Kaoru Robert Miyamoto

Dog Company, 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT

Early Life

Kaoru Miyamoto was born on July 16, 1921, in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. He was one of 11 children born to Mitsuo and Mizu (Yoshitomi) Miyamoto. His siblings were: brothers Teruo, Kiguo Clarence, Tomoo Theodore, Masuo, and Maruo Walter; and sisters Tomie Katherine, Toshie Sadie, Tokie Hilda, Tokue Evelyn, and Tokae Ann Shirley.

His father, Mitsuo, emigrated from Ota District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, at the age of 19, arriving at Honolulu on January 29, 1907, aboard the America Maru. His mother, Mizu, was one of twelve “picture brides” who emigrated from Kumamoto Prefecture, arriving on April 15, 1914, on the S.S. Manchuria, at the age of 20. She and Mitsuo were married the day after her arrival, on April 16, 1914, in Honolulu.

When Mitsuo registered for the draft in 1917, he was working as a stevedore for McCabe & Hamilton Company and supporting his wife, one child, and also his parents in Japan.

By 1930, the family lived on West Queen Street in the Damon Homestead part of Honolulu. Kaoru attended Washington Intermediate School. Mitsuo was a stonemason for a construction company. By 1940, they lived at 376 Seventh Street (G Street) and Kaoru had dropped out of school in his teens and was working with his father at the gas company to help support the family.

Kaoru registered for the draft on February 14, 1942, at Local Board No. 8, Kalihiwaena School, 1200 Gulick Avenue in Honolulu, at the age of 20. His father was listed as his contact, and they lived at 376 G Street in the Damon Tract neighborhood. Kaoru was 5’ 7-1/2” tall and weighed 130 pounds. He was employed by the Honolulu Gas Company on Kapiolani Boulevard.

Military Service

Kaoru enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 25, 1943, becoming a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT). He had completed one year of high school and his civilian occupation was listed as “Plumber, gasfitter, steamfitter.” He was sent to the “tent city,” known as “Boom Town” at Schofield Barracks, with the other volunteers. On March 28, they were given a community farewell at Iolani Palace. Then on April 4, Miyamoto sailed with the new soldiers on the S.S. Lurline to Oakland, California. After a train trip across the U.S., they arrived at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for training.

“Jacko,” as Kaoru was known to his fellow soldiers, was assigned to 1st Battalion, Company D, 442nd RCT. Basic training, unit training, and field exercises were conducted from May through December.

On January 19, 1944, he was in the first group of replacements from the 442nd RCT sent to Italy to join the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). Kaoru’s brother Kiguo Clarence Miyamoto was an original member of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), serving in Company A. At that time, the 100th, who had been in combat since the previous September, was in dire need of replacement soldiers to fill their battle-depleted ranks. Consequently, ten officers and 165 men left Camp Shelby on January 19 and arrived at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, for transfer to Italy. They left for the Theater of War on February 22, and arrived at Oran in North Africa, where they stayed briefly.

On March 8, 1944, one of his fellow soldiers wrote to his family this description of life in Oran:

“It’s pretty cold here in North Africa…The sun is out, but the wind blowing is cold. I can see rich green fertile land in the distant valley. A pretty sight with the mountains and all. We get oranges here, so the weather must be like that of California. Today we were treated to a coke. Imagine, way over here. I had a shower today. Ration one a week.”

Miyamoto and the other replacements (151 of the 165 men) left North Africa and arrived at the 100th Infantry Battalion rest camp at San Giorgio near Benevento. Kaoru was assigned to the 100th’s Company D, with whom he would remain for the duration of the war. On March 24, the 100th left Naples (about 50 miles away) and boarded LSTs for the Anzio beachhead, a large area near the seaside town that had been secured by the Allies in January.

On May 24, the 100th made its breakout from Anzio and was engaged in battles with the enemy south of Rome. After Rome fell to the Allies, on June 5 the 100th was sent to a large bivouac area in Civitavecchia, 50 miles north of Rome. While there, they met up with the newly arrived 442nd RCT, who had arrived in Italy on May 28. On June 26, they entered combat together in the Rome-Arno Campaign with the mission of pushing the enemy north along the west side of the Italian Peninsula.

