Sexo

Male

Birth date

1931-6-23

Local de nascimento

Long Beach CA, U.S.A.

Inducted

1952-2-15, Cleveland OH

Tipo de alistamento

Draftee

Ramo das Forças Armadas

Army

Tipo de serviço

War

Tipo de Unidade

Combat

Unidades onde serviu

'G' Company, 19th Regiment, 24th Division, 3rd Platoon
'C' Company, 9th Regiment, 2nd Division

Military specialty

Light Infantry - Rifleman (MOS 1745)

Stationed

USA: Schofield Barracks, HI(basic training); Camp Atterbury, IN (honorable discharge).
Other Countries: Japan, Korea

Separated

Camp Atterbury IN

Unit responsibility

Provide light infantry combat support during the Korean conflict to the multi-national UN Force.

Personal responsibility

Initially as a rifleman in a rifle squad; then squad leader; and finally as platoon sergeant of a rifle platoon.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Heartbreak sector.
T-bone/Pork chop sector.
Nori/M-1 Hill sector.
Gibraltar/ 4 Apostles sector.
1062 Papa-san/Iron triangle sector;
Boomerang sector.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Combat Infantryman badge
UN Service medal
Korean Service medal with 2 Bronze Stars
National Defense Service medal
Wharang medal (from Korean government)
U.S. Presidential Unit Citation
Korean Presidential Unit Citation

Living conditions

'On-line':
Slept in man-made sand-bag bunkers or in 'open' fighting positions.
Bathed very little except for 'wipe-downs' with damp cloth. Water was always a critical commodity.
Meals were basically C-rations. Hot meals very periodic and seldom.
Entertainment was sitting around and talking with your fellow squad members.
Slept whenever possible.

Most vivid memory of military experience

First combat engagement.
Bidding farewell to fallen comrades.
Saying goodbye to the guys when my rotation time came to go home (it was like leaving your family).

Missed most whilst in the military

Family especially - but also unregimented personal free time - which very seldom occurs in military life.

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

Becoming more self-reliant and able to take care of one's self.
Having faced adversity and having prevailed through it all.
Also the opportunity to go to college on the Korean Vereran's Educational Bill.

Additional information

I feel that the Japanese Americans who fought in the Korean conflict, upheld to the utmost, those fighting traditions established by our brothers, uncles and cousins who fought in WW II.

George Tabata passed away on April 9, 2000 in Gardena, CA.