David Mekaele Akui (January 16, 1920 – September 15, 1987) was an American soldier who became famous for capturing the first Japanese prisoner of war in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the time, Akui was a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in Company G, 298th Infantry Regiment of the Hawaii National Guard.

Biography

:''This section appears to be missing information. If you have a reliable source that documents the rest of his life, please add it in.'' Of mixed native Hawaiian and Japanese immigrant ancestry, Akui was inducted into federal service on 15 October 1940 and served in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war. On December 8, 1941, the morning after the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, Akui and Lieutenant Paul C. Plybon (1918–1996) were walking along Waimanalo Beach when Akui found a Japanese man lying unconscious on the beach. The man awoke to find Akui standing over him with a drawn pistol. Akui took the man into custody and he was identified as Ensign

Kazuo Sakamaki was a Japanese naval officer who became the first prisoner of war of World War II to be captured by U.S. forces. Early life and education Sakamaki was born in what is now part of the city of Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, the second-oldest of e ...

, commander of a two-man midget submarine that took part in the Pearl Harbor attacks. Ensign Sakamaki's submarine's gyrocompass malfunctioned, causing the submarine to sail in circles at periscope depth. Sakamaki ran aground on a reef, where the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

spotted his submarine and opened fire. The destroyer's gunners missed, but the blasts freed the submarine from the reef and Sakamaki was able to submerge. When he could not repair the gyrocompass, Sakamaki ordered Petty Officer 2nd Class Kiyoshi Inagaki to swim ashore, while he set the demolition charges to destroy the submarine. Sakamaki then abandoned ship himself. Inagaki drowned attempting to swim ashore. Sakamaki succeeded, but passed out from exhaustion. Corporal Akui found him there. Sakamaki's demolition charges failed to explode and his submarine also washed ashore where it was found by

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

1Lt. Jean K. Lambert (1914–1995) and 1Lt. James T. Lewis. It was salvaged and is now in the Admiral Nimitz Museum at

Fredericksburg, Texas Fredericksburg () is a city in and the county seat of Gillespie County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, this city had a population of 10,875. Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 and named after Prince Frede ...

. Akui served through the remainder of the war in the Pacific Ocean Theater and was a member of the famed "

Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-E ...

", who fought the Japanese in the jungles of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

.http://ibiblio.net/hyperwar/USA/USA-CBI-Time/USA-CBI-Time-7.html He retired from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a

master sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Israel Defense Forces The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...

and spent the rest of his life in Hawaii. He died in Kaneohe,

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

in 1987 at the age of 67.

Biography

References

Further reading