Joe Ryo Hayashi

Saving comrades and storming machine guns in northern Italy.

Joe Ryo Hayashi earned the Medal of Honor for rescuing wounded comrades and leading attacks near Tendola, Italy, on 20 and 22 April 1945. A rifle infantryman and acting squad leader in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, he was killed during the second action.

Born on 14 August 1920 in Salinas, California, and raised in Pasadena, Hayashi voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941. He served in domestic assignments before becoming a training noncommissioned officer at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He attained Staff Sergeant, but the official Medal of Honor citation identifies him as Private during his final actions. The personnel orders establishing his reduction and final active-duty grade remain to be reconciled. Members of his family were forcibly incarcerated at Heart Mountain while he served.

Hayashi joined the fighting regiment in Europe in November 1944. He served in France and the Maritime Alps before returning to Italy with the 442nd in March 1945. Attached to the 92nd Infantry Division, the regiment took part in the final offensive against the western Gothic Line. His France and Italy service formed one continuous overseas combat deployment.

On 20 April, Hayashi brought wounded men to safety, returned alone to an exposed position, and adjusted mortar fire against German emplacements. He then led the remaining soldiers onto their objective, where three enemy machine guns had been neutralized. On 22 April, he led his squad up a steep, terraced hill and attacked successive machine-gun positions with grenades and small arms. He was mortally wounded while pursuing withdrawing enemy soldiers. His actions enabled his company to reach its objective.

Originally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously, Hayashi received an upgrade to the Medal of Honor in 2000. President William J. Clinton presented the medal to his family at the White House on 21 June 2000. He is buried in Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Official Medal of Honor citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Private Joe Hayashi distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 20 and 22 April 1945, near Tendola, Italy. On 20 April 1945, ordered to attack a strongly defended hill that commanded all approaches to the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi skillfully led his men to a point within 75 yards of enemy positions before they were detected and fired upon. After dragging his wounded comrades to safety, he returned alone and exposed himself to small arms fire in order to direct and adjust mortar fire against hostile emplacements. Boldly attacking the hill with the remaining men of his squad, he attained his objective and discovered that the mortars had neutralized three machine guns, killed 27 men, and wounded many others. On 22 April 1945, attacking the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi maneuvered his squad up a steep, terraced hill to within 100 yards of the enemy. Crawling under intense fire to a hostile machine gun position, he threw a grenade, killing one enemy soldier and forcing the other members of the gun crew to surrender. Seeing four enemy machine guns delivering deadly fire upon other elements of his platoon, he threw another grenade, destroying a machine gun nest. He then crawled to the right flank of another machine gun position where he killed four enemy soldiers and forced the others to flee. Attempting to pursue the enemy, he was mortally wounded by a burst of machine pistol fire. The dauntless courage and exemplary leadership of Private Hayashi enabled his company to attain its objective. Private Hayashi's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.