On July 4, 1944, Sgt. Howard Urabe was fighting Nazis in Europe. Hailing from Kapaa, Kauai, he was fighting alongside other young nisei — American-born Japanese — who had volunteered for combat duty.
They had just crossed the Cecina River as they fought their way toward the strategically important Italian port of Livorno. To get there, they would have to clear enemy forces from fortified strongholds in the hills that were firing down on advancing Allied forces. It quickly became clear the real battle to seize Livorno would be fought in these hills rather than the port itself.
Urabe, according to the citation for the Silver Star he received fighting to seize Hill 140, crawled 25 yards through sparse undergrowth to reach a position in front of a German machine gun nest. He timed his movements before suddenly rising to his feet and firing a rifle grenade into it, killing the machine gunner and destroying the gun.
When the two other members of the gun crew started to run, Urabe killed both of them with his M-1 rifle. When another machine gun fired upon him, he let loose another grenade and knocked out the second gun.
But as he was preparing for another assault, Urabe was felled by a German sniper’s bullet.
Now he is one of seven nisei soldiers from Hawaii who have been posthumously promoted to the rank of 2nd lieutenant. The others are Staff Sgt. Grover Nagaji, Sgt. Robert Murata and Sgt. Jenhatsu Chinen, all of Oahu; Sgt. Daniel Betsui of Hanapepe, Kauai; and Pfc. Hiroichi Tomita and Pvt. Akio Nishikawa, both of Maui.
Each had been enrolled in University of Hawaii’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program when Imperial Japanese forces launched their Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and other bases on Oahu. And all seven would go on to die fighting in Europe in 1944.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, ROTC cadets at UH were ordered to report for duty with the Hawaii Territorial Guard to help protect vital installations. Shortly thereafter, officials in Washington became concerned when they learned there were Japanese Americans serving among them.
Within a month, troops of Japanese ancestry were told the federal government now regarded them as “enemy aliens” and dismissed them from duty.
But many insisted on continuing to serve, first as members of Varsity Victory Volunteers — a civilian engineering and labor unit that assisted regular Army troops — and then as enlisted soldiers fighting the Nazis in Europe as members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
“It is only right to honor these seven Americans who, through setback, strife and sacrifice, continued to remain committed to the ideals and principles espoused in the constitution of the United States,” said Lt. Col. Jerrod Melander, an Army engineering officer who recently wrapped up a stint as the head of the UH Army ROTC program.
For years, portraits of each of the seven men hung in the halls of the Army ROTC building where cadets attend military science classes. Even though the nisei soldiers technically had been expelled from the program, their names and faces are counted among the rest of its alumni who would go on to die in service to their country.
“This is a testament to the strength and courage of them, and all nisei, who fought and died for freedom on a global scale while in the midst of tenuous conditions for Americans of Japanese descent in the U.S. at the time,” Melander said.
“The UH Army ROTC Program continues to honor those former cadets, cadre and alumni who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country. This is one way to maintain the connection with our past and keep the legacy alive.”
UH posthumously awarded bachelor’s degrees to all seven in 2012. But the push to give them posthumous military promotions has been part of a long effort by people affiliated with UH Army ROTC, including students, alumni, instructors and staff, who worked with both U.S. Army Pacific and Hawaii’s congressional delegation.
On June 26, 2024, the delegation sent a formal request to then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth to review the military records of the seven cadets and consider their eligibility for posthumous officer commissions. This month, current Army Secretary Dan Driscoll finished the process when he approved the promotions.
“Today, we finally recognize them as the officers they were meant to be,” said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda in a joint news release Thursday from Hawaii’s congressional delegation. “This is about acknowledging the history of our nisei veterans and honoring their sacrifice the way it should have been honored 80 years ago. I’m grateful to the University of Hawai‘i ROTC program, the Army, and the many who supported this long-overdue recognition.”
“Even in the face of the prejudice that followed Executive Order 9066 — which included being expelled from the UH ROTC program — these men volunteered to serve with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. military history,” said U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono in the release. “It has been 80 years since these brave, dedicated servicemembers were killed in action while protecting our country, and I am proud to work on righting this historic injustice and correcting their ranks to honor their sacrifice.”
Soon after the nisei were ordered to leave the Hawaii Territorial Guard and expelled from ROTC, they wrote a petition to Lt. Gen. Delos Emmons, the U.S. Army officer who became the military governor of Hawaii when the U.S. government put the islands under martial law after the Dec. 7 attack.
The petition read in part: “Hawaii is our home; the United States, our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.”
In February 1942 they were authorized to join the Varsity Victory Volunteers. The VVV was assigned to Schofield Barracks and attached to the 34th Combat Engineers Regiment. They built roads and fences, strung barbed wire and worked in the quarry for little to no pay.
