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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Larry Thornton stands beside one of the seven new
gravestones to be installed at Punchbowl after this
weekend's events.

Weekend events
to honor heroic
WWII nisei

Hawaii residents will
pay tribute to Medal
of Honor recipients

Seven survivors join
Acts of heroism

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii will get the chance this weekend to pay its tribute to its aging nisei World War II warriors, now recipients of the nation's highest tribute to valor -- the Medal of Honor.

Events include a sunset service Friday at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, a parade Saturday and a luncheon Sunday.

Twenty-two Asian Americans -- 20 of them members of the famed 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team -- were recognized for their deeds in fighting racism and fascism during World War II at special White House and Pentagon ceremonies in June. The 100th/442nd -- composed mainly of second-generation Japanese Americans -- is one of the Army's most decorated units.

As Don Matsuda, Club 100 president, recently noted in urging veterans of the "One Puka Puka" battalion to participate in Hawaii's festivities for the men: "It's our last hurrah."

Only seven of the 22 recipients survived World War II or lived long enough to receive the award themselves, since it came more than half a century after the fighting ceased.

Jill Yamashiro, daughter of 83-year-old Waianae resident Yeiki Kobashigawa, said her father originally was against traveling to Washington, D.C., for the June awards ceremony because it seemed so far for him.

He changed his mind and, along with the other six living recipients and surviving family members, got to meet briefly with President Clinton after the White House ceremony.

Besides Kobashigawa, the other six surviving Medal of Honor recipients who will attend this weekend's activities are: Rudolph Davila, of Vista, Calif.; George Sakato, of Denver; Barney Hajiro; U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye; Yukio Okutsu, of Hilo; and Shizuya Hayashi.

Families of all but one of the 15 deceased recipients planned to send a representative.

Seven of Hawaii's newest Medal of Honor recipients already are buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific. A two-hour ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. Friday will pay tribute to them with the unveiling of new granite headstones redone in gold letters with the notation "Medal of Honor."

Adm. Dennis Blair, Pacific Forces commander, will be the keynote speaker. Retired U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong and Army veterans will read the citations honoring the seven.

Special 5- by 9-foot Medal of Honor flags will be flown during the ceremony over the gravesites of the seven honorees buried in the crater.

Friday's ceremony will honor soldiers, said Gene Castagnetti, cemetery director, "whose deeds transcend any other achievements a person can obtain in a lifetime ... these men risked their own lives by taking the bold action to save the life of a fellow man and the country's freedom."

On Saturday, the tribute will be a two-hour motorcade-parade, which will begin at 9 a.m. in Chinatown and flow through Honolulu's business district and Waikiki before ending at Kapiolani Park.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric "Ric" Shinseki, a Kauai resident, will be the guest speaker at a Hawaii Convention Center luncheon to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday.

The seven newest Medal of Honor recipients will join 22 others who are buried at Punchbowl. Not all of the 22 already buried in Punchbowl crater were born in Hawaii, but they represent all of the nation's major wars. One Medal of Honor veteran won his award in the Spanish American War, 15 are from World War II, and three each from the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Twelve of the 22 newest recipients are from Hawaii. Of the 22, 10 were killed in battle, nine in Europe with the 100th Battalion/ 442nd RCT and one in the Philippines with the 34th Division.

Only the family of Frank Ono, a 442nd RCT member who was killed in 1944, will not make the trip from the mainland for Hawaii's ceremonies.

Yamashiro noted her father, Kobashigawa, a member of Company B of the 100th Battalion, never spoke about the war, and having his Distinguished Service Cross award upgraded to the Medal of Honor has "brought out a lot of happy and sad memories."

During the visit to the nation's Capitol two months ago Kobashigawa "talked about some of the other men who should have received the Medal of Honor for their contributions," Yamashiro said.

"As for our family, words cannot convey how proud we are of our dad and granddad. Most of all, we are so grateful that he is one of the very few who are still with us to actually receive the medal and accolades that come with it."

Events include parade, luncheon Events scheduled in honor of Hawaii's newest Medal of Honor recipients: Friday 5 p.m.: Ceremony, National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl). Saturday 9 a.m.: Motorcade-parade from Chinatown: along Beretania, Maunakea, King, and Punchbowl streets, Ala Moana and Kalakaua Avenue. Reviewing stand at Saratoga and Kalakaua avenues. Sunday 10 a.m.: Luncheon at Hawaii Convention Center, featuring Gen. Eric Shinseki, Army chief of staff. Tickets $35, available from the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Call 545-4329. Parking at convention center, $3.

