Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XL, Number 10, 4 July 1945 — News Of Big Isle Boys In Service [ARTICLE]

News Of Big Isle Boys In Service

Twq iuembsrs of the f«mous 27th inrantry (UviaiQtt's "Inah" regmea& v,etera«s of three i operations agauist the Japanese |are Pfc. Aiithony Pad|ieco of Olaa | and Pfc. Valentine Brown of Hilo. With their regiment, originaily composed of New Yorkexs, they ,saw action on Makip atoll and Saipan and now are »eeuig action in Uie batUe for Qkinawa, key to tiie Ryukyu aad Japan's inner fortress. . . . ■

Paeheeo worked fpr the Olaa Sug:ar Co. mill as a civilian. and Brown was 4>mf>loyed, by_the Hilo JElectnc LighL Co. . Second Lt. Sftdaiclji Kubota o£ Hilo has been awarded the Siiver Star medal £or in ae- | tion the vicinity of La Houai siero, France. Kut>Qt& led his men |in an attack on.an. enemy outJ post whieh &lled. four . enemy , troops and ,the iemainder. | Although wou».ded in the head hy [ en c my £e ma4e his way haek and in£oymed ,the company !of the enemy's tsof)p and gun I positions be£ore going to the aid | station.

For heroic ac}iievejrnent in Bryyercg( France, ,Pfc. t4 &bigeru. Suekuni of Papaaloa, award-. ed the Bronze Star medal He de- , termmeiJly remamed.uxi.4er enemy j fire for more than an hour main- | taining th& . companjr's vital eom-1 munication lines.' , Sgt. Yoshiwo Yamaki of Pahala has been awarded! the Bronze

Star medal for heroi£ achievement in Belmont, France. When an enemy patrol attexnpted to flank his company, he tfraversed 300 years, set .a and observed the patrol approach the anticipated terrain, , Opening fire with his machinegun, he sur-

prised and disorgai>ized the patrol, and all, except r twa who surrendered"p"were killed or wounded. The Silver Star medal has been awarded to Pv*L. Henry T. son of Mrs. Chie Hayashida of Mountain View. He daghcd acrQ34.3o yards j of open terrain ,to reagh a rifleman who "was severely wou«.ded j by a sniper. As hei administered. J first aid to the rifleman, he waa mortally wounded by snipers who disregarded his Red Cross arm band. Pfc, Seichi J. Maeda, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. Maeda of Hilo, was recently awarded the Brojoze Star medal at the Fitzunmons Gfeneral hospital in Denver, Colo. for heroic in action in Belvedore, Italy., A patient at

' the hospital after £0 jnonths of I overseas duty, Maeda is a \ ber of the fame "Purple Heart! ( battalion, the lOQtlf battaUgn Oi. ( the 442nd regiment, 34th division. j He was an office worker for a contr>actor before hp entered ,the | service in 1941. * | Cpl. Masatoshi Sadaaaga of' Onomea, has been awarded the Bronze Star for heroic achievement in Bruyeres, France. For heroie achievQment in Bruyeres, France. P£c. Toshiyuki Tanaka of Haina lias been awarded tlie Bronze Star, medal. |

WITH THE 24TH INFANTRY j (VIOTO»Y) DIVISION.Otf MINDANAO—The die-hard Japīmeso

alive by theic Wgw expjfcsiv6s, This Wās their fate when Sgt. ' "Emest peLima, 1555 Kinoole St„ * Hilo, Hawaii, and his platoon ~6C combat «flg!neera from "A' r Company of" tKlfe_ Victory division r s 3rd engīftOfel*ihg battalion went |into acti'on neār Davao. ! JapaneHTe machinegun positions, impregnable to xnortar and machinegune fire and airplane bombs, - I had stopped the infantry w'lth deadly fire, Under heavy bontbardment the Jap too refuge in 1 deep tunnels beneath tlieir posK tions, then reoccupied them when the , shells and bombs stopped coming tn. With infantrymen giving pro-

tectīon, DeLima and his buddies crawled to thc positions, blow. them up with Japan-made explosives removed from bridges and a!orig roads across 'Mindanao. *The oecupants were with heavy coconut logs and dirt. An infantrynKen told DeLima that 24. hours after one emplaeement was blasted, the Japs could be heard trying to. dig their v/ay out. They did not succeed. , Two.otJaer men from the island

