be forwarded to Hawaii in the name of and in the behalf of the Japanese-American Combat Team.“ The check was given to Col. Pence by 2nd Lt. Ralph T. Yempuku, formerly of Honolulu, who with the Combat Team chaplain, Capt. John T. Barrett and 1st Lt. Thomas E. West, have been instrumental in raising
Lt. Ralph Yempuku, Co. G, 442nd Inf., is a 1936 graduate from the University of Hawaii. He taught physical education for several years after graduating and is a good all-round athlete naming tennis, swimming, and football among his favorites. When the war broke out and the boys of Japanese ancestry were heartbreakingly dismissed from the
those months of class studies.” Basic Training Their basic training period here as a unit will be under the supervision of Capt. Thomas A. Crowley, 2nd Lt. Ralph T. Yempuku and 2nd Lt. Silva M. Landress and a specially chosen cadre of non commissioned officers, all of the Combat Team. “The hardening process of
join the combat team they volunteered as a unit and disbanded as VVV’s. Now they’re active again, without formal organization and fundraising for a worthy cause. Lt. Ralph Yempuku and Chaplain Lt. Thomas E. West, acting as general chairman, have organized enlisted men committees in the various battalions and special units of the combat team.
publicized. His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation in 1946. He has two PUCs, as compared to one that we (in the MIS) have. My friend, Lt. Ralph Yempuku also of Detachment 101, told me in Tokyo that he engaged in hand-to-hand combat in Burma, and said the enemy offered a $20,000 bounty on him
as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Hawaii Air National Guard Reserves in 1973. Herbert remained close with his Triple V friends throughout his life. He worked with Ralph Yempuku (MIS) to establish the Triple V Scholarship Fund at the UH Foundation. He was also active in the effort to document VVV history in the book
