Having been awarded recently the Congressional Medal Of Honor, our nation’s highest award for valor, Technical Sgt. Yukio Okutsu and Pvt. Masato Nakae are legends of Kaua’i. Both Medal Of Honor awardees are Kaua’i-born. Sgt. Okutsu participated recently in the
Having been awarded recently the Congressional Medal Of Honor, our nation’s highest award for valor, Technical Sgt. Yukio Okutsu and Pvt. Masato Nakae are legends of Kaua’i. Both Medal Of Honor awardees are Kaua’i-born.
Sgt. Okutsu participated recently in the Koloa Plantation Days Parade by leading the veterans in the parade in his own hometown of Koloa. We veterans and comrades-in-arms are equally proud of him as his former neighbors, friends and relatives in Koloa are of Sgt. Okutsu.
Pvt. Nakae, who was born in Ha’ena and lived in Lihu’e, is now deceased. We miss him dearly.
We were praying for media coverage of the parade and an announcement of the brave deeds of our fellow awardees, and, failing to have seen any, I am now sharing with you the official citations of Sgt. Okutsu and Pvt. Nakae.
“Technical Sgt.
Yukio Okutsu distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 7 April, 1945, on Mount Belvedere, Italy. While his platoon was halted by the crossfire of three machine guns, Technical Sergeant Okutsu boldly crawled to within thirty yards of the nearest enemy emplacement through heavy fire. He destroyed the position with two accurately placed hand grenades, killing three machine gunners. Crawling and dashing from cover to cover, he threw another grenade, silencing a second machine gun, wounding two enemy soldiers, and forcing two others to surrender. Seeing a third machine gun, which obstructed his platoon’s advance, he moved forward through heavy small arms fire and was stunned momentarily by rifle fire, which glanced off his helmet. Recovering, he bravely charged several enemy riflemen with his submachine gun, forcing them to withdraw from their positions. Then, rushing the machine gun nest, he captured the weapon and its entire crew of four. By these single-handed actions he enabled his platoon to resume its assault on a vital objective.
“The courageous performance of Technical Sergeant Okutsu against formidable odds was an inspiration to all. Technical Sergeant Okutsu’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.
“Pvt. Masato Nakae distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 19 August, 1944, near Pisa, Italy. When his submachine gun was damaged by a shell fragment during a fierce attack by a superior enemy force, Private Nakae quickly picked up his wounded comrade’s M-1 rifle and fired rifle grenades at the steadily advancing enemy. As the hostile force continued to close in on his position, Pvt. Nakae threw six grenades and forced them to withdraw. During a concentrated enemy mortar barrage that preceded the next assault by the enemy force, a mortar shell fragment seriously wounded Pvt.
Nakae. Despite his injury, he refused to surrender his position and continued firing at the advancing enemy. By inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy force, he finally succeeded in breaking up the attack and caused the enemy to withdraw. Pvt. Nakae’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 State Army.” Both Yukio Okutsu and Masato Nakae are Kaua’i-born, and they are heroes. They are our inspiration and they can be for others, if their noteworthy deeds are known to all. To this end, I pray that you, likewise, will so concur.
George Kawakami, a Lihu’e resident, is president of Kaua’i 442nd Veterans Club.
