We remembering Joe J. Hayashi, of Salinas, California, was a U.S. Army soldier and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II on April 20, 1945.
Hayashi enlisted in the Army in May 1941 and then volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team when it formed in 1943. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the Mainland.
On 20 April 1945, ordered to attack a strongly defended hill that commanded all approaches to the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi exposed himself to hostile fire in order to direct mortar fire onto enemy positions. Two days later, he single-handedly silenced three machine guns, killed 27 men, and wounded many others.
On 22 April 1945, attacking the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi maneuvered his squad up a steep, terraced hill to within 100 yards of the enemy. Crawling under intense fire to a hostile machine gun position, he threw grenade, killing one enemy soldier and forcing the other members of the gun crew to surrender.
Seeing four enemy machine guns delivering deadly fire upon other elements of his platoon, he threw another grenade. destroying a machine gun nest. He then crawled to the right flank of another machine gun position where he killed four enemy soldiers and forced the others to flee.
Attempting to pursue the enemy, he was killed by a burst of machine pistol fire. He was only 24 years old at the time of his death.
The dauntless courage and exemplary leadership of Private Hayashi enabled his company to attain its objective.
For his brave efforts and sacrifice, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. We are thankful to Sgt. Joe Hayashi for his exemplary service and ultimate sacrifice of his life for our country. We will never forget him. 💐🙏🇺🇸
Leave a Reply