Congressional Medal of Honour - Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders? http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/topics/apam/Clinton-APMOH.htm http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45192 (Note: that award pending for Technician Fifth Grade James K. Okubo (mentioned in the press release and news stories above) was also approved - 22 citations are included in this section) In 1996 Congress directed the Secretary of the Army to conduct a review of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in World War II “to determine whether any such award should be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.” The task of identifying soldiers who qualified for the review and locating the required official documentation was given to the Command History Office at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, California. The team completed their research in September 1998 and turned their findings over to the US Army’s Military Awards Branch. On 21 June 2000 President William Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to 22 Asian-Pacific Americans. [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+2] [SIZE=+1]Asian-Pacific American Medal of Honor Recipients[/SIZE] [/SIZE][/FONT]—awarded 21 June 2000— SSgt Rudolph B. Davila (later 2nd Lt.), 7th Infantry, for actions on May 28, 1944, at Artena, Italy. Pvt Barney F. Hajiro, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions in October 1944 for actions at Bruyeres and Biffontaine, France. Pvt Mikio Hasemoto, 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep), for actions on November 29, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy (Posthumous) Pvt Joe Hayashi, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions in April 1945 at Tendola, Italy. Pvt Shizuya Hayashi, 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep), for actions on November 29, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy. 2d Lt. Daniel K. Inouye, (later 1st Lt.), 442d Infantry, for actions on April 21, 1945, at San Terenzo, Italy. Tech Sgt Yeiki Kobashigawa, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on June 2, 1944, at Lanuvio, Italy. SSgt Robert T. Kuroda, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on October 20, 1944, at Bruyeres, France (Posthumous). Pfc Kaoru Moto, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on July 7, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (Posthumous). Pfc Kiyoshi K. Muranaga, 442d Infantry, for actions on June 26, 1944, at Suvereto, Italy (Posthumous). Pvt Masato Nakae, 100th/442d Infantry, for actions on August 19, 1944, at Pisa, Italy (Posthumous). Pvt Shinyei Nakamine, 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep), for actions on June 2, 1944, at La Torreto, Italy (Posthumous). Pfc William K. Nakamura, 442d Infantry, for actions on July 4, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (Posthumous) PFC Joe M. Nishimoto, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on November 7, 1944, at La Houssiere, France (Posthumous). Sgt Allan M. Ohata, (later SSgt.), 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep), for actions in November 1943 at Cerasuolo, Italy. Tech Fifth Grade James K. Okubo, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on 28-29 October and November 4, 1944 near Biffontaine, France. Tech Sgt. Yukio Okutsu, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on April 7, 1945, at Mount Belvedere, Italy. Pfc Frank H. Ono, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on July 4, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (Posthumous). SSgt Kazuo Otani, 442d Infantry, for actions on July 15, 1944, at Pieve di S. Luce, Italy (Posthumous). Pvt George T. Sakato, 442d Regimental Combat Team, for actions on October 29, 1944, in Biffontaine, France. Tech. Sgt. Ted T. Tanouye, 442d Infantry, for actions on July 7, 1944, at Molina A Ventoabbto, Italy (Posthumous). Capt. Francis B. Wai, 34th Infantry, for actions on October 20, 1944, at Leyte, Philippine Islands (Posthumous). The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to STAFF SERGEANT RUDOLPH B. DAVILA UNITED STATES ARMY for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Rudolph B. Davila distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action, on 28 May 1944, near Artena, Italy. During the offensive which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead, Staff Sergeant Davila risked death to provide heavy weapons support for a beleaguered rifle company. Caught on an exposed hillside by heavy, grazing fire from a well-entrenched German force, his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Crawling fifty yards to the nearest machine gun, Staff Sergeant Davila set it up alone and opened fire on the enemy. In order to observe the effect of his fire, Sergeant Davila fired from the kneeling position, ignoring the enemy fire that struck the tripod and passed between his legs. Ordering a gunner to take over, he crawled forward to a vantage point and directed the firefight with hand and arm signals until both hostile machine guns were silenced. Bringing his three remaining machine guns into action, he drove the enemy to a reserve position two hundred yards to the rear. When he received a painful wound in the leg, he dashed to a burned tank and, despite the crash of bullets on the hull, engaged a second enemy force from the tank’s turret. Dismounting, he advanced 130 yards in short rushes, crawled 20 yards and charged into an enemy-held house to eliminate the defending force of five with a hand grenade and rifle fire. Climbing to the attic, he straddled a large shell hole in the wall and opened fire on the enemy. Although the walls of the house were crumbling, he continued to fire until he had destroyed two more machine guns. His intrepid actions brought desperately needed heavy weapons support to a hard-pressed rifle company and silenced four machine gunners, which forced the enemy to abandon their prepared positions. Staff Sergeant Davila's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army. Click the above names for each of the citations.
We did something similar, when the George Cross was created, those people who had the earlier Albert medal, were automatically upgraded to the George medal.
Please note that all but one of these soldiers were from the 100th Bn or 442nd RCT. These are the famed units of Japanese-American soldiers which served in Italy. Soldirs of a disbanded Hawaii National Guard unit were later permitted into the US Regular Army, then later reconstituted as the 442 Regimental Combat Team. They were not permitted to serve in the PTO for fear they would be mistaken as Japanese. The 442nd is recognized as the most decorated unit in the WWII era. Please not how many of these awards were postumous. There is a good book on the subject: Neisei by Col. Bud Nakasoni
Actually roughly 5000 MIS (Military Intelligence Service) troops served in the Pacific Theater and in the rebuilding of Japan. Most the MIS were of Japanese American ancestry and also served with Merrill's Marauders that fought in Burma. MIS served as code breakers, translators, prisoner interrogation, ect. Their efforts may have shortened the Pacific War by at least a year. The units history was declassified in 1995.
