Gold medal ceremony to honor Japanese-American veterans

Honokaa resident Mitsuo Ted Hamasu thought he was too short to be drafted in December 1940 when he got his notice to report to the draft board.

Even at 5 feet, Hamasu was accepted into the Army and, after the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, was assigned to the first segregated unit in the Army comprised of Japanese-Americans, the 100th Battalion, or "One Puka Puka."

This afternoon in the U.S. Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, Hamasu will be one of three nisei, or second-generation, Japanese-American soldiers who will represent the more than 33,000 nisei soldiers who served in the Pacific and Europe in World II.

The nisei warriors belonged to three segregated World War II units — the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service — and are being honored today with the Congressional Gold Medal.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient who lost his right arm serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, will accept the medal for his comrades and deliver a message of thanks.

More than 1,250 honorees, including 330 veterans, and their family members are expected to attend today’s ceremony.

The program will begin at 5 a.m. Hawaii time and will be carried by the Pentagon TV channel, which broadcasts worldwide on a regular basis, will be streamed live at www.pentagonchannel.mil. C-SPAN might also carry it.

With the majority of the veterans now in their late 80s and early 90s, only 60 made the long trip from Hawaii: 27 veterans from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 14 from the 100th Battalion and 19 from the Military Intelligence Service.

At today’s Capitol ceremony, each of the 60 veterans from Hawaii will wear a three-strand red, white and blue ribbon lei sewn by Violet Kagawa.

On Tuesday, 45 members of the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the MIS received Bronze Stars for their service on the battlefields of Italy, France and the Pacific.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told the audience Tuesday that there were 33,000 Japanese-Americans who served in World War II, and 13,000 of them were from Hawaii. The 442nd was highly decorated with 19,000 medals, he added.

After the service Nuuanu resident Don Masuda, 90, said, "There were tears in the eyes of many them."

Masuda was part of the Hawaii delegation of nisei veterans who attended the ceremony at the Washington Hilton Hotel and then were bused to see the World War II memorial on the National Mall.

Masuda described the 90-minute program as "very emotional."

Higa received a Bronze Star Tuesday for his combat services in Italy, where he was wounded twice and received two Purple Heart medals.

"I was wounded the second time in the same battle that Dan Inouye got wounded," said Higa, who served as a member of the 442nd’s Company E.

Kenneth Higa, 93, who was drafted into the 100th Battalion in Nov. 14, 1941, while working for Kekaha Sugar Plantation, described Tuesday’s ceremony as "wonderful."

And today’s gold medal ceremony is "really the icing on the cake for the boys," said Higa, a Punchbowl resident who taught at Kapiolani Community College until he retired in 1983. "It is really good to recognize all of them."

A celebratory luncheon will be held Dec. 17 at the Hawai’i Convention Center with at least 3,000 veterans and their guests expected to attend the event, which will start with a parade from Fort DeRussy to the convention center with the veterans riding on trollies.