Soldier Story: Herbert Kazuyoshi Nishihara
Soldier Story
Herbert Kazuyoshi Nishihara
Technician 3rd Grade
442nd Regimental Combat Team
Military Intelligence Service
Kazuyoshi Nishihara was born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, on March 14, 1921, to Kaneichi and Haruo (Nakagawa) Nishihara. Father Kaneichi was born in Holualoa, Hawaii island, to Sojiro and Kiku (Yoshikawa) Nishihara who were immigrants from the village of Morino, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Mother Haruo emigrated from Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Kazuyoshi’s siblings were Phyllis Mitsuko (died age 7 in 1930), Elaine Yaeko, Doris Setsuko, Florence Sonoe, and Henry Tsugio.
In 1930 the family was living at 1018 Kalepa Street in Honolulu. Father Kaneichi was employed in 1930 as a cashier at a hotel. In 1932, Kazuyoshi was part of a large group of Lanakila Elementary School students who participated in the territory-wide Honolulu Star-Bulletin home vegetable garden contest. On May 4, 1935, he was still participating in the contest – and he wrote a letter that was published in the Star-Bulletin:
…We have a system that pupils from each science and mathematics class go out to the garden…Each bed is about three feet by 20 feet for three boys….the pupils have been digging, watering and weeding…In January we harvested a crop of leaf onions. We have an arrangement that half of the crop is for Mr. Goo, the agricultural teacher, and half for our partners and ourselves…
On June 9, 1936, he received his diploma from Kalakaua Intermediate School at a ceremony for the large class of graduates held at 5:30 p.m. at Kamehameha Stadium.
In 1940 the family was still living at 1018 Kalepa Street and father Kaneichi was employed as a cashier at Waikiki Tavern, 2425 Kalakaua Avenue. Herbert, as Kazuyoshi was by then known, signed his draft registration card on February 15, 1942, Local Board No. 7, Room 147, Farrington High School. He lived with his family at 1018 Hala and Kalepa Street. His point of contact was Dr. Koji Date of 1924 Kalepa Street. He was employed by Hollister Drug Co. Ltd. at 321 James Campbell Building. Herbert was 5’7” tall and weighed 125 pounds.
Nishihara enlisted on March 23, 1943, in the U.S. Army. He was listed as having completed one year of college and his civilian occupation was “Bookkeeper and cashier, except bank cashier.” He was sent with other new soldiers to Schofield Barracks and housed in the tent city known as Boom Town.
The whole Hawaii contingent of new soldiers was assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. They were given an aloha farewell ceremony by the community at Iolani Palace on March 28, 1943. They then sailed on the S.S. Lurline on April 4 for Oakland, California. After a train trip across the US to Mississippi, the new soldiers arrived on April 13 at Camp Shelby.
After processing, the men were soon assigned to a company of the 442nd and began basic training on May 10, 1943. At some point after basic training ended on August 23, personnel arrived at Camp Shelby from the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) to identify soldiers with Japanese language proficiency. In October, Herbert was one of 250 men chosen for transfer to the MIS.
He was sent to the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota, for an intensive 6-month training course as an interpreter/translator. After graduation, the men were sent to various units in the Pacific Theater of War.
About the same time, in March 1944 Nishihara was admitted to an Army hospital with measles. After recovering, he was returned to duty.
Nishihara was assigned to the XXIV Corps, 306th Infantry Regiment, Headquarters, Intelligence Detachment. A month after the invasion of Leyte, which was on October 23-26, 1944, the 306th Infantry Regiment arrived in the Philippines. Tec/3 Herbert K. Nishihara was stationed in Leyte, Philippines. Further details on his service have not been found.
Above: Leyte, Philippines, during the war, front L-R: George Shimotori, Saburo Okamura, Thomas Sasaki, Francis Yamamoto, Herbert Nishihara, Warren Tsuneishi; back L-R: Hiroshi Itow, Joe Nishihara, Lt. Richard Kleeman, T/Sgt. George Takabayashi, Lloyd Shinsato
After the surrender by Japan on August 14, 1945, Herbert returned to Hawaii in December. He was discharged from the U.S. Army at a Separation Center on Oahu on December 7. His home address was given as 1609 Hala Street.
Right/Below: Nishihara during the war in a foxhole
For his World War II service, Tec/3 Herbert K. Nishihara was awarded the following decorations: Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on October 5, 2010, along with the other veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service. This is the highest Congressional Civilian Medal.
In the months following his return to civilian life, Herbert Nishihara briefly returned to work at Hollister Drug Store on Fort Street. While there, on May 13, 1946, he and three other employees put out a fire on the roof of the H.F. Wichman & Co. building located next door to the drugstore.
On August 3, 1946, Herbert attended the wedding of his sister Elaine Yaeko to Sergeant Kenneth M. Hirakami of the 79th Engineer Construction Battalion at Harris Memorial Church in Honolulu.
Herbert married Kay Kiyoko Yamaguchi, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tokosuke Yamaguchi of Puukolea, Molokai, on December 20, 1948, at Central Union Church in Honolulu. At the time, Kay was employed at Queen’s Beauty Salon and Herbert worked at Palama Auto Co. Their wedding reception was held at Natsunoya Tea House. During this period, the couple belonged to the Honolulu Cat Club and operated a cattery, raising Seal Point Siamese cats born to their two champions, Leilani and Naikodah. Herbert was also active in the Honolulu Bowling Association. The following year, 1949, they were living at 1609 Kalepa Place with his family, and Herbert was a salesman for B.A. Strauss. In 1950, the couple was living at 510-A Magellan Avenue and Herbert was employed as a carpenter at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Their daughter was born in July that year. The couple divorced in 1952. Kay remarried in 1971 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Gard Yokoe and settled in Los Angeles, California.
A few years later, Herbert married Mary Anne Barys, who was born in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois, to Peter and Marie Barys. Over the years, they raised a family of six sons. In the 1960s, Herbert began breeding carp in the pond on their Oahu Avenue property and established a Man of the Year award for the Hawaii Goldfish and Carp Association. He also was in charge of planning the annual heavily attended Hula Bowl Banquet in the 1960s.
Left: Anne Nishimura in 1940
Herbert K. Nishihara died at Kaiser Hospital on February 25, 1992, at the age of 70. He was buried in the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, Section 82-H, Site 8. His obituary stated that he was a former member of the 442nd RCT and a retired public accountant. He was survived by his wife Anne, six sons, four grandchildren, brother Henry, and sisters Doris Abe and Florence Sakata. Anne Nishihara died at the age of 98 on August 23, 2019. She was survived by five sons and six grandchildren.
Researched and written by the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team with assistance by the Nishihara family in 2025.