Photo -- See Caption Below


Sadao Munemori

June 1940
Lincoln High School Graduation Portrait

Sadao Munemori was already in the U.S. Army before the attack on Pearl Harbor. His visit to Manzanar in May, 1943 was the last time he would see his family. Attached to Company A of the all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion, Private First Class (Pfc.) Munemori fought in multiple battles up the boot of Italy, from Anzio to the Arno River, as well as in the costly rescue of the “Lost Texas Battalion” in France.

The objective of Munemori’s last battle was to overrun German fortifications on Mt. Folgorito, near Pisa, Italy. On April 5, 1945, his company attacked the peak at dawn. After his squad leader was wounded, Munemori assumed command and led a successful assault on two machine gun nests. Two weeks away from his 23rd birthday, Munemori threw himself on a German grenade, losing his life while saving two of his men. Pfc. Sadao Munemori was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on March 7, 1946, the only Japanese American to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

Paper. W 12.6, H 17.6 cm

Manzanar National Historic Site, MANZ 2217