Tokuji Ono

Baker Company, 100th Infantry Battalion

Tokuji Ono was born on May 7, 1919, in the working-class neighborhood of Iwilei, Honolulu, where the sounds of the nearby pineapple cannery marked the rhythms of daily life. His father worked as a timekeeper, and the family of seven lived modestly. From an early age, Ono learned the value of perseverance. He walked more than five miles to school each morning, catching the bus home only on the return trip. Of the five children, he was the only one to attend the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH); his older brother left school to support the family. These sacrifices shaped Ono’s lifelong belief in education as the path to opportunity.

After graduating from UH, Ono began teaching in Makawao, Maui. His career had barely begun when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

On December 7, 1941, while riding a bus toward Schofield Barracks, he saw black smoke rising from Pearl Harbor. Passengers fell silent as they realized a real attack — not a training drill — was underway. Back at Schofield, Ono witnessed Japanese American soldiers stripped of their rifles without explanation. Quietly, they endured the indignity. Soon thereafter, he was assigned to Company B of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate).

Sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, Ono found warmth in the friendships forged with local Wisconsin families who welcomed the Hawai‘i boys into their homes. But the strangest chapter in his military experience came in November 1942, when he and several Company B soldiers were sent to a secret mission on Cat Island, Mississippi. Based on the racist belief that “all Japanese smell alike,” they were used to train attack dogs, wearing padded suits with meat tied around their necks. To the men, the experiment was absurd — yet memorable. Ono joked that if the Army truly wanted the dogs to learn a “Japanese scent,” the soldiers needed miso soup and rice, not C-rations. After a couple of hours, the exhausted dogs would quit, leaving the men free to go fishing. The episode later inspired the novel The Eyes of the Emperor, for which Ono proudly provided background interviews. The experiment was eventually deemed a failure, and the group returned to continue training with the 100th, which was by then at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

In August 1943, Ono deployed to Italy with the 100th. During a patrol, a German rifle grenade exploded nearby, inflicting a severe abdominal wound that ended his combat service. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and — his greatest point of pride — the Combat Infantryman Badge. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

Returning home, Ono became a founding member of the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, alongside Spark Matsunaga (Co. D) and Tommy Kakesako, and in 1961, served as president of Club 100. But it was in education that he built his enduring legacy. Ono taught math at Farrington High School before rising through the ranks as vice principal, acting principal, and ultimately principal at Nāpō‘opo‘o School, Waimea High and Elementary, Kailua High, Washington Intermediate, and Kalākaua Intermediate. His leadership was marked by fairness, inclusion, and an unwavering belief in young people. In 1974, the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives commended his “outstanding and devoted service to public education.”

Ono married Toshiko Matsui, a public health nurse, and together they raised three children: Diane, Jeff, and Peter. In retirement, he remained dedicated to preserving the legacy of the 100th Infantry Battalion, sharing his wartime experiences to inspire new generations.

Tokuji Ono passed away on April 10, 2016, at age 96.