Fred Yamamoto Fought to ‘Prepare for Peace’

Pfc. Fred Yamamoto, the first H3art Mountaineer to express his intentions of volunteering during the registration of 1943 and former member of the Sentinel staff who was killed in action in southern France Oct. 28, fought to ‘prepare for peace.’

Always a leader among young nisei, Private Yamamoto continually urged others to “buckle down to the arduous task of living in a prejudiced, complicated and war-torn world.”

Previously wounded in the Italian campaign, Private Yamamoto won the Purple Heart which was delivered to his mother, Mrs. Yumi Sato, 24-18-C, 11 days after he had been killed in France.

Stunned by the news of her son's death, Mrs. Sato said that she grieved deeply but that she was glad that he could die doing what he believed to be right.

“He asked my permission before he volunteered,” Mrs. Sato said. “I urged him to wait until he was called by the draft but he said that he felt he should join the army immediately.”

“I asked him if he were prepared to die,” she said.

“When he said that if he were killed he knew that he would be doing the right thing for us and for country, I gave my permission. He was not afraid to die,” Mrs. Sato added.

While a staff writer on The Sentinel, Private Yamamoto frequently in feature stories attempted to encourage other nisei to take a more realistic view of themselves and their future lives.

“We are living in a country that is comparatively young,” he wrote on one occasion. “it is not entirely a democracy, but a country thriving for democracy. Everyone knows that individuals are not perfect and so long as governments are manned by individuals there will be mistakes. But, at least, if mistakes are made in this country and the majority of the people feel that a wrong has been committed, the individual or wrong can be removed.

“Let us be realistic about the situation that faces not only us, the nisei, but all the peoples of the world. Are they having an easy time of it now, and are they going to enjoy a period of economic ease and security during the post-war reconstruction to follow? Brother, the answer is obvious. In time of war one must prepare for peace.

“Let us not be pessimistic,” he wrote, “nor overly optimistic, but let us keep faith—faith in the dignity and goodness of man. Are we girding ourselves mentally for the post-war period to follow, or are we getting mentally sloppy and lazy, allowing bitterness and self-pity to weaken our moral fiber?

“The futility of feeling sorry for oneself, being cognizant of the harsh reality of being in camp and its implications, these are important factors to bear in mind. We can have the ‘oh, well, what's the use attitude. But where will it get us? We have a tremendous task before us in bolstering morale of our younger brothers and sisters, uniting as one for the good of all the nisei and the world about us,” Private Yamamoto concluded.

Besides his mother, Private Yamamoto is survived by a brother, Pvt. Tom Yamamoto, in the service at Fort Snelling, Minn.; a sister, Mrs. Mitsuye Okuda, whose husband Hezzy, is an officer in the army, and two stepsisters, Mrs. Kiyo Hashimoto of Chicago, and Riyo Sato, of Buffalo. N. Y., and stepbrother, Pvt. Jack Sato.