Ted Takayuki Tanouye

Wounded in the arm he fought on until his men held the hill.

Ted Takayuki Tanouye was born in Torrance, California, on 14 November 1919, the eldest of six children in a Japanese American family. Known as Tak, he played football, belonged to the Future Farmers of America and graduated from Torrance High School in 1938. He worked in the local produce trade before entering the Army on 20 February 1942.

His enlistment coincided with the government's forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. The following night his father Nikuma was arrested. His parents and siblings eventually endured incarceration in Arkansas while Ted trained in the Army. He served at posts in Arkansas and Wyoming, learned cooking and baking, then joined the predominantly Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team at Camp Shelby.

Tanouye volunteered to move from mess duties into an infantry platoon leadership role. In 1944 he went to Italy with Company K, 3rd Battalion. On 7 July, near Molino a Ventoabbto, his platoon attacked a strategically important hill with little cover. German machine guns and machine pistols threatened the men attempting to reach its crest.

His Medal of Honor citation records repeated attacks ahead of his platoon. He fired on one gun crew, then engaged another position that opened on him. Grenade fragments severely wounded his left arm, but he continued. He attacked an occupied trench, replenished his ammunition and crawled forward to silence a weapon pinning down his soldiers. Further enemy positions came under his fire before the platoon secured its objective. Only after organising a defensive position on the reverse slope did he accept treatment and evacuation (official citation transcription: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/ted-t-tanouye).

After recovering, Tanouye returned to his unit. On 1 September he was wounded by a mine near the Arno River and died five days later. His family learned of his death while still confined at Rohwer. Originally buried in Italy, his remains returned to Los Angeles in 1948. A joint Buddhist funeral honoured him and his friend Akira Shimatsu, and they were buried beside one another in Evergreen Cemetery.

Tanouye initially received the Distinguished Service Cross for his July action. A later review of decorations awarded to Asian American servicemen led to its upgrade. President Bill Clinton presented his posthumous Medal of Honor to his family at the White House on 21 June 2000. The recognition came more than half a century after a platoon sergeant had fought for his country while that country held his family behind barbed wire.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Technical Sergeant Ted T. Tanouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 7 July 1944, near Molino A Ventoabbto, Italy. Technical Sergeant Tanouye led his platoon in an attack to capture the crest of a strategically important hill that afforded little cover. Observing an enemy machine gun crew placing its gun in position to his left front, Technical Sergeant Tanouye crept forward a few yards and opened fire on the position, killing or wounding three and causing two others to disperse. Immediately, an enemy machine pistol opened fire on him. He returned the fire and killed or wounded three more enemy soldiers. While advancing forward, Technical Sergeant Tanouye was subjected to grenade bursts, which severely wounded his left arm. Sighting an enemy-held trench, he raked the position with fire from his submachine gun and wounded several of the enemy. Running out of ammunition, he crawled 20 yards to obtain several clips from a comrade on his left flank. Next, sighting an enemy machine pistol that had pinned down his men, Technical Sergeant Tanouye crawled forward a few yards and threw a hand grenade into the position, silencing the pistol. He then located another enemy machine gun firing down the slope of the hill, opened fire on it, and silenced that position. Drawing fire from a machine pistol nest located above him, he opened fire on it and wounded three of its occupants. Finally taking his objective, Technical Sergeant Tanouye organized a defensive position on the reverse slope of the hill before accepting first aid treatment and evacuation. Technical Sergeant Tanouye'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.