Miyamoto fought in the battles for Suvereto, Belvedere, Sassetta, Bibbona, Hill 100, and Colle Salvetti, then along the Arno River near Pisa. On September 5, they were relieved from the front lines and sent to Naples for shipment to France and fighting in the Rhineland-Vosges Campaign.

The 100th/442nd RCT left Naples for France on September 27, 1944. Once they arrived in Marseilles, they were in a bivouac area in nearby Septèmes until October 9, when they were transported north to participate in the Rhineland Campaign (Vosges). In October-November, the 100th/442nd experienced the most difficult part of their time in combat, liberating Bruyères, followed by Biffontaine and the famous “Rescue of the Lost Battalion” – the 1st Battalion of the 141st (Texas) Infantry Regiment that had advanced beyond its support and become surrounded by the enemy and unable to extricate itself.

During this period, Kaoru was wounded in action by artillery shrapnel twice and earned the Silver Star Medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with Company D, 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd RCT, attached to the 36th Infantry Division, from 27 October to 6 November 1944. The citation reads in part:

“… During this period Private Miyamoto went out to repair damaged wire communication on fourteen different occasions, in the face of heavy enemy artillery, mortar, and small arms fire. Most of these trips were undertaken voluntarily and when the hazards of enemy shelling kept the number of other volunteers to a minimum. His utter disregard for personal safety in the face of continued enemy fire was instrumental in keeping contact between the mortars and the Observation Point, and in rendering support to the battalion when thrusts at the enemy were launched.”

Following the tough battles through the Vosges Mountains, the 100th/442nd was sent to the Maritime Alps and the French Riviera, in the area of Nice, Menton, and Sospel, beginning on November 21. This was a mostly defensive position as the men guarded and patrolled a 12- to 14-mile front line segment of the French-Italian border experiencing minimal casualties caused by enemy patrols and land mines. This was the Rhineland Campaign (Maritime Alps), nicknamed the “Champagne Campaign” due to the frequent day passes for the men to visit Nice.

On March 20-22 the 100th/442nd returned to Italy for the Po Valley Campaign. In the early part of April, they set off in the mountainous area of the west coast of northern Italy with the mission of cracking the western anchor of the Gothic Line. In what was ordered as a diversionary attack to draw off critical German army units from the Gothic Line center, the 100th/442nd rapidly crushed the German defenses and continued on the attack, turning the planned diversion into a full-scale breakthrough of the vaunted Gothic Line, liberating the west of Italy all the way to Turin.

After the unconditional surrender of German forces in Italy on May 2, the 100th/442nd began transitioning from combat to garrison duties, corralling the surrendering enemy from areas of northern Italy into POW camps.

On May 13, 1945, awards were presented to the members of the 100th/442nd who had distinguished themselves in battle during an impressive regimental parade and ceremony at the Italian airfield on the outskirts of Novi Ligure by Lt. General Lucian K. Truscott, Fifth Army Commander, and Major General Edward M. Almond, 92nd Infantry Division Commander. Sgt. Kaoru Miyamoto was presented his Silver Star Medal during this ceremony.

In June, after almost a month of processing the surrendering German Army at Ghedi Airfield, the 100th/442nd moved to Lecco, to participate in an extensive army education and recreation program. While in Lecco, Kaoru met and fell in love with a young woman named Guiseppina Del Bondio, known as Tina. Although he was discouraged by his superiors from marrying a local woman for various reasons, he was determined to marry Tina and take her home to Hawaii. As a result, they were married in a civil ceremony in Livorno on March 7, 1946.

On April 23, 1946, Tina Miyamoto, age 20, and another Italian war bride, Antonietta (Toni) Oyadomari, age 17, left Italy on the USAT Algonquin for New York. They then went across the country by train in four days, and finally crossed the Pacific on the USAT Buchanan, arriving in Honolulu on May 17, 1946.

