Barney Hajiro, Medal of Honor Recipient, Dies at 94
After Barney Hajiro, an Army private, single-handedly wiped out two German machine gun nests and killed two snipers in a gallant charge in World War II, his superiors recommended him for the Medal of Honor.
As part of a regiment composed entirely of Japanese-Americans below the officers’ ranks, Private Hajiro epitomized the unit’s brash motto, “Go for Broke!” His commanding officer’s report said that in October 1944 in eastern France, he had run 100 yards through a stream of bullets, walked through a booby-trapped area and led the charge up “Suicide Hill” screaming “Banzai!” before taking out the machine gun nests.
He was shot four times — then insisted that 40 other wounded men be evacuated first.
But he, like Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, who was also a member of the regiment, did not initially receive the Medal of Honor for which he was recommended. Only in 2000, after 56 years and a belated Pentagon review, did President Bill Clinton present the medal, the nation’s top military honor, to Mr. Hajiro, Senator Inouye and 20 other Asian-American soldiers. Racial prejudice, Mr. Clinton said, had prevented such a ceremony after the war....
“Barney was a good man,” Senator Inouye said in an interview on Wednesday. “He didn’t go around blowing his own horn. He would just say he was doing something he was supposed to do.”
Mr. Hajiro, who had battled cancer, died on Jan. 21 in Honolulu at 94, his family said....
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As part of a regiment composed entirely of Japanese-Americans below the officers’ ranks, Private Hajiro epitomized the unit’s brash motto, “Go for Broke!” His commanding officer’s report said that in October 1944 in eastern France, he had run 100 yards through a stream of bullets, walked through a booby-trapped area and led the charge up “Suicide Hill” screaming “Banzai!” before taking out the machine gun nests.
He was shot four times — then insisted that 40 other wounded men be evacuated first.
But he, like Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, who was also a member of the regiment, did not initially receive the Medal of Honor for which he was recommended. Only in 2000, after 56 years and a belated Pentagon review, did President Bill Clinton present the medal, the nation’s top military honor, to Mr. Hajiro, Senator Inouye and 20 other Asian-American soldiers. Racial prejudice, Mr. Clinton said, had prevented such a ceremony after the war....
“Barney was a good man,” Senator Inouye said in an interview on Wednesday. “He didn’t go around blowing his own horn. He would just say he was doing something he was supposed to do.”
Mr. Hajiro, who had battled cancer, died on Jan. 21 in Honolulu at 94, his family said....