HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David M. Akui (January 16, 1920 – September 15, 1987) was an American soldier who became famous for capturing the first Japanese prisoner of war in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. At the time, Akui was a
corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
in Company G, 298th Infantry Regiment of the
Hawaii Territorial Guard The Hawaii Territorial Guard ( haw, O na La kiai) was the state defense force of Hawaii during World War II. As a result of the National Guard of Hawaii being federalized for the duration of the war, the Hawaii Territorial Guard was created to s ...
.


Biography

:''This section appears to be missing information. If you have a reliable source that documents the rest of his life, please add it in.'' Hawaiian native Akui enlisted on 15 October 1940 and would serve in the Pacific theater until its end. On December 8, 1941, the morning after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, Akui and Lieutenant Paul C. Plybon (1918–1996) were walking along
Waimanalo Beach Waimānalo Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the City & County of Honolulu, in the District of Koolaupoko, on the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. This small windward community is located near the eastern end of ...
when Akui found a Japanese man lying unconscious on the beach. The man awoke to find Akui standing over him with a drawn pistol. Akui took the man into custody and he was identified as Ensign
Kazuo Sakamaki was a Japanese naval officer who became the first prisoner of war of World War II to be captured by U.S. forces, and the second to be captured by Americans. Early life and education Sakamaki was born in what is now part of the city of Awa, T ...
, commander of a two-man midget submarine that took part in the Pearl Harbor attacks. Ensign Sakamaki's submarine's gyrocompass was malfunctioning and caused the submarine to sail in circles at periscope depth. Sakamaki thus ran aground on a reef, where the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...
spotted it and opened fire. The destroyer's gunners missed, but the blasts freed the submarine from the reef and Sakamaki was able to submerge. When he could not repair the gyrocompass, Sakamaki ordered Petty Officer 2nd Class Kiyoshi Inagaki to swim ashore, while he set the demolition charges to destroy the submarine. Sakamaki then abandoned ship himself. Inagaki drowned attempting to swim ashore. Sakamaki succeeded, but passed out from exhaustion. Corporal Akui found him there. Sakamaki's demolition charges failed to explode and his submarine also washed ashore where it was found by
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
1Lt. Jean K. Lambert (1914–1995) and 1Lt. James T. Lewis. It was salvaged and is now in the
Admiral Nimitz Museum Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
at
Fredericksburg, Texas Fredericksburg (german: Friedrichsberg) is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, this city had a population of 10,530. Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. ...
. Akui served through the remainder of the war in the Pacific Theater and was a member of the famed "
Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South ...
", who fought the Japanese in the jungles of
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
.http://ibiblio.net/hyperwar/USA/USA-CBI-Time/USA-CBI-Time-7.html He retired from the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
as a master sergeant and spent the rest of his life in Hawaii. He died in
Kaneohe Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an an ...
,
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...
in 1987 at the age of 67.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akui, David Attack on Pearl Harbor United States Army personnel of World War II People from Honolulu 1920 births 1987 deaths American military personnel of Native Hawaiian descent United States Army soldiers Hawaii National Guard personnel