World War II era service
The first time my father enlisted in the US Army was not long before the official end of World War II. He served in the 27th Infantry Regiment as a military policeman. He participated in the occupation of Japan following the war.
For his service, he received the following:
- World War II Victory Medal
- Army of Occupation Medal (Japan)
He could still speak some Japanese—with an Osaka accent—to the day he died. I watched him doing this with Japanese tourists in Waikīkī, Hawai‘i, in 2018. They were surprised when an older, white-haired gentleman addressed them in Japanese.
Also, recently when paramedics asked him to count to 10, my father did it in Japanese—with a twinkle in his eyes.
