Yeiki Kobashigawa, a Medal of Honor recipient from Wai'anae, Hawaii who fought with the famed 100th Battalion in World War II, seldom spoke about his wartime service.
His son Merle found out about his fathers heroism when his daughter went on a field trip to Washington D.C.when she stumbled across her grandfathers name in a display of Distinguished Service Cross recipients
Yeiki Kobashigawa was a Technical Sergeant and one of his platoon’s senior NCOs when he was instrumental in taking out four German machine gun positions both by his individual heroism and his inspiring leadership under fire.
Kobashigawa distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on June 2, 1944, in the vicinity of Lanuvio, Italy. During an attack, Technical Sergeant Kobashigawa's platoon encountered strong enemy resistance from a series of machine guns providing supporting fire. Observing a machine gun nest 50 yards from his position, Technical Sergeant Kobashigawa crawled forward with one of his men, threw a grenade and then charged the enemy with his submachine gun while a fellow soldier provided covering fire.
He fatally wounded one enemy soldier and captured two prisoners. Meanwhile, Kobashigawa and his comrade were fired upon by another machine gun 50 yards ahead. Directing a squad to advance to his first position, TSgt Kobashigawa again moved forward with a fellow soldier to subdue the second machine gun nest. After throwing grenades into the position, TSgt Kobashigawa provided close supporting fire while a fellow soldier charged, capturing four prisoners. On the alert for other machine gun nests, he discovered four more, and skillfully led a squad in neutralizing two of them. Technical Sergeant Kobashigawa's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
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