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| Cpl. Katsuaki Miho, shown here with brother Katsugo, served with the 442nd Infantry Regiment. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3785290 http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1206614351937.html |
Katsuaki was born June 1, 1919 in Kahului, Maui. His parents Katsuichi and Ayano were born in Hiroshima, Japan and immigrated to Honolulu, Oahu in 1910. His father worked as a Japanese-language schoolteacher, bookkeeper and manager of a grocery store, and later operated a small family-run hotel. He had two older brothers, three older sisters, and one younger brother. In 1940 he was living at home with his parents in Maui and was attending college. He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1941 and was accepted to the Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, but elected to remain in Honolulu to work as an ambulance attendant to earn money for medical school.
After Pearl Harbor, life for the many Japanese-Americans in Hawaii remained somewhat normal, unlike those on the mainland who were relocated to internment camps. In early 1943, even though he had aspirations to be a doctor and had saved enough money to enter medical school, Katsuaki and his brother Katsugo chose to enlist together in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a fighting unit composed entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry. The 442nd was organized on 23 March 1943 and completed basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
While at Camp Shelby, Katsuaki applied for and was accepted to the Army Specialized Training Program, which would allow him to begin medical school at Tulane and upon graduation he would be commissioned as an officer. In early September 1943 Corporal Katsuaki was temporarily transferred to join several companies of the 442nd assigned to guard German Afrika Corps prisoners who were helping farmers in Dothan, Alabama harvest their peanut crops. He was to spend a few weeks serving as a medic before reporting for medical school at Tulane at the end of September. On 16 September 1943, his brother Katsugo received word that Katsuaki had been killed in an automobile accident in Dothan.
Katsuaki Miho is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
His brother Katsugo was deployed to the European theater along with the rest of the 442nd and landed at Anzio, Italy on 28 May 1944, where it was attached to the 34th Infantry Division. The 442nd fought in Italy, France, and Germany and became the most decorated unit in US military history. Katsugo served in Battery B of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and survived the war. He later became a Hawaii state legislator and judge, and passed away in 2011.
Thank you Cpl Miho for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Katsuaki.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Paul Holley of the USS California at Pearl Harbor. You can read about Paul here.On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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