positions and assembled near Bruyères. Major Emmett L. O’Connor, 3rd Battalion executive officer, took command of this task force, and added wire and radio crews and a mine-sweeping squad. The mission of the task force was to move to a point opposite the south end of Hill 505, the ridge which the Germans held,
July 15, 1912, aboard the Shinyo Maru. He was enroute to Hilo to join his father, Ehachi, who had arrived 10 years earlier. Kimiko’s parents, Katsuzo and Mine (Hayashi), emigrated from Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, arriving in Honolulu in 1898. Initially working as an insurance salesman, in 1930 the family lived at 354 Ululani Street
the Gothic Line. The mayor and the townspeople greeted us with open arms. Each of the veterans were presented with certificates of appreciation in liberating the town. Mine reads, “Sadaiki Kubota of Co I 442nd”, in Italian “ch” is pronounced like our “k”. Then, in special vans provided by the veterans of the WWII
wanted to see him. As he later recalled, it was his platoon sergeant, Staff Sergeant William C. Oshiro. In Morrison’s words: “Willie had stepped on a land mine and lost his leg. So, he filled me in a little bit on what had happened.” Oshiro was wounded in Sospel at the beginning of the
