Wednesday, September 26, 2018
I am so saddened to hear of the loss of your father.
I met your father at the Operation Dragoon Seminar held in the Washington, D.C. area in September 2015. It was a privilege and honor to be in your fathers presence, as well as the family members present. He and the rest of the family approached me at the seminar and extended their thanks to the Nisei Soldier (2nd generation Japanese American) medic that treated his wound and made sure he was evacuated to the field hospital. That Nisei Soldier was from the 100th Infantry Battalion (later combined with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team) that fought in the area your fathers regiment was just before the fall of Rome on June 5, 1944. I related your father and family's thank you to the various Japanese American veteran groups and conveyed to them how outstanding your father was in his treatment of people during and after the war.
I will always remember your father and the story he shared with me, and hope to see family members at the 75th Anniversary of the Italian and French Campaigns at the same event in the Washington, D.C. area in September 2019.
Stuart Hirai
