Isle soldier began 27th Infantry's relationship with orphanage
Hugh O'Reilly / Army Master Sergeant
In post-World War II Japan, children without parents wandered the streets. The 27th Infantry Regiment from Schofield Barracks took some under their wing and never forgot them.
Master Sgt. Hugh F. O'Reilly was the father of the Wolfhounds' nearly 60-year selfless service to the orphans.
O'Reilly, 91, the honorary sergeant major of the 27th Regiment Wolfhounds, died Friday at his Ewa Beach home.
He served as a soldier and a Marine in three separate enlistments. O'Reilly was a veteran of World War II, including Guadalcanal, and the Korean War.
It was in 1949 that O'Reilly established the special relationship with the Holy Family Home orphanage in Osaka.
The Wolfhounds saw how dilapidated the orphanage buildings were. They donated $143 and then spent six months repairing the buildings, and the children's clothes were fashioned from jackets and blankets.
He used to point out that a lieutenant and two noncommissioned officers would crawl from foxhole to foxhole under fire during the Korean War to collect donations for the orphanage.
"I don't think you can emphasize enough about the greatness in these men," O'Reilly said in an article in 2003.
Military officials said the relationship of O'Reilly and his wife Yuko with the orphans was portrayed in the movie "Three Stripes in the Sun."
That relationship continues with the unit bringing over orphans from Holy Family or soldiers visiting the orphanage in Japan.
Because of his service and achievements, O'Reilly was named honorary sergeant major of the 27th Infantry Regiment.
He also served as the first non-Japanese president of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce.
A private memorial service for O'Reilly will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday* in Sergeant Smith Theater on Schofield Barracks.
A public memorial service will be held at Schofield Barracks at 9 a.m. on July 11.*