Though initially distrusted by some of the active-duty soldiers they worked with, in time the volunteers gained a reputation for hard work and began getting invited to picnics and parties on the base and participated in friendly sports competitions.
In December 1942 — a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor — Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy visited Hawaii. During the trip Hung Wai Ching, a prominent Chinese American businessman who pushed for the creation of the VVV, was among those showing him around. He made a point of making sure McCloy took notice of the volunteers.
A month later the War Department announced it was looking to form a combat regiment of nisei troops and was looking for volunteers from both Hawaii and the mainland. Members of the VVV asked for their unit to be disbanded so they could go fight.
To this day the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is still the most decorated U.S. Army combat unit in history.
“I’m glad to see the Army is doing the right thing,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz in the joint news release. “These servicemembers made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and deserve every honor they’ve rightfully earned.”
“These seven sons of Hawai‘i were just barely out of their teens in our UH ROTC program when their commitment to serve their country loyally as United States Army officers was questioned by that country solely because of their race,” said U.S. Rep. Ed Case in the release.
“Their perseverance in proving that loyalty as volunteer enlisted soldiers led to their ultimate sacrifice far from their home on the battlefields of Italy and France. The awarding of these gold bars three generations later means far more than final and just achievement of the rank of second lieutenant. It stands as still another in a long line of testaments to the commitment of Japanese Americans willing to fight and die to preserve and protect the values of democracy and freedom for a country that had not returned their loyalty.”
Posthumous promotions for 7 Nisei veterans
At the urging of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll recently approved posthumous promotions for seven Hawaii-born nisei soldiers who died fighting in Europe during World War II.
Sgt. Howard Urabe was born in Kapaa, Kauai, and attended the University of Hawaii from the fall of 1940 until Dec. 7, 1941, when he transitioned into the Hawaii Territorial Guard. He became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942 and was inducted into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943. On July 4, 1944, he was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the battle of Port Piombino, Italy, which later came to be known as “Hill 140.” For his bravery, Urabe was posthumously awarded a Silver Star medal.
Staff Sgt. Grover Nagaji was born in Waipahu and attended UH from the fall of 1939 until Dec. 7, 1941. He served with the Hawaii Territorial Guard and later the Varsity Victory Volunteers, where he distinguished himself for his carpentry skills. Nagaji volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943 and was killed in action June 26, 1944, in the battle at Suvereto, Italy, when he was mortally wounded by exploding German tanks his squad was attacking.
Sgt. Robert Murata was born in Honolulu and attended UH from August 1941 until Dec. 7, 1941. He became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942 and was inducted in L Company, 3rd Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943. When the 442nd was called to rescue a battalion of the 36th Texas Regiment that had become surrounded by German units — a battle that became known as “The Rescue of the Lost Battalion” — Murata was critically wounded and died Oct. 29, 1944.
Sgt. Jenhatsu Chinen was born in Wahiawa and attended UH from the fall of 1940 until Dec. 7, 1941, when he transitioned into the Hawaii Territorial Guard. He became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942 and was inducted in E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943. He died July 5, 1944, during the fight for Hill 140. Chinen also was a musician known for playing guitar for comrades between battles
Sgt. Daniel Betsui was born in Hanapepe, Kauai, and attended UH from the fall of 1940 until Dec. 7, 1941. The following day he transitioned into the Hawaii Territorial Guard and became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942. Betsui was inducted in the 232nd Combat Engineer Company of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943. On Aug. 2, 1944, Betsui and 10 others were killed in a fatal explosives accident during training. Before the war he was a theater actor and singer, who composed two songs that became popular among the 442nd: “Dixie Lament” and “Trip on a Liberty Ship.”
Pfc. Hiroichi Tomita was born in Wailuku, Maui, and attended UH from August 1941 until Dec. 7, 1941. He became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942 and was inducted in F Company, 2nd Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1943. He was killed by enemy fire on July 12, 1944, while relaying messages between the front and rear commands during the battle at Hill 140.
Pvt. Akio Nishikawa was born in Paia, Maui, and attended UH from August 1941 until Dec. 7, 1941. He transitioned into the Hawaii Territorial Guard and became a member of the Varsity Victory Volunteers in February 1942. Nishikawa was inducted in the Medical Detachment of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team on March 24, 1943. On July 4, 1944, during the battle for Hill 140, he was cited for heroic achievements in going to the aid of the wounded despite artillery fire and was later awarded a Bronze Star. Nishikawa was killed July 11, 1944, while giving medical aid to a wounded man under fire, for which he received a posthumous Silver Star medal.
Source: The Garden Island
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