Posted on Oct 22, 2022
Bomber Gunner Ben Kuroki: "Most Honorable Son"
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Edited 2 y ago
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While his loyalty was initially called into question, and he encountered outright prejudice, one young soldier fought in four theaters and was the only American of Japanese ancestry to fly bombing missions against Japan.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/ben-kuroki-story-we-all-need-know
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/ben-kuroki-story-we-all-need-know
Ben Kuroki: A Story We All Need to Know
After Pearl Harbor, a Nebraska farm boy named Ben Kuroki volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps. He could not have been more American: born in the breadbasket of America, one of ten children, growing up in a small town of with a population of about 500, vice-president of his high school senior class.
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SPC Bill Bailey
Thanks Col., at least I was able to get a thumb nail idea of the man and his accomplishments.
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Here in So. ID we have one of those Camps. It was known as Hunt Camp, now known as the Minidoka National Historic Site. It housed more than 13,000 Japanese Americans, some them already living here. The local cemeteries hold more than few members of the 442 Inf. Reg.. Every year there is a gathering of Japanese-Americans at the site to memorialize their ancestors and to commemorate new additions to it. It was nothing but scrub land for years until a few years ago, now they have a nice collection of buildings and a walking trail with more to come. I haven't been there yet, but it's on my bucket list. I have been to the Jerome County Museum's Hunt Camp building which is a survivor of the camp and is restored to original condition. And those conditions were brutal for Idaho, single layer outer clapboard walls you could see through, no insulation, tarpaper roofs, multi family units with no privacy. Later they got tarpaper for the outer walls to help keep the snow and dust out. One wood stove per 2 family unit for heat, but with no insulation it did little good. All cooking/eating was done in a mess hall. One of my good friends wives, Susie was from the camp and told us of the living conditions there. Her husband, John was a local Japanese-American who was briefly in the camp and enlisted in the Army, made Lt. and was a translator. He was about to be sent to the Pacific when the war ended. He and his brother (who had to stay in the camp) became very successful farmers and all three have since passed away. John & Susie were really nice people, I miss them.
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