Akira Wallace Fukeda

Akira Wallace Fukeda
Sergeant
442nd Regimental Combat Team
3rd Battalion, I Company

Akira Wallace Fukeda was born in Sprecklesville, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, on August 16, 1918. He was the son of Daiichi and Takino (Yamanaka) Fukeda. Daiichi arrived in Hawaii from Hiroshima Prefecture on the Nippon Maru on July 29, 1907. Akira’s mother, Takino, arrived on the Anyo Maru on April 14, 1916. Both parents worked on sugar plantations. Fukeda’s siblings were:  brothers Yoshiki, Shigeki, Sueki, Itsuo, and Yoshiyuki; and sisters Isako, Takiko, and Sachi.

By 1920, the family had moved to Waipahu on the island of Oahu, and were living in Camp A, on the sugar plantation where his parents worked.  Akira attended Waipahu Elementary and Intermediate Schools.  By 1940, they were still in Waipahu but now living in the plantation’s Stable Camp.

Wally, as he was known, was very active in local sports in his late teens. He played catcher on the Waipahu Plantation baseball team and was also on their football team – the Waipahu Jackrabbits. He was best known for his “slashing right” as a successful featherweight boxer on the Waipahu Athletic Association team. Wally registered for the draft on October 26, 1940, at Local Board No. 9, Waipahu Fire Station. He was 5’6” tall and weighed 135 pounds. His point of contact was his father.

Fukeda enlisted in the U. S. Army on March 23, 1943. At the time he was working as a carpenter at Schofield Barracks. He was sent to the “tent city” at Schofield Barracks with the other recruits. They were given a farewell aloha ceremony by the community on March 28 at Iolani Palace. .  On April 4, the new soldiers left on the S.S. Lurline for Oakland, California.  Upon arrival, they were sent across the US by train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

Wally Fukeda (on the left) at Camp Shelby with Sgt. Ralph Arashiro

At Camp Shelby, Wally was assigned to 3rd Battalion, I Company.  He was on the 442nd boxing team that fielded a lot of entrants at the camp tournament.

Wally was on the 442nd boxing team at Camp Shelby

After a year of training, Wally left with the 442nd by train for Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, on April 22, 1944.  They shipped out on May 2 from nearby Hampton Roads to the Theater of Operations in a large convoy of about 100 ships and arrived at Naples, Italy, on May 28.

Above: 1st Platoon, 3rd Squad “Present Arm” –  From left:  Seikichi Ganeko, Shigera Hirano, Wally Fukeda, Shusuke Fujitake, Koichi Furutani, Masao Furugen, Sadao ‘Puukolii’ Hashimura

Wally participated in the Rome-Arno Campaign in Italy. The 442nd was then sent to France to join in the Rhineland-Vosges Campaign.

The battalion spent a week at a staging area in Bagnoli, near Naples, before leaving on LSTs for Anzio on June 6, where they marched five miles to a bivouac area.  From Anzio, the 442nd went to a large bivouac area at Civitavecchia, north of Rome, where they went through additional training and final preparations for going to the front lines.  The 442nd entered combat on June 26 near Suvereto in the Rome-Arno Campaign.  Wally fought in all battles of the 442nd in this Campaign.

The Combat Team was then sent to France, sailing from Naples on September 27.  Once they arrived at Marseilles, they were in a bivouac area in nearby Septèmes until October 9, when they were transported north to fight in the Rhineland-Vosges Campaign.

Their first objective was to capture the important road and rail junction of Bruyères in the Vosges Mountains 500 miles north.  On October 15 Bruyères was liberated, followed by Biffontaine.  After eight days of heavy fighting in very cold and wet conditions, they were taken off the front lines and given a rest break in nearby Belmont.  After just two days, they were ordered to rescue the 1st Battalion of the 141st (Texas) Infantry, who had moved beyond their line of support and were surrounded on three sides by the Germans.  Unable to extricate themselves, attempts to rescue them by the other battalions of the 141st had not been successful.

On the second day of the rescue attempt, October 29, Sergeant Akira Wallace Fukeda was killed during the “Banzai Charge,” as it was later called.  Sgt. Mitsuo Yakuma wrote the following about that day:

For the “Banzai Charge” battle, it was not shelling but close-up fighting, a lot of fortified positions.  Assaulting the enemy, I saw the rapid-fire bullets trailing after and killing Sgt. Wally Fukeda.

Fukeda was one of five Company I men who died that day in the fierce fighting.  The Texas Battalion was rescued the following day. Sergeant Akira Wallace Fukeda was interred in the U.S. Military Cemetery in nearby Epinal, France.

For his military service, Sergeant Akira Wallace Fukeda was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge, and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Just over a year later, on December 9, 1945, a Memorial Service for 266 veterans of the 100th/442nd, including Fukeda, was held at McKinley High School auditorium in Honolulu. The service was sponsored by the 100th Battalion and the 442nd veterans, the Women’s War Service Committee, and the Emergency Service Committee. Lt. General Robert C. Richardson gave the main address.

In 1948, the remains of Americans buried overseas began slowly to return to the U.S. if the family so  wished. As a result, on April 21, 1949, Sergeant Akira W. Fukeda arrived home. The USAT Sergeant Jack J. Pendleton brought back 134 men, arriving at Honolulu Harbor’s Kapalama Basin. There were hundreds of family and friends present to attend the dockside service. The Secretary of Hawaii, Oren E. Long, officiated, the 264th Army Band played, and military Chaplains participated. The caskets were stored in the Army mausoleum on Oahu pending funeral arrangements.

Sergeant Akira Wallace Fukeda was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), Section D, Site 259 in Honolulu on July 25, 1949.

Akira’s brother Sueki Fukeda served as a member of the 100th Battalion, C Company.

Researched and written by the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 2021. Updated in 2024.