Kiyoshi Furumoto

Dog Company, 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT

Kiyoshi Furumoto was born on November 17, 1921, in Haʻikū, Maui, Hawaiʻi, to Heijiro and Yoshio Okazaki Furumoto.

Furumoto was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 24, 1943, and assigned to the newly formed 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT). He trained with the 442nd at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and on April 16, 1943, was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment.

Furumoto was listed as a corporal in Company D’s morning reports at Camp Shelby beginning in September 1943. He was promoted to sergeant by January 1944 and to staff sergeant by March 1944.

On May 22, 1944, Furumoto was assigned to the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 34th Infantry Division. The 100th was the first segregated combat unit composed of American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (AJA) during World War II and had been fighting in Italy since September 1943. Furumoto was among the early replacements transferred from the 442nd to the 100th, before the two units began serving together in the European theater.

The 442nd RCT left Camp Shelby in May for Italy, where it joined the 100th in combat in June 1944. The 442nd’s 1st Battalion, however, did not deploy with the regiment. It remained at Camp Shelby as a training battalion and was redesignated as the 171st Infantry Battalion (Separate).

On June 11, near Civitavecchia, Italy, the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was attached to the 442nd Infantry Regiment, where it served in the role of its 1st Battalion while remaining a separate unit. On August 10, 1944, the battalion was officially redesignated the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, retaining its numeric “100th” designation in recognition of its outstanding record in training and combat.

Furumoto continued serving with the 100th Battalion as the unit advanced through Italy and France. The battalion’s Company D was its heavy weapons company, providing support to the three rifle companies. In October 1944, during the fighting in the Vosges Mountains of France, Furumoto was wounded in action. On October 20, he was admitted to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital near Plombières, France, after suffering artillery shell-fragment wounds to the face, forehead, and frontal region. He was transferred on October 24 to the 2nd Convalescent Hospital and subsequently returned to his unit. On November 5, he was transferred to the 442nd Infantry Regiment under verbal orders of the commander. The following day, November 6, he rejoined Company D, 100th Battalion. Furumoto was a Purple Heart recipient, recognizing his wounds received in combat.

After the war, Furumoto pursued a career in medicine. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Hawaiʻi and went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He completed his internship at University Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa.

Furumoto married Alice E. Takata, and together they raised five children.

In 1952, Furumoto entered into a medical practice partnership with Dr. James T. Worrell in Keosauqua, Iowa. He would go on to dedicate more than three decades to providing medical care to the people of Van Buren County, Iowa.

His service to the community extended beyond his medical practice. Furumoto served on the Van Buren Community School Board, was the Van Buren High School athletic team physician, and served as Van Buren County Medical Examiner. In 1978, Furumoto and Alice were named Keosauqua’s “Outstanding Citizens” in recognition of their contributions to the community. In 1984, Furumoto retired from medical practice after 32 years of providing care to Van Buren County.

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Based on the military record chronology kindly provided by Jeffrey H. Morita, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army (Retired). Published with permission.