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Seven survivors
will join motorcade

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

It'll be an all-Army show Saturday honoring 22 Asian Americans who recently received the Medal of Honor for heroic service in the Army during World War II.

More than 30 vehicles -- most of them the Army's all-purpose Humvee -- will carry the seven surviving Medal of Honor recipients, as well as the colors of the units Japanese Americans served in during World War II: the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service and the 1399th Engineers.

In the lead Humvee will be Lt. Col. Jon Lee, currently commander of the Army Reserve unit that maintains the colors of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. A Humvee with an empty turret, like "the riderless horse," will honor the 15 deceased medal recipients.

The procession will begin as a motorcade -- including 11 trucks carrying Japanese and Filipino American World War II veterans -- in Chinatown, then take on more than 600 marching soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division at Fort DeRussy, said city spokesman Gerry Silva. The only marching unit in the motorcade will be the 25th Infantry's band and the Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Band.

Aside from Sen. Daniel Inouye, one of the Medal of Honor recipients, no elected officials or politicians will participate, Silva said.

Before the parade begins, a lion dance will be performed to bless the event and to honor the only Chinese American to receive the Medal of Honor posthumously -- Capt. Francis Wai.

At 9 a.m. the motorcade will leave Sun Yat-Sen pavilion at Beretania and River streets.

It will travel on Beretania, Maunakea, King, and Punchbowl streets and Ala Moana Boulevard until it reaches Kalakaua and Saratoga avenues, where a reviewing stand will be erected for family members of medal recipients, in front of the "Brothers of Valor" memorial, which honors the island's World War II Japanese American soldiers.

The motorcade will be joined by soldiers at Fort DeRussy, then travel through Waikiki, ending at Kapiolani Park.

A Navy band will perform at Tamarind Park downtown and the Royal Hawaiian Band will play in front of Iolani Palace as part of the ceremonies.

A fly-by salute by three Hawaii Army National Guard CH-47 Chinooks is planned along the motorcade-parade route.

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Heated battles spurred
acts of heroism

Here are brief accounts of the heroic actions of seven Hawaii Medal of Honor recipients who are buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific:

Pvt. 1st Class Kaoru Moto, C Company, 100th Battalion. On July 7, 1944, at Castellina, Italy, he attacked a machine gun nest, took a prisoner and then captured a house used as an observation post. Wounded, he continued to defend the position from being retaken by the Germans. He died in 1992.

Pvt. 1st Class Masato "Curly" Nakae, A Company, 100th Battalion. On Aug. 19, 1944, at Pisa, Italy, while defending an outpost position, Nakae held back a German probe. Wounded, he refused to leave and continued to fire, forcing the Germans to withdraw. He died in 1998.

Staff Sgt. Allan Ohata, B Company, 100th Battalion. On Nov. 25, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy, in a fight with German soldiers, Ohata and another soldier killed 27 Germans, wounding one and taking another prisoner. A little later, the enemy attacked again; four soldiers were killed and three were wounded. He died in 1997.

Pvt. Mikio Hasemoto, B Company, 100th Battalion. Fighting with Ohata on Nov. 23, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy, Hasemoto was responsible for killing 27 Germans in one battle and four in another. Killed in 1943.

Staff Sgt. Robert Kuroda, H Company, 442nd RCT. On Oct. 20, 1944, at Bruyeres, France, Kuroda attacked a machine gun nest killing three Germans with a grenade and then killed another three. He was killed by a sniper while trying to take out a machine gun nest.

Pvt. Shinyei Nakamine, B Company, 100th Battalion. On June 2, 1944, at La Torreto, Italy, Shinyei killed three Germans and captured two. In a later attack he took out another machine gun nest, then led another charge against a third enemy position and was killed.

Capt. Francis Wai, 34th Division. On Oct. 20, 1944, at Leyte, Philippines, he was killed while leading an assault on a Japanese pillbox, after rallying a beach assault that was pinned down by enemy fire on a beachhead.

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Gregg K. Kakesako