Shigeru Inouye

Medics, 100th Infantry Battalion

Shigeru Inouye was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1919 to Kyohei and Fushi Inouye. The seventh and youngest child in his family, he had four brothers and two sisters. During his youth, he was a member of Boy Scout Troop 13 and a member of the Japanese Rowing Club based at the Ala Wai Boat House. He also played tennis and the violin.

A graduate of McKinley High School, Shigeru was a student at the University of Hawaiʻi when he was drafted into the U.S. Army on November 15, 1941 — just three weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was in basic training at Schofield Barracks when the Pearl Harbor Naval Base was attacked by Japan.

Shigeru became one of the original members of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), training first with Company D at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Prior to the battalion’s deployment to Europe, he became a Combat Aid Man attached to a rifle platoon in Company C.

Shigeru’s brother, Walter Wataru Inouye (Medics), also trained with the 100th Infantry Battalion at Camp McCoy and Camp Shelby, but he fell ill with appendicitis and remained in the U.S. when the unit deployed to Europe. He later joined the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) and served in World War II with a unit in Burma as an MIS interpreter, returning home uninjured.

On February 9, 1944, during fierce fighting near Cassino, Italy, Shigeru was shot in the line of duty while performing his responsibilities as a combat medic. He was awarded a Purple Heart medal and a Silver Star medal for bravery. His Silver Star Citation reads as follows:

Awarded to Technician Fifth Grade, SHIGERU INOUYE

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Technician Fifth Grade Shigeru Inouye, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving as a Medical Aid Man with the Medical Detachment, 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), attached to the 34th Infantry Division. On 9 February 1944, in the vicinity of Cassino, Italy, knowing he would certainly draw enemy sniper and machine gun fire, Technician Fifth Grade Inouye left his sheltered position to go to the aid of a wounded officer. German snipers immediately opened fire on him, but he continued on until he was wounded in the left arm and left eye and was physically unable to carry on. Technician Fifth Grade Inouye’s courageous devotion to duty was exemplary and a credit to the Military Service.”

As a result of Shigeru’s battle injuries and a 30-hour delay to get to the field hospital, he lost vision in his left eye and most of the use of his left arm and hand. Shigeru’s recovery was long and arduous — he endured over three years of hospitalizations and reconstructive surgeries in Clinton, Iowa, and Menlo Park and Pasadena, California. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant while hospitalized.

Thanks to the GI Bill, Shigeru was able to attend Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business. He returned to Hawaiʻi and married Fumi Tokioka, a teacher at Kaiulani School.

Facing limited job opportunities in Hawaiʻi, he applied for graduate studies and was accepted at Stanford University in California and New York University’s Stern School of Business. He went on to earn a Master’s in Business Administration in Investment Banking from NYU Stern. Back in Hawaiʻi, he started his own stock brokerage, S. Inouye & Company in Honolulu. A few years later, Dean Witter & Company came to Hawaiʻi, and he was hired as one of four licensed account executives. (Dean Witter eventually became Morgan Stanley). He worked at Dean Witter until his retirement in 1974.

He was a life member and commander of the Disabled American Veterans of Hawaii and served as president of Club 100 in 1960. As a dedicated member of Club 100’s Medics Chapter in Honolulu, Shigeru coordinated the refreshments for the club’s annual memorial services at the Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific for over three decades. In April 2001, he was recognized for his service by Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris at the Mayor’s annual Senior Citizen Award Ceremony at the Hawaii Convention Center.

His civic dedication extended to his Moanalua Gardens community, where he was very active in the Boy Scouts. Among his many roles, he served as a member of the Finance Committee of the Aloha Council Boy Scouts of America. For his leadership with scouting in Hawaii, Shigeru was honored with the Silver Beaver Award and elevated to the Order of the Arrow’s Vigil Honor Distinction.

Reflecting on his wartime experiences, Shigeru once said, “Every combat man in the 100th Battalion did his level best to serve their units and their country. We all had to prove to ourselves that we were good soldiers and loyal Americans.”

Shigeru Inouye passed away in 2005. He is interred at Punchbowl Cemetery with many of his comrades from the 100th Infantry Battalion.

(Submitted by his son Clinton K. Inouye)