Episode 137: Sons of Hawaii, Part III

 

Senator Daniel K. Inouye served through the administrations of ten US presidents, including Ghost of Arlington, John F. Kennedy (above) and JFK's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson (below).

President Bill Clinton presented Inouye with the Medal of Honor when his Distinguished Service Cross, earned in World War II, was upgraded in 2000 (below).

Senator Inouye is one of only 38 people to lay in state in the US Capitol Building. Hundreds of people paid their respects, including life-long friend, fellow-wounded veteran, and senator Bob Dole (below).

After lying in state in Washington DC, he laid in state at the Hawaii Statehouse before being interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section D, Grave 391-A.

Episode 136: Sons of Hawaii, Part II

Danny Inouye wanted to be a doctor when he grew up - specifically, he wanted to be a surgeon. When he was a senior in high school he was a Red Cross volunteer. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he saw the planes flying over Honolulu and rushed to an aid station where he treated civilians injured by falling anti-aircraft shells.

As soon as he could, Danny enlisted in the army and was sent to Italy with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The war shattered his dream of becoming a doctor but a fellow wounded veteran, Bob Dole (yes, that Bob Dole) told him of his plan to become a lawyer and a politician in Kansas. Danny liked the sound of that, returned to Hawaii and entered politics as well. Little did he know he would become arguably the most influential politician in the history of Hawaii, whether the Kingdom, the Republic, or the State.

Captain Inouye (front, far left) next to Captain Bob Dole (left, profile, card in left hand) and other wounded veterans in a rehabilitation hospital that would one day bear both Inouye and Dole's names.

Episode 135: Sons of Hawaii, Part I

 

Already an Army officer before Pearl Harbor, Spark Matsunaga was one of the 100th Infantry Battalion's junior officers when that unit was stood up. He had hoped that by volunteering for active duty in the pre-war military would prove his loyalty but he was treated with the same suspicion as all Nisei US citizens.

After the war, Matsunaga used his GI Bill to attend Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, he returned to Hawaii and in 1959 was elected to that state's first state legislature. In time, the electorate of Hawaii would send Matsunaga to Washington, DC. First as a member of the US House of Representatives and then as a US Senator.

Matsunaga was well respected by members of both his own Democrat party as well as the opposition Republicans, including President Ronald Reagan (left).

US Senator and Army Lieutenant Colonel Spark Masayuki Matsunaga died on April 15, 1990, at age 73. He was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section V, Grave 334-B under the epitaph "Beloved Son of Hawaii."

Episode 134: Tales from Punchbowl, Part VII

 

Army Brigadier General Francis Shigeo Takemoto was the first Japanese American general officer in the US military. He was promoted to brigadier general in the Hawaii National Guard by Hawaii Governor in January 1964. In February 1964 he was nominated by President Lyndon Johnson to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army Reserves. That nomination was confirmed by the full US Senate two weeks later.

Brigadier General Takemoto passed away on May 26, 2002; he was 89 years old. His ashes were installed at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Columbarium Court 3, Row 300, niche 304.

Army Captain Allan Masaharu Ohata was a quiet achieve who went above and beyond the call of duty but did not like to ask others for help and almost never spoke of the war once he returned from Europe. Many of his closest friends who met him after the war had no idea he was a veteran until he passed away.

Captain Ohata passed away on October 17, 1977 after a battle with cancer; he was 59 years old. He was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section III, Grave 474.

Episode 133: Tales from Punchbowl, Part VII

After a LONG break with no new episodes due to work, I am finally back... with one new episode before I leave for another extended work trip. Regardless, I wanted to get one new story in before I had to leave again. This week is all about eight guys named Nakada - seven of whom are brothers and the last of whom gets a separate story because he is neither related to, nor connected to any of the others.

Captain Pershing Nakada (pictured center above) was the highest ranking Nisei officer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He commanded the 323nd Combat Engineer Company. All of his lieutenants were also Nisei making it the only all-Nisei outfit in the 442nd.

Naked after General John J. Pershing with whom his father served in World War I, Nakada survived the war though not much is know about his post-war career. He did retire as a lieutenant colonel and when he died in 1993 at the age of 75, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 68, Grave 4146.

You may be familiar with the Sullivan Brothers from Waterloo, Iowa - all five served on the light cruiser USS Juneau and all were killed when that ship was sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign in 1943. The Sullivan family had the unenvious distinction of being the family with the most sons killed during the war, but there was a family who sent more sons off to war. The Nakada family from Southern California sent seven brothers off to war while the rest of the family was interned in a concentration camp. There are a few sources that say all nine Nakada boys went off to war but looking at birthdates - by my math the youngest two would have been much too young to serve. Five served in the Military Intelligence Service and two in the 442nd.

Unlike with the Sullivans, all seven Nakadas survived the war and like Captain Pershing Nakada, not much is know about them. I wasn't even able to find photos and the ranks of most of them, but I did learn that when one of the brothers, Technician Fifth Grade Minoru Paul Nakada died in 2001 at the age of 80, he was cremated and his remains were installed at Arlington National Cemetery in Columbarium 5, Section N2, Row13, Niche 5.

