italy

Living conditions

While in training - slept in barracks and in the fields. Ate mostly K rations in combat and slept in fox holes. No bath or hot meals until I returned to rest area.

Most vivid memory of military experience

First day of action in Suverto, Italy, saw many dead Germans and battered equipment. Thought it was going to be everyday - scared the hell out of me.

Missed most whilst in the military

My parents and a girl friend which I didn't have.

Most important thing, personally, to come from military experience?

Once in early April, 1945, six of us were having our K-ration lunch - inside of a shallow dugout which was about 15 ft wide. We heard a whistling sound which turned out to be a mortar shell which landed in the center without exploding. Everyone look at each other and just took off the only person I could remember was my close friend, Smitty Koga.

Additional information

I was very fortunate to have visited places like New Orleans, Washington, D.C., NYC, Chicago, London, Paris, Rome and many places which I wouldn't have gone to if I didn't volunteer for the 442nd Inf. regiment.