Seven Japanese American soldiers who died fighting for the United States in World War II were posthumously promoted to officer ranks during a ceremony in Honolulu on Monday, about eight decades after their deaths.
White flower lei adorned framed photos of the men displayed in a Honolulu military memorial park. Family members watched from tents shielding them from rain, which stopped as the ceremony began.
The seven were students at the University of Hawaii and cadets in the Reserve Officer Training Corps when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. After the attack, the U.S. barred most Japanese Americans from service and deemed them “enemy aliens.”
Instead of serving in the Army, the cadets worked with a civilian labor battalion known as “Varsity Victory Volunteers.” The battalion performed tasks such as digging ditches and breaking rocks until early 1943, when American leaders announced the formation of a segregated Japanese American regiment.
The seven joined the unit known as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd, along with the 100th battalion—comprised mostly of Japanese Americans from Hawaii—went on to become one of the most decorated units in U.S. history. Some of its soldiers fought for the Allies while their relatives were detained in Japanese American internment camps, after being considered a public danger.
1st Sgt. Nakoa Hoe of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Regiment, said the event offered a chance to recognize the men who volunteered when their loyalty was questioned. “It is important for us to really kind of give back and recognize our forefathers and these veterans that we stand on the shoulders of,” Hoe said, adding that the once-segregated unit now includes a “multitude of cultures.” He later added that the soldiers “sacrificed so much at a challenging time when their loyalty to their country was questioned and they even had family members imprisoned.”
The seven men were Daniel Betsui, Jenhatsu Chinen, Robert Murata, Grover Nagaji, Akio Nishikawa, Hiroichi Tomita and Howard Urabe. They died fighting in Europe in 1944, with all but Murata killed during the campaign to liberate Italy from Nazi Germany; Murata was killed by an artillery shell in eastern France.
Murata’s nephew, Todd Murata, said the ceremony carries meaning because family members kept the story alive. “It’s an honor to be related to one of those people, those men, who volunteered for service,” Todd Murata said. “After all these years, people still remember them.”
The relatives present watched as the men were promoted to 2nd lieutenant, the rank they would have attained had they completed the ROTC program. Urabe’s niece, June Harada, said the ceremony helps heal some injustice from the past, adding, “Growing up, even though I wasn’t belittled for my race, there wasn’t a lot of pride.” She said, “It’s nice to have our uncle recognized for this huge sacrifice that he made.”
Even though Hawaii was not yet a state, the cadets were American citizens because they were born in Hawaii after its annexation in 1898, the AP reported. The ceremony capped an effort that Lt. Col. Jerrod Melander said is about recognizing military merit rather than diversity, equity and inclusion. “Honoring the seven isn’t about DEI but recognizing them for their merit,” Melander said, and added that “they served in the ultimate capacity of giving their lives for the country.”
Melander said he launched the commissioning effort in 2023 during former President Joe Biden’s administration. He said the promotions were approved last year during the Trump administration. The university awarded the men posthumous degrees in 2012.
The ceremony also arrived amid growing concern about how the Trump administration is handling historical exhibits ahead of the country’s 250th independence anniversary, including a removal of an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, and actions the Pentagon said mistakenly took down internet pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members. The Pentagon, the AP reported, defended its broader campaign to strip out content singling out contributions by women and minority groups despite Trump administration opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.