Though he was a Korean American, the US Army didn't quite know what to do with Young Oak Kim after he became a second lieutenant so it put him in the 100th Infantry Battalion as a platoon leader of Nisei troops. While in Italy, Kim became an ardent advocate for his soldiers and vocally opposed actions that would put them at risk needlessly - but he had no problem volunteering to sneak behind enemy lines to capture a few prisoners for intelligence reasons. 5th Army commander General Mark Clark personally awarded him the distinguished service cross for that mission.
He stayed in the Army for 30 years, and during the Korean war, became the first minority officer to lead a battalion in combat.
Colonel Young Oak Kim died in 2005 at the age of 86. His ashes are at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Columbarium Section CT9, Wall G, Site 458.
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