Joe J. Hayashi (August 14, 1920 – April 22, 1945) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

soldier. "Joe Hayashi Memorial" at Pasadena Public Information Office
retrieved 2012-12-7. He is best known as a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

—for his actions 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.US Army Center of Military History
"Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II (G-L)"
retrieved 2012-12-7.

Early life

Hayashi was born at Salinas, California. He was the son of immigrants who were born in Japan. He was a ''

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

'', which means that he was a second generation Japanese-American.

Soldier

Working as a mechanic before the war, Hayashi enlisted in the Army from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in May 1941.U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
WWII Army Enlistment Record #39233508 (Hayashi, Joe)
retrieved 2012-12-7. Hayashi volunteered to be part of the all-''Nisei'' 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland. On April 20, 1945, near Tendola,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Hayashi exposed himself to hostile fire in order to direct mortar fire onto enemy positions. Two days later, he single-handedly silenced three hostile machine guns but was killed while pursuing enemy soldiers. For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Army's second-highest decoration, the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

. A 1990s review of service records for Asian Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II led to Hayashi's award being upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

on June 21, 2000, his surviving family was presented with his Medal of Honor by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, all but seven of them posthumously. Hayashi, aged 24 at his death, was buried in Evergreen Cemetery,

, California. He was posthumously re-promoted to Sergeant.

Medal of Honor citation

Hayashi's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Private Joe Hayashi distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 20 and 22 April 1945, near Tendola, Italy. On 20 April 1945, ordered to attack a strongly defended hill that commanded all approaches to the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi skillfully led his men to a point within 75 yards of enemy positions before they were detected and fired upon. After dragging his wounded comrades to safety, he returned alone and exposed himself to small arms fire in order to direct and adjust mortar fire against hostile emplacements. Boldly attacking the hill with the remaining men of his squad, he attained his objective and discovered that the mortars had neutralized three machine guns, killed 27 men, and wounded many others. On 22 April 1945, attacking the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi maneuvered his squad up a steep, terraced hill to within 100 yards of the enemy. Crawling under intense fire to a hostile machine gun position, he threw a grenade, killing one enemy soldier and forcing the other members of the gun crew to surrender. Seeing four enemy machine guns delivering deadly fire upon other elements of his platoon, he threw another grenade, destroying a machine gun nest. He then crawled to the right flank of another machine gun position where he killed four enemy soldiers and forced the others to flee. Attempting to pursue the enemy, he was killed by a burst of
machine pistol A machine pistol is an autoloading pistol capable of fully automatic fire. The term can also be used to describe a stockless handgun-style submachine gun. The term is a calque of ''Maschinenpistole'', the German word for submachine guns. Ma ...
fire. The dauntless courage and exemplary leadership of Private Hayashi enabled his company to attain its objective. Private Hayashi'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.Gomez-Granger, Julissa. (2008). ''Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979–2008,'
_"Hayashi,_Joe,"_pp._9–10_[PDF_13_of_44
/nowiki>.html" ;"title="DF 13 of 44"> "Hayashi, Joe," pp. 9–10 [PDF 13 of 44
/nowiki>">DF 13 of 44"> "Hayashi, Joe," pp. 9–10 [PDF 13 of 44
/nowiki> retrieved 2012-12-7.

References

External links

"Army Secretary Lionizes 22 World War II Heroes" at Defense.gov
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi, Joe 1920 births 1945 deaths United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers American military personnel of Japanese descent People from Salinas, California Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles

Early life

Soldier

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References

External links