By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Takeichi Miyashiro, left, and Shizuya Hayashi, recipients
of the Distinguished Service Cross from WWII, will be inducted
into the U.S. Army Museum Gallery of Heroes at Fort DeRussy.

Japanese-American
soldiers inducted into
Gallery of Heroes

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Five Japanese-American World War II Distinguished Service Cross winners will be inducted into the U.S. Army Museum Gallery of Heroes in a special ceremony on Dec. 10.

Three of the five nisei soldiers are from the 100th Battalion, and two are from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The gallery currently honors 42 veterans from Hawaii, six of them Medal of Honor recipients.

The Army's Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross are the nation's second-highest medals for heroism, ranking just below the Medal of Honor.

The latest inductees include:

Shizuya Hayashi, 71, A Company 100th Battalion. On Nov. 29, 1943, near Cerasuolo in Italy, Hayashi charged a machine gun position, killing nine Germans. Moving forward under German gunfire, Hayashi killed nine more and took another four Germans prisoner, forcing the others to retreat.

Takeichi "Chicken" Miyashiro, 84, C Company 100th Battalion. He was cited for helping to eliminate a German machine gun nest near Castellina, Italy, on July 8, 1944. After establishing an observation post in the house, Miyashiro and his squad held the position through three counteroffensives. When the Germans began shelling the house, Miyashiro ordered his men to withdraw while he remained behind and repelled another attack.

Masato "Curly" Nakae, A Company 100th Battalion. On Aug. 19, 1944, near Pisa, Italy, Nakae was seriously wounded by a mortar barrage during an enemy attack. Nakae refused to surrender his position and broke the attack, forcing the enemy to withdraw.

Fujio Miyamoto, K Company 442nd RCT. Near Biffontaine in France on Oct. 29, 1944, Miyamoto's company was pinned down by a German machine gun. Miyamoto worked his way to the emplacement, killed two gunners and held the objective during the ensuing two-hour firefight, killing five more Germans.

Robert T. Kuroda, H Company 442nd RCT, who was killed by a German sniper near Bruyeres on Oct. 20, 1944. Before being cut down, Kuroda suppressed one machine gun nest and then neutralized a second machine gun emplacement.

Kuroda and Nakae will be represented by relatives at the ceremony, which will begin at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Army Museum at Fort DeRussy.

Hayashi, who was drafted in March 1940, said he was surprised when he was summoned to Army headquarters 55 years ago to receive his award.

"In Europe you never thought of any of those things," Hayashi said. "I was surprised. I didn't expect it. In those days I didn't care about stuff like that."

Hayashi was featured on ABC's "Good Morning America" Nov. 11 Veteran's Day show, which called attention to the Army's Medal of Honor review.

Miyashiro, who was wounded three times during the European campaign, was captured by the Germans near Biffontaine and spent three months as a prisoner of war before he was liberated by the Russians in January 1945.

Miyashiro, who also was drafted by the Army in December 1940, was wounded when his ammunition pouch exploded, injuring his hip.

"I still have fragments of the bullet that caused the explosion," said Miyashiro. "The doctors in a German evacuation hospital gave it to me as a souvenir. I keep it in a German matchbox."

For Miyashiro, the Dec. 10 ceremony is one that is especially rewarding.

"I think it's good for the families," said Miyashiro, who has three daughters and five grandchildren.

The Gallery of Heroes was conceived in 1980 to honor Hawaii's heroes and dedicated on Memorial Day eight years later.

The portraits of 23 World War II, 15 Korean War and three Vietnam War Navy Cross and Distinguished Cross recipients are now displayed in the gallery. Six Medal of Honor winners -- one from World War II, two from the Korean War and three from Vietnam -- also are displayed in Battery Randolph in the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii.