Gender

Male

Birth date

1917-11-14

Place of birth

Paul ID, U.S.A.

Inducted

1941-01-23, Boise ID

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

250th Coast Artillery, 17th Infantry, 6th Service Command
442nd Regimental Combat Team ,100th Battalion, Company D

Military specialty

Company clerk; Platoon leader in heavy weapons.

Stationed

California, Illinois, Florida, France and Italy

Separated

Ft. Douglas UT

Unit responsibility

Provided machine gun backup for the rifle companies.

Personal responsibility

Squad and then platoon leader in heavy weapons company.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Rescue of the Lost Battalion
N. Apennines Campaign

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Presidential Unit Citation (Bruyeres Campaign)
Combat Infantryman Badge (Bruyeres Campaign)
Bronze Star Medal (N. Apennines Campaign)
Purple Heart--wounded in left thigh during rescue of 'Lost Battalion' (tree burst).

Living conditions

Slept in open fields, fox holes (full of water), and under overhanging rock by hanging pup tents on the side.
Bathed mostly by sponging off with towel.
Meals were mostly OK. Yellow jackets were always coming around during meal time and landing on our mess kits!
For entertainment, mostly bull sessions and playing cards.

Most vivid memory of military experience

While crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Marseilles to Naples, I remember being the only one eating breakfast the first day. It seemed like everyone else was seasick because the sea was really rough. I remember eating lots of pineapple for breakfast that morning.

Missed most whilst in the military

I missed fishing and hunting mostly and after the start of l944, I missed my wife whom I married in February l944.

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

One learns to be neat and orderly, take on responsibility and do things as you are told. In the military, there was no discrimination because of race, creed or color. If you respect others, they in turn, will respect you.

Additional information

I believe I was the first Nisei to volunteer under the S.S. Act in Idaho. Attended the University of Idaho, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Commercial Art in 1940. After the war, he returned to Idaho to farm.Moved to Denver, CO in 1953 to be an owner in a Frontier gas station and garage, operating it for 26.5 years before retiring. Earned the Congressional Medal of Honor in Washington, DC.