Chester Takumi Fukunaga

Fox Company, 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

Chester Takumi Fukunaga was born in Kukuihaele, Hawaii, on February 8, 1915. He was the son of Takuro and Kazue (Shimizu) Fukunaga and the third eldest son of six boys and two girls. He attended Waialua Elementary School and Leilehua Intermediate School, and graduated from Leilehua High School on Oahu.

Before entering the service, he worked as a bookkeeper at Standard Motors, Ltd., in Honolulu, Oahu. The company was owned by his uncle, Peter Fukunaga, founder of Servco Pacific Corporation.

On November 14, 1941, he was inducted into the Army at Wahiawa, Oahu (Army Serial No. 30101861). He trained at Mana, Kauai, and served with the 299th Infantry Regiment.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the men of Japanese ancestry serving in the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments of the Hawaii National Guard continued their military duties amid growing suspicion toward Americans of Japanese ancestry. In May 1942, these soldiers were separated from their original units and organized into the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion. On June 5, 1942, about 1,400 men departed Hawaii aboard the USAT Maui in secrecy. Upon arriving in Oakland, California, on June 12, the battalion was officially designated the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). The men then traveled to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, to begin training for overseas service.

Chester Fukunaga was one of the original members of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). He served with Company F of the 100th Infantry Battalion and trained with the unit at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Chester’s older brother, Ralph Fukunaga, served with Company A of the 100th Infantry Battalion, while his younger brother, Harold Fukunaga, served with Company G of the 2nd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

In August 1943, Chester deployed overseas with the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), sailing aboard the S.S. James Parker from New York to North Africa. The ship’s manifest lists him in the First Platoon, Company F. The battalion arrived in Oran, Algeria, on September 2, 1943, and later sailed to Italy, landing at Salerno on September 22.

After landing at Salerno, the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), attached to the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division, moved inland and entered combat against German forces. The battalion fought through difficult terrain as the Germans retreated north, participating in the capture of key positions and the fierce fighting around Alife and Sant’Angelo d’Alife in October. The men crossed the Volturno River three times under dangerous conditions, facing enemy fire and heavily fortified German positions as they advanced toward the German defensive line near Monte Cassino. During these intense battles, the battalion suffered heavy casualties.

On November 5, 1943, the 100th Infantry Battalion was fighting near Pozzilli, Italy, advancing across exposed terrain toward Hills 590 and 610. After crossing the Volturno River during the night of November 3 – 4, the soldiers faced heavy German artillery fire, minefields, and booby traps as they fought to secure the high ground. During these operations, Private First Class Chester T. Fukunaga was killed in action near Santa Maria Oliveto, in the Pozzilli area of Italy.

Chester was awarded the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.

In 1949, he was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Honolulu, Hawaii.