Mikio Hasemoto facts for kids
- In this Japanese name, