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| Silver Star hero Frank Hachiya served in the 7th Infantry Division in Leyte. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44881801/frank-t-hachiya https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2018/10/19/leyte-into-the-valleys-ii/ |
Frank Hachiya never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Frank was born on May 13, 1920 in Hood River, Oregon. His parents immigrated to Oregon from Japan. His family returned to Japan in the 1930s. His mother and brother stayed in Japan, but after a couple of years Frank and his father Junkichi returned to Oregon. Frank attended the University of Oregon.
Frank volunteered for the army shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly thereafter his father was sent to a relocation camp.
He became a Tec 3 in the HQ Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. In all likelihood he translated captured documents and interrogated prisoners. Sgt. Hachiya saw action at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Leyte.
During the Leyte campaign, when Sgt. Hachiya's regiment was in a tough spot on December 30, 1944, he volunteered to cross a valley under fire to scout the enemy position. After a Japanese sniper shot him in the abdomen, he managed to get back to the American lines, communicate what he had learned, and was evacuated to a hospital. The men from his outfit volunteered to provide blood, but he died four days later on January 3, 1945, before his life could be saved.
In an act of wrongful racism in early 1945, the names of Sgt. Hachiya and 15 other Nisei were stricken from the Hood River American Legion Post's honor roll of those local men who gave their lives for their country during World War II. This created a national outcry with other cities in many states offering to adopt him and place his name on their honor rolls. The national commander of the American Legion ordered the Hood River American Legions Post to restore these names to the honor roll a month or two later.
Newspapers after the war make reference that Sgt. Hachiya earned the Silver Star. I could not find a record of the citation. When his body was returned to Hood River for burial, all of his pall bearers were Japanese American veterans. The former governor of Oregon, Charles A. Sprague, and other community leaders acted as honorary pall bearers.
His grave is at Idlewilde Cemetery in Hood River, Oregon.
Last year on this date I profiled B-17 radio operator Richard Sandberg. You can read about Richard 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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