Isao Oshiba
Private First Class
Antitank Company
442nd Regimental Combat Team
Isao Oshiba was born on October 10, 1920, in Hilo, Hawaii island, Territory of Hawaii. He was the son of Jutaro and Mitsuyo (Tsumura) Oshiba. His siblings were sisters Chieko, Mitsuko, and Clara Shigeko.
Father Jutaro had emigrated from Asagun District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, on the S.S. Korea on November 21, 1907. Mitsuyo was born in Kipahulu, Maui, in 1900 to Isakichi and Ume Tsumura, and raised in Hilo. When Jutaro registered for the World War I draft in 1917, he was a blacksmith at Waiakea Mill and lived at Camp 1 in Hilo.
In 1920, the family was living in Hilo at Mill Camp, where Jutaro was a laborer at the sugar mill. In 1930, they lived on Kauila Street in Hilo, and Jutaro and Mitsuo were employed by a private family as gardener and cook, respectively. They were officially married (by the Territorial government) on October 23, 1936, in Hilo. In 1940, they were living at 1174-L Kamehameha Street. The parents were still working for a private family – as a yardman and housemaid. Isao worked in a macaroni factory. Two years later, when Jutaro registered for the draft, he was employed as a yardman at the Athens Club on Kilauea Avenue.
Isao signed his draft registration card on February 16, 1942, Local Board No. 2, in Room 7 of the Professional Building in Hilo. He lived with his family at 1174 Kamehameha Avenue and his point of contact was his older sister Chieko Oshiba. Their mailing address was c/o Hilo Motors on Kinoole Street. Isao was employed by C. Brewer & Company at the Hilo Wharf. He was 5’4-1/2” tall and weighed 126 pounds.
After graduating from Hilo High School, he was on the Waiakea Mill team in the barefoot football league, where he was a tackle.
Oshiba enlisted on March 18, 1943, and was sent to the “tent city” for new soldiers, known as Boom Town, at Schofield Barracks. On March 23, his parents published a thank you and appreciation notice in the Hilo Tribune-Herald to all the friends and family for their kindness and favors to their son in the days prior to his induction. They also expressed their confidence that he would exert every effort to fulfill his duties as an American soldier with honor. He was at the community Aloha farewell ceremony at Iolani Palace on March 28, prior to shipping out on April 4 on the S.S. Lurline for Oakland, California.
From Oakland, Oshiba was with the new soldiers as they were transported by train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Once there, he was assigned to the 442nd’s Antitank Company. After a year of basic, unit, specialized, and combat training and field maneuvers, he left with the Combat Team by train on April 22, 1944, for Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. They sailed from nearby Hampton Roads on May 2 in a convoy of about 100 ships and arrived at Naples, Italy, on May 28.
After arriving in Naples, Italy, on May 28, the Combat Team spent a week at a staging area in nearby Bagnoli before leaving on LSTs for Anzio on June 6. From Anzio, they marched five miles to a bivouac area. On June 26, 1944, the 442nd RCT moved forward to the front lines for their first combat engagement near Suvereto. Oshiba fought in the Rome-Arno Campaign.
On July 14, Antitank Company was pulled out of the battle line and sent to bivouac near Lido di Roma. The Company was assigned to the First Airborne Task Force and their mission was to support the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the invasion of southern France. After unit training for the mission, they took to the air in towed gliders on August 15. The Antitank Company was flown in 44 gliders. The platoons were split up to support different elements of the 517th. They were engaged in combat until October 21. This was an operation in the Southern France Campaign.
On October 24, Oshiba and the Antitank Company rejoined the 442nd RCT for the battles in the Rhineland-Vosges Campaign, 500 miles north in the Vosges Mountains of France. Afterwards, he served with the Combat Team in the Rhineland-Maritime Alps Campaign from November 1944 to March 1945, and the Po Valley Campaign back in Italy from March until the war ended in May.
Pvt. Oshiba arrived in Honolulu on the USAT Evangeline with more than 850 other returning veterans on December 19, 1945. He was discharged at the Army Separation Center on Oahu on December 30, 1945.
For his military service, Private Oshiba received the following awards and decorations: Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal with one silver star and arrowhead device, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and Glider Badge. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on October 5, 2010, along with the other veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This is the highest Congressional Civilian Medal.
He married Rose Y. Inouye on April 9, 1949, at Makiki Christian Church. Rose, a graduate of Farrington High School, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kaneichi Inouye of Moanalua Gardens, Honolulu. Afterwards, they made a week-long trip to Hilo. The newlyweds were employed at the U.S. Army-Pacific (USARPAC) Quartermaster Depot and lived, with Isao’s parents, at unit 41-C John Rodgers Veterans Homes on Nimitz Highway. In 1950, they were in unit 30 at the Veterans Homes living with his mother and sisters Chieko and Clara. Isao was employed as a storekeeper and Rose as a clothing inspector for the Army.
The family later moved 45 Loihi Street in Kaneohe. Over the years, they raised a family of one son and two daughters. Isao was employed at Fort Shafter as a purchasing agent.
Isao Oshiba died on January 29, 2005. He was buried in the Hawaii State Veteran Cemetery in Kaneohe, Section 53-H, Site 15. His tombstone is inscribed with “PFC 442nd Inf Regt” and “Go For Broke Gone But Not Forgotten.” His survivors included his widow Que Son, his three children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Researched and written by the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 2025.