Episode 132: Tales from Punchbowl, Part VI

 

After losing a leg, two fingers, and the site in one eye, Ken Otagaki tries to return to his life before the war. Though he absolves his girlfriend of any need to stay with him, Janet knows he is not the type to sit around and feel sorry for himself and she tells him that she is not going anywhere.

Together, they move to the Midwest so Otagaki can get a Master's Degree. Eventually, they go to California for a PhD, have five children, and return to Hawaii where Otagaki teaches at the University of Hawaii and is ultimately appointed to high public office by the governor of Hawaii. Not bad for - in his own words - a country bumpkin from the Big Island.

Army Corporal Dr. Kenneth Kengo Otagaki's ashed were installed at the National Memorial Cemetery of Pacific's columbarium Court 7, Row C, Niche 512.

Episode 131: Tales from Punchbowl, Part V

Ken Otagaki had no plans whatsoever to join the military. Leaving his family on a sugar cane plantation on Hawaii's Big Island and becoming what we would call an emancipated minor today, he worked his way though high school and the University of Hawaii and created a life he had always dreamed of. His draft notice and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor put those plans on hold. Without warning, this Nisei found himself persona non grata in his own country and an infantry private in the 100th Infantry Battalion. His life changed again one cold night on a mountain top in Italy while he served as a stretcher bearer, but you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out exactly how.

 

Episode 130: Tales from Punchbowl, Part IV

 

We recently lost another pioneer of the Space Race, US Ambassador and Air Force Major General William Anders, who died on June 7, 2024 at age 90 when the small airplane we was piloting crashed into Puget Sound in Washington State. He was the only one on board. Funeral Arrangements are still being made.

As a crewmember of the Apollo 8 mission, Anders was one of the first three humans to orbit - and as such - see the far side of the moon. Right after the crew's 3rd of 10 orbits, he asked for a roll of color film and the above photo - eventually titled Earthrise - the first color photograph of Earth taken from space and one of the most iconic photos of all time. 

Technician Fourth Grade Isaac Akinaka was arguably the most respected medic in the 100th Infantry Battalion. Based on stories, if you were injured, you wanted Akinaka to be the one near by to help you. While other medics admitted when they were called pause for a brief moment to take a deep breath or close their eyes or do something else to mentally prepare to run headlong into a firefight, Akinaka seemed to always be prepared and never hesitated. Many thought it had to do with his devout faith as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Isaac Fukuo Akinaka died unexpectedly after complications from a surgery when he was 73 years old. He was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section 3, Grave 133-A. His wife Gwen was laid to rest by his side when she passed away in 2001 at age 83.

Episode 129: Tales from Punchbowl, Part III

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.

Episode 128: Nisei Linguist, Part II

 

Much of what Nisei linguists did during World War II remained classified for decades after the war. Eventually their stories came out and as more people learned of their many efforts to defeat the Axis powers, monuments, memorials, and a Congressional Gold Medal (front pictured above, reverse pictured below) sprang up honoring their service.

Episode 127: Nisei Linguists, Part I

Recognizing the importance of trained and competent linguists, during World War II, the US Army's Military Intelligence Service trained foreign language speakers to help with the war effort. Many were Japanese speakers and most of those were Nisei. These Nisei were the only Japanese Americans to fight in the Pacific, and according to Douglas MacArthur's chief intelligence officer, their service was so valuable that it shortened the war by at least two years.

Episode 126: Go For Broke, Part IV

 

After their success in Italy, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was requested by the 7th Army to go to France where they encountered wet, cold, rugged terrain that was more extreme than they had fought through in the Italian Campaign.

Their bloodiest battle was when they fought through strong German defenses to rescue the so-called Alamo Battalion. Major General Dahlquist was accused of treating the Nisei as cannon fodder to reach those cut off troops, and despite the HEAVY casualties, they rescued their fellow Americans. Today, this painting commemorating the event hangs in the Pentagon.

After their victories in France and receiving replacements for their casualties, the 442nd was called back to Italy to spearhead the final push against the Axis's Gothic Line. They off as the diversionary effort, but when they still managed to defeat a much larger German force, the diversion quicky turned into a attack. Soon, Germans were surrendering in the hundreds and thousands. World War II ended in Italy on May 2, 1945; it ended in Europe six days later.

When the 442nd returned to Italy, its 522nd Field Artillery Battalion was detached and became a roving unit than went on to successfully accomplish 52 separate missions as the Allies moved from France into Germany. They went on to be the only Nisei unit to fight in Germany and liberated one of the Dachau death camp's satellite locations in Bavaria.

On July 15, 1946, at a ceremony in Washington, DC, President Truman personally presented the 442nd with its eighth Presidential Unit Citation. 