The following month, Kaoru left Italy to be reunited with his bride in Hawaii.

Kaoru was discharged from the Army on July 1, 1946. He went on complete his high school education and then returned to work for Honolulu Gas Company. He and Tina settled in Honolulu and over the years raised a family of three children.

However, this was not the end of Kaoru’s military service to his country. Three years after his discharge from the Army, Kaoru joined the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Army Reserve unit, and over the years with the unit he attained the rank of 1st Sergeant.

In 1958, Kaoru and family went to Europe to visit Tina’s family in Italy and the Vosges Mountain battle area in France. The war had taken a heavy toll on the mountains surrounding Bruyères and Biffontaine, and the trees were still recovering from the heavy artillery shelling 13 years earlier.

Kaoru’s wife Tina passed away in 1965. Three years later, he married Geraldine Marie Abbey Clemens on March 29, 1968. They had two children together.

On May 13, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued an executive order for the mobilization of army reserve units to support the Vietnam War. At the time, Kaoru was the 1st Sergeant for Company A, 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, and reported with his unit to Schofield Barracks for active duty training in preparation for deployment to Vietnam. Over the following months the unit trained and was filled to strength with other reservists from the mainland. The decision was made by the Army to not send the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry as a whole unit to Vietnam, but rather as individual replacements to combat units already in Vietnam.

During this time there was much media interest in the activation of the reserve units. In August 1968, an Associated Press national article focused on the reactivation of the “Go for Broke” 100th Battalion. The article mentioned that Kaoru’s son, Stanford Miyamoto, was in the same unit as his father. When asked what would happen if the 100th was sent to Vietnam, Kaoru said he planned to ask that his son be transferred out to stay behind.

“What do you mean? Me?” the younger Miyamoto said. “This is the way I feel about it,” continued Stanford. “You have served your time; now it’s my turn to serve mine.”

Kaoru volunteered and was deployed to Vietnam, and served as 1st Sergeant, Company C, 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. During this assignment in the delta region of Vietnam, he continued to display his “Go for Broke” spirit and went out on combat patrols with his men. He was one of the few soldiers who fought in both World War II and the Vietnam War.

Kaoru returned to Hawaii after his one-year assignment in Vietnam and was discharged from the U.S. Army on December 12, 1969, after serving more than 25 years in the service of his country.

For his wartime service in World War II, 1st Sergeant Kaoru Robert Miyamoto was awarded the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver star (for five campaigns), World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge with two oak leaf clusters, and Combat Infantryman Badge.

For his Vietnam service, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with 1st oak leaf cluster, Air Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Combat Infantryman Badge (second award).

Miyamoto was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on October 5, 2010, along with the other soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Conferred by the U.S. Congress, the award states:

“The United States remains forever indebted to the bravery, valor, and dedication to country these men faced while fighting a two-fronted battle of discrimination at home and fascism abroad. Their commitment and sacrifice demonstrate a highly uncommon and commendable sense of patriotism and honor.”

Kaoru retired in the 1990s as a supervisor for the Honolulu Gas Company with over 50 years of service.

Kaoru Robert Miyamoto died on August 19, 2003, at the age of 82. He was inurned in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Section C17-C, Row 200, Site 226. On his niche is inscribed “100 Bn 442 Inf – Go For Broke.” Survivors included his wife, three sons, two daughters, one stepson, eleven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Kaoru’s son Stanford Miyamoto served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in the 101st Airborne Division, 159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion, Company A, in Hue/Phu Bai.

Kaoru’s grandsons continued his legacy in the Army. Stanford Miyamoto, Jr., served as a Lieutenant in Air Defense Artillery units in the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, and in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea. Todd Miyamoto served in Company A of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment. He later served on active duty as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant in Boeblingen, Germany, and as a 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta Operator at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

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Based on a biography developed by the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd RCT in 2024, with assistance from Stanford Miyamoto, son of Kaoru Miyamoto. Published with permission.