Masato Nakae facts for kids
- In this Japanese name, the family name is Nakae.
Masato Nakae (December 20, 1917-September 4, 1998) was a United States Army soldier. He received the Medal of Honor because of his actions in World War II.
Early life
Nakae was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrant parents. He is a Nisei, which means that he is a second generation Japanese-American.
Soldier
Two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Nakae joined the US Army in February 1942.
Nakae volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.
For his actions in August 1944, Nakae was awarded the Army's second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). In the 1990s, there was a review of service records of Asian Americans who received the DSC during World War II. Nakae's award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, his family was presented with his medal by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, but only seven of them were still alive.
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