Mikio Hasemoto (, July 13, 1916 – November 29, 1943) was a soldier in

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 ...

.Vachon, Duane A
"A True American Hero - Private Mikio Hasemoto, U.S. Army, WW II, Medal of Honor (1916-1943),"
''Hawaii Reporter.'' July 2, 2012; retrieved 2012-12-7. He is best known as a recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

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 ...

during actions in Cerasuolo,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.US Army Center of Military History
"Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II (G-L)"
retrieved 2012-12-7.

Early life

Hasemoto was born at Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of immigrants who were born in Japan. He is a ''

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

'', which means that he is a second-generation Japanese American.

Soldier

Hasemoto joined the Army from

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the town of Wahiawā, separated ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in June 1941.U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
WWII Army Enlistment Record #30101561 (Hasemoto, Mikio)
retrieved 2012-12-7. Hasemoto volunteered to be part of the all-''Nisei'' 100th Infantry Battalion. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii. He was killed while repelling an attack against numerically superior German forces. For his actions in November 1943, he was initially awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

. This was eventually upgraded to the Medal of Honor upon military review on June 21, 2000.

Medal of Honor citation

Private Mikio Hasemoto distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 29 November 1943, in the vicinity of Cerasuolo, Italy. A force of approximately 40 enemy soldiers, armed with machine guns, machine pistols, rifles, and grenades, attacked the left flank of his platoon. Two enemy soldiers with machine guns advanced forward, firing their weapons. Private Hasemoto, an automatic rifleman, challenged these two machine gunners. After firing four magazines at the approaching enemy, his weapon was shot and damaged. Unhesitatingly, he ran 10 yards to the rear, secured another automatic rifle and continued to fire until his weapon jammed. At this point, Private Hasemoto and his squad leader had killed approximately 20 enemy soldiers. Again, Private Hasemoto ran through a barrage of enemy machine gun fire to pick up an M-1 rifle. Continuing their fire, Private Hasemoto and his squad leader killed 10 more enemy soldiers. With only three enemy soldiers left, he and his squad leader charged courageously forward, killing one, wounding one, and capturing another. The following day, Private Hasemoto continued to repel enemy attacks until he was killed by enemy fire. Private Hasemoto'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.Gomez-Granger, Julissa. (2008). ''Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979-2008,'
"Hasemoto, Mikio," p. 9 [PDF 13 of 44
/nowiki>">DF 13 of 44"> "Hasemoto, Mikio," p. 9 [PDF 13 of 44
/nowiki> retrieved 2012-12-7.

References

External links

"Army Secretary Lionizes 22 World War II Heroes" at Defense.gov
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasemoto, Mikio United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients American military personnel of Japanese descent 1916 births 1943 deaths Military personnel from Honolulu Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Early life

Soldier

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References

External links