Soldier Story: Yoshiaki Y. Arai
Soldier Story
Yoshiaki Yoshi Arai
Private First Class
442nd Regimental Combat Team
522nd Field Artillery Battalion, Medics
Yoshiaki Yoshi Arai was born on November 20, 1920, in Taylor, King County, Washington. He was the third child of Shigeji and Naru (Miyazaki) Arai. His siblings were brothers Toshio W., Haruo, and Yukio; and sister Janet Chiyoko. At the time of his birth Shigeji was a farmer.
Father Shigeji arrived in 1910 from Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Mother Naru arrived on April 9, 1917, in Seattle on the Tamba Maru at the age of 18. She was born in the village of Takami, Nakata District, Kagawa Prefecture.
In 1930 the family lived in Japan Town, Eatonville. Father Shigeji worked at a local sawmill.
Yoshiaki attended Kent-Meridian High School and was in the Class of 1939.
Below: Sophomore class photo; Yoshiaki is front row, third from right; his older brother Toshio is third from left
On February 14, 1942, Arai signed his draft registration card, Local Board No. 3, located in the National Bank Building of King County, Washington. His signature on the card was Yoshiaki Yoshio Arai. His address was Route 3, Box 244A, Kent, King County, Washington. His point of contact was his father at the same address. He was a unemployed, 5’3” tall, and weighed 130 pounds.
In the spring of 1942, the family was evacuated to the Pinedale WCCA Assembly Center in Fresno, California. They were then sent for incarceration at Tule Lake WRA Internment Camp, July 23, 1942. Tule Lake was located in Newell, Modoc County, California, near the Oregon border.
Yoshiaki remained at Tule Lake for 15 months, until his release on October 28, 1943, to New York City, New York, for independent employment.
However, the rest of the family was transferred to Minidoka WRA Internment Camp: Yukio and Chiyoko after just over 4 months on December 7, 1942; and a year later in 1943: Haruo on December 14, and Toshio and their parents on December 15. Minidoka was located Hunt County, Idaho, about 16 miles east of Jerome, Idaho.
The release dates from Minidoka of the rest of his family were: Haruo on April 26, 1944, to work in Pocatello, Idaho; Yukio on May 8, 1944, to work in Boise, Idaho; Chiyoko on September 20, 1944, to work in New York, New York; Toshio on February 17, 1945, to Detroit, Michigan; and their parents on April 23, 1945, to Denver, Colorado.
It was reported in the June 10, 1944, issue of the Minidoka Irrigator newspaper that Yoshiaki Arai and his brother Yukio, along with 106 other young internees, passed their pre-induction physical examination and were ordered to report on June 21 to the Minidoka hospital for induction into the U.S. Army. This was the first time no travel to Fort Douglas was required for physicals and induction. After induction the young men stayed at Minidoka in ready reserve status as the authorities arranged for transportation to their basic training camp.
Yoshiaki’s place of training was not found in our research. In addition to basic training he would have received special training as a medic.
The exact date of Private Yoshiaki’s arrival to the 442nd Combat Team was also not found in our research. After basic training, he was sent to Europe and joined the 442nd as a replacement during their time in southern France in the Rhineland-Maritime Alps Campaign. He was assigned to the 522nd as a Medic.
The 522nd was in the area of Nice, Menton, and Sospel beginning on November 21. This was a time of regrouping and rebuilding the decimated ranks of the 442nd’s three infantry battalions and its 232nd Combat Engineer Company. For the 522nd, it was mostly a time of rest and recreation and the care and maintenance of materiel. It was aptly nicknamed the “Champagne Campaign.”
On March 9, 1945, the 522nd Field Artillery was detached from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and attached to General Alexander Patch’s Seventh Army to add fire power for its assault on the Siegfried Line in Germany. The rest of the 442nd returned to Italy for the Po Valley Campaign.
The 522nd Field Artillery left Menton and convoyed north. They fired their first rounds into Germany at Kleinbittersdorf on March 12, 1945. The fast-moving 522nd moved constantly, giving chase to the retreating enemy across southern Germany toward the Austrian border. During the German campaign, the Battalion made 52 displacements. It was in the thick of the “rat race” that developed after the Siegfried Line was breached and the Rhine River crossed.
The 522nd was successfully attached to as many as six different divisions and became recognized as the fastest and preeminent 105mm howitzer battalion. Not only that, they were routinely firing three separate fire missions simultaneously with each battery assigned a separate target – a feat that other artillery battalions could not replicate. It took a very disciplined and competent organization operating at top-level alertness to do it.
After the surrender of the Germans on May 6 (effective on May 8), the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion moved from Schaftlach near the Austrian border on May 9, 100 miles north to the area of Donauwörth on the Danube River. On May 17, Headquarters Battery was stationed in Mertingen as part of the occupation forces. On July 18, they moved into Donauwörth.
For the next few months, men of the 522nd participated in Brigade baseball, track and field, and swimming competition. At the Battalion and battery levels, they enjoyed basketball, softball, pingpong, horseshoe pitching, and other sports. About 300 men furthered their education in USAFI courses and unit school programs. They also enjoyed passes to Nice, Paris, London, Brussels, Königsee, and Lausanne.
The 522nd was deactivated on October 5, 1945, and men with more than 70 “points” began preparing for the long journey home. The exact date of Pfc. Arai’s return to the US was not found in our research.
Pfc. Yoshiaki Arai was discharged from the U.S. Army on July 1, 1946, in New York City.
For his wartime service, Private First Class Yoshiaki Arai was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, and Army of Occupation Medal. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on October 5, 2010, along with the other veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Conferred by the U.S. Congress, the award states: “The United States remains forever indebted to the bravery, valor, and dedication to country these men faced while fighting a two-fronted battle of discrimination at home and fascism abroad. Their commitment and sacrifice demonstrate a highly uncommon and commendable sense of patriotism and honor.”
After the war, Yoshiaki moved to Denver where his parents were living. By the mid-1950s, he was living at 1568 South Ivy Street in Denver and was a biochemist/research technician at Fitzsimmons (Army) General Hospital. Over the years he obtained his Master of Science degree and co-authored several scientific papers.
He married Fumiko Kinoshita (born February 19, 1923) in 1949. She was the daughter of Seizaburo and Taki Kinoshita of Fowler, Fresno County, California. The couple settled in Denver and raised a family of two sons and one daughter.
Left: Fumi and Yoshiaki Arai in later years
Yoshiaki Arai died in Denver at the age of 89 on July 23, 2010. Survivors included his wife, three children, and three grandchildren. His funeral was held at 2:00 p.m. on August 7 at Simpson United Methodist Church, 6001 Wolff Street, Arvada. He was buried at Fairmount Cemetery, in Block 35, Lot 130, Section 15. His headstone is inscribed Pfc 522 Field Arty Bn World War II. Fumi Arai died on August 16, 2017, in San Francisco, California. She was buried next to her husband in Denver.
His brother Rupert Yukio Arai also served in the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Researched and written by the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 2025.