Mitsuyoshi “Mits” Fukuda

Able Company, 100th Infantry Battalion

Born on January 15, 1917, in Waialua, Oʻahu, Mitsuyoshi “Mits” Fukuda was the eldest son of Kunizo Fukuda, a carpenter at the Waialua Sugar Company. When Fukuda was three, a failed sugar strike forced the family off the plantation. He never forgot walking behind his parents and baby sister as they hitchhiked 30 miles to Honolulu to start over.

Kunizo found work at a lumber company and grew vegetables to feed the family. Though he spoke little English, he urged his son to attend the University of Hawaiʻi (UH). Fukuda enrolled in the College of Agriculture, but after his father’s death in an industrial accident, he joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) to support his family.

Upon graduating in 1939, he found that management jobs in Hawaiʻi’s plantations were closed to Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJA). Undeterred, he returned to UH, earned a teaching degree in vocational agriculture, and began teaching in Kona.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Fukuda and other AJA ROTC graduates were called into service. Initially assigned to guard duty at Hilo Airport, he and other AJA soldiers across the territory were transferred in late May 1942 to Schofield Barracks, where they were formed into a segregated Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion, soon to be redesignated the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). In June 1942, Fukuda, now a first lieutenant, sailed from Hawaiʻi for training with the 100th at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later, Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

The battalion deployed for combat in the European Theater, landing in Salerno, Italy in September 1943. In Italy, Fukuda’s courage and leadership quickly distinguished him. At Hill 1109, trapped by enemy fire, he ordered his men to dig in, then ran alone through snow and gunfire to bring reinforcements.

Promoted to captain in January 1944, he led men through the brutal campaigns at Monte Cassino, Anzio, and Belvedere. At Monte Cassino, he crossed a mined field three times under heavy fire to reach his troops. At Belvedere, Fukuda’s leadership and actions earned him a Silver Star and the unit was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation. Though exposed to relentless combat, he was never wounded. “I learned how to keep my head down,” he later said with characteristic modesty.

Fukuda earned the Bronze Star, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Italy’s La Croce al Merito di Guerra. His men called him “a born leader.” He was always deeply concerned about the welfare of his men, and there are at least two known instances when he refused orders for Company A to attack. As he later recalled, had the company followed those orders, some soldiers “would not be here today.” Capt. Fukuda, and later Major Fukuda, was widely regarded as an exemplary combat officer.

In April 1945, he commanded “Task Force Fukuda,” which broke through the last German defenses in northern Italy.

Shortly before the war’s end, he was promoted to Major and was the only Nisei combat officer in the U.S. Army to hold field rank. In July 1945, Fukuda became the 100th Battalion’s 12th and final commanding officer, becoming the first American of Japanese ancestry to command a combat infantry battalion in U.S. Army history.

Between 1942 and 1945, Mitsuyoshi “Mits” Fukuda rose from a first lieutenant leading a platoon, to major commanding the 100th Infantry Battalion, known as the “Purple Heart Battalion.” As Lynn Crost would note, “Precedent was broken again when he was appointed executive officer of the 442nd” in October 1945.

Major Fukuda flew home on a special plane reserved for high-ranking officers, as the last original member of the 100th Battalion in Europe. He requested and was granted a meeting with John J. McCloy, the Assistant Secretary of War. In the November 1945 conference, Maj. Fukuda made four requests:

1. That the men of the 100th Infantry Battalion be permitted to take furloughs on the mainland before being returned to Hawaiʻi, so they could explore the opportunities for educational training;
2. That steps be taken to perpetuate the identity of the 100th Infantry Battalion with the Territory of Hawaii, possibly by assigning its designation to a National Guard unit;
3. That the colors of the 100th be returned to Honolulu; and
4. That the official policy of segregating Americans of Japanese ancestry into separate units in the military be discontinued.

On August 15, 1946, in ceremonies connected with the Veterans Day Parade in Honolulu, the colors of the 100th Infantry Battalion was officially turned over to the Territory of Hawai‘i. With that, the World War II unit was deactivated.

On July 31, 1947, the 100th Battalion, 442d Infantry Regiment was reactivated in the US Army Reserves (USAR), carrying on the World War II unit’s lineage and honors, with Maj. Mitsuyoshi Fukuda as the 100th’s commanding officer. It was the first organized reserve unit of the Army to be activated in Hawaiʻi and is the only Infantry unit and only Combat Arms unit in the USAR.

On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, abolishing segregation in the Armed Forces. Executive Order 9981 stated that, “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”

Returning to Hawaiʻi, Fukuda joined Castle & Cooke, rising to executive vice president of industrial relations over a 36-year career. He and his wife, Toshiko, raised four children and built a life filled with community and quiet reflection. Though he rarely spoke of the war, he found peace in growing orchids, serving as president of Club 100 in 1945 and 1946, and tending to the friendships forged in battle.

Mitsuyoshi “Mits” Fukuda passed away on March 13, 1988, at age 71 — a soldier, teacher, and leader who lived by example and helped open doors for generations to follow. His journey reflected both extraordinary leadership and the breaking of racial barriers in wartime America.

Read Mitsuyoshi Fukuda’s Officer profile

Read the Eulogy for Mitsuyoshi Fukuda by James S. Maeda (Co. B)