Hawaii Medal of Honor recipient shares his story

Dennis M. Fujii, who on Tuesday will receive the Medal of Honor, said he was surprised by such high recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty during his service in the Vietnam War.

“I never expected anything like this,” Fujii said. “And now here, 53 years later, I get this great honor. It’s still hard for me to believe that it’s happening.”

Fujii, who attended Waimea High School on Kauai and now lives in Hono­lulu, will be accompanied by his brother, Edwin, to the White House to received the award from President Joe Biden.

In 1971, Fujii was crew chief of a medical evacuation helicopter with the 237th Medical Detachment, 61st Medical Battalion, 67th Medical Group, which was on a mission to rescue allied South Vietnamese troops. The chopper took on enemy fire and crash-landed, injuring Fujii and other crew members. While a second rescue helicopter was able to evacuate his crew members, Fujii waved off rescue for himself under heavy fire to ensure the safety of the rest of the soldiers.

Left behind, he tended to wounded Vietnamese troops and helped defend the camp from continuing enemy fire. He also managed to find a radio to call in U.S. gunships, spotting enemy positions and calling in strikes — all while using his rifle to return enemy fire.

Days later another evacuation chopper with Fujii aboard also began taking heavy fire and was forced to crash-land a short distance away at a second South Vietnamese camp. Four days into his ordeal, Fujii was finally evacuated from the battlefields for medical assistance.

“For me it was a new experience to be fighting alongside (the Vietnamese troops) after hearing negative things about them,” Fujii said. “But, you know, you see things as they really are … and it was no problem fighting alongside them. After all, they’re allies, and you do the best that you can.”

Most of the allied troops he met at the camp that first night spoke English, and together they quickly adapted to their surroundings in an effort to survive, according to Fujii. The night was filled with stress and fear, he recalled, but the group still found a way to laugh.

“What really surprised them was when they saw me use chopsticks,” Fujii said. “It really tickled the hell out of them.”

Fujii was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1971, the nation’s second- highest medal for valor. But when someone from his “sister” unit told Fujii she had heard the award might be upgraded, he didn’t believe it.

“I was happy the way things were. I came back home alive and in one piece,” Fujii said. “I didn’t think about the upgrade anymore.”

A week before the first night with the Vietnamese allies, Fujii helped rescue another Hawaii resident, Mel Probre, who would become a lifelong friend.

Probre was co-pilot of a helicopter that was shot down and in a particularly bad crash, Fujii said. In order to save him, Fujii’s helicopter had to hover above a clearing that was too small for a landing and perform a “hoist mission.”

“When they got him off the hoist and they laid him down, I looked at him,” Fujii said. “I said, ‘Hey, this guy might be from Hawaii.’”

The two didn’t cross paths again until about 10 years ago, when Probre, who lives on Hawaii island, visited Honolulu and recognized Fujii’s name among many others on a flag at the Honolulu Vet Center on Kapiolani Boulevard.

“One thing led to another,” Fujii said, and the two eventually found a way to connect.

“He flies to Honolulu every so often, and we get together,” Fujii said. “We go to lunch at Zippy’s at Kahala.”

Probre’s crash was bad enough that it led him to file paperwork to opt out of the military, Fujii said. Fujii’s experiences with the South Vietnamese troops had lasting effects on him as well.

“I came so close to dying there or getting captured,” he said. “It really impacted my way of thinking.”

Fujii moved to Honolulu when work no longer required him to live overseas. He now lives near Hawaii Kai, and he and his wife have a daughter and a 9-month-old grandson.

Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.