Episode 125: Go For Boke, Part II

Thanks in part to the 100th Infantry Battalion blowing all their doubters's expectations out of the water during their training, FDR and the War Department decided to stand up anther segregated Nisei unit - the 442nd Regimental Combat Team - mad made up of volunteers from Hawaii and the mainland (most of the of 1200 volunteers from the mainland were interned at the time) and like the 100th before them, they did everything the Army asked of them and more while fighting in Italy against the German and Italian militaries.

Go for Broke is a Hawaiian pidgin term for when a dice player puts all his money on a single throw. It was the motto the 442nd Regimental Combat Team picked for itself and it prepared to Go for Broke combating racism, stereotypes, and the Axis.

Episode 124: Go For Broke, Part II

In 1943, the US Army Finally decided what to do with the few hundred Nisei soldiers who had yet to be discharged as enemy aliens. They were formed into the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) and sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Despite what the rest of the army assumed would happen, the men of the 100th excelled at training and proved all of their naysayers wrong. 

At the end of their training, the 100th received the motto it requested, Remember Pearl Harbor, and was sent overseas. After a few detours, they ended up in Italy where they fought in several key battles, including Monte Cassino.

the 100th biggest supporter, and their first commander, was Lieutenant Colonel Farrant Lewis Turner. When the battalion entered combat, he was 48 years old. After a month in Italy, he had to be evacuated due to health. A short time later, he was mustered out of the military. Afterwards, he returned to Hawaii and continued to help 100th veterans for the rest of his life.

LTC Turner died in 1959 at age 63 - the same year Hawaii became a state. He was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section U, Grave 1174. His wife Helen Van Inwegen joined him in 1988. She was 91.

Their son Bert followed his father's footsteps, graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1949 and served in the Army for 22 years. By the time he retired, he was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 

Colonel Albert Farrant Turner was interred at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Section 121-B, Site 10. He was 91 years old.

Episode 123: Go For Broke, Part I

 

While Mr. Miyagi is a fictional character, the distinguished unit he was written to have served with in World War II was not. After the US government interned Japanese residents and their American citizen children in concentration camps after Pearl Harbor, many of those Americans unconstitutionally detained by their own government looked for a chance to prove their loyalty by volunteering to serve in the Army. The two most famous of these (nearly) all-Japanese American units are the 100th Infantry Regiment (Remember Pearl Harbor) and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (Go for Broke!). Not only did the men in those units serve with distinction, they became the highest decorated units of their size in US Army history. This podcast marks the beginning of a multi-episode are about Japanese American military service in the Second World War.

Episode 122: Tales from Punchbowl, Part II

 

Donn Beach, the father of tiki culture, founder of the Donn the Beachcomber restaurant chain, and  creator of the mai tai cocktail started out in California but after his service as a lieutenant colonel in WWII, he relocated to Hawaii.

In Hawaii, he established Waikiki's still popular (though very different than when it was founded) International Market Place and was part of a group of entrepreneurs who went out of their way to preserve historic sites across the islands.

Army Air Corps Lieutenant Colonel Donn Beach is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section B, Grave 1-C.

1920's Notre Dame University football legend Jack Chevigny was not only part of the Fighting Irish's surprise upset over powerhouse Army in the now-classic 1928 Gipper Game, he was the one who yelled "That's one for the Gipper" as he crossed the goal line to tie the game up. He went on to coach football at first the NFL and then the collegiate levels after earing his law degree.

Chevigny joined the Marines and after multiple recruiting and physical training assignments, he requested a combat assignment. He ended up with the 27th Marines where he landed on Iwo Jima on D-Day where he was killed.

After initially being interred on Iwo Jima, Marine Corps First Lieutenant John "Jack" Chevigny's remains were moved to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific where he was buried in Section C, Grave 508.

Wah Kau Kong excelled in athletics and chemistry while attending the University of Hawaii. He was in the middle of a Master's Degree in chemistry when he decided to volunteer for the Army Air Corps in 1942.

He achieved the highest score on the air cadet entrance exam that had ever been seen at the time (he was already a licensed pilot) and when he graduated from Army flight school he was the first Chinese-American to become a fighter pilot. He was shot down over Germany protecting a crippled B-17.

Army Air Corps Second Lieutenant Wah Kau Kong was buried in Germany by the Germans who recovered his remains before being moved after the war to the American Cemetery in the Netherlands. He was eventually moved to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific where he rests in Section D Grave 453.

Family man Stanley Dunham served as an ordinance sergeant in World War II. After his daughter Ann graduated from high school in 1960, the family moved to Hawaii where he worked in the furniture industry, his wife Madelyn became the first senior executive at the Bank of Hawaii, and their daughter Ann studied Anthropology at the University of Hawaii. Ann married a fellow student from Kenya and together they had a son, future US president Barak Obama.

Ann divorced her first husband - it turns out that he forgot to mention that he was already married to a woman back in Kenya who he had two children with - and then married a surveyor from Indonesia. She and her son moved to Jakarta after Ann graduated but when Obama turned 10, he moved back to Hawaii to live with Dunham and Madelyn so he could attend school in the United States.

Army Sergeant Stanley Dunham was cremated and his ashes placed at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in columbarium CT1-B, row 400, niche 440.