.of Hawaiii jtnembers of DeLima's com.pany, helped remove hundreds of land mines and. heavy air ,j3om.bs £rom the roads and bridges: Many. also were used to <iestrqy , l captur?d enemy positipns. : ase Sergcants An- | thony DeMello, Hilo, and Virgin .Medeiros, Papalkou. With the FIFTH ARMY, Italy I —Durtng the 1944 Italian eam-

paign <rf the 442nd JapaneseAaneiiean Combat Team, Oapt. Joaeph W. Hill of Malvern, ArkansaS, adopted the continental habit of carrying a eane. He mastered- the ; art of eane waving in the Vosges Mountain campaign in eastern France, but it wasn't until the Japanes e-Amenean doughoys rejoined the sth army and cracker the J[eiries at Mt. Belvedere, during the Allied offensive whieh resulted in uneon<iitional surrender of all German forces in Italy, that the art paid

dividends. As commanding officcr of a $42nd rifle company, Hill took his übiquitous eane and <accompanied by Lt, Miehio Takata, son tif Kazuo Takata, Paauhan, I-la-waii, of hls company, reeonnoitored a foothpath in an area mopped lup by his men. The Ipath led to a house oneo used by the Jerries as a eommand post. Without a second 'thought the officers entered !building. They faced tēn Jerries;, ■ including an officer, seated at t dli\ner. | Realizing that the embarrassing . situation called for immediate aetion, Capt Hill waved his eane .mueh in the manner of a school|man chasting a pupils, and called jupon the Jerries to surrender. j Tiie two officers are still mi- | (iecided as to whieh of them vvas j fche more surprised when the Jer;ries meekly surrendered to Capt. Hill, his cigar, and his a!l-power-fui eane. Lt. Takata, who volunteered for 442nd on March 27. 194ri. iat SehofieW Barracks, Oahu, rejceived a combat appointniont on jJanuary 16. 1935. Prior to enter | ing the service. he was a shcp I maintenance meehanie. He holds a battle star for the ' Rome-Arno campaign. a Good ' Medal, a Purpie Heart 1 for hls wounds peoeīved i:: 1 a Distinguished T. T nit Citatio:i badge, and a Com.bat Imantryman ■ Badge for exemplary conduct Hmder enmv f!iv. f • 5 WTTH TH"E 27TH INFAXTRY ♦f>IVTSTON (THF tokyo OX OKINAWA: I>\ t ?C!e.ment S. Svs*ans>on of HiU\ Ha- ; vrsii joino3 tho fi£htui£ ♦fcnres of tho 27th Tr.fv\r,try divinow "battn!\g Jap defenders ?of Okinawa in tho Kyukvus 'tt t»e«fn "by iho the d : .\īsior. eo;-,- [ mander, Major Gecerai \\\ ( Grtner. * ' Veterar.s tean-.s o: ..he '*Tokyo "Exprei!s" diYiskr. lar.āo.". 'on the strategio stron£- • hold on Apnl ?th an4 <jui.cji.ly ' mow\? to the frcnt lir.es \vhorr f Ghey Are si;ft Japai.ose f Wssistsnoe P\ x t, MeSvvAn§oa is tion t>.e thc , 27th's "Fx£iiUi\g Insh" Kciur.er.i. The ve&r oUI Uīo sc: v-.oe SeyU;u s oo: ' hss ser\>Ni thro< oversea^ heiue Uilo, He\Nhv s %shviv «<o Mrs. KU'.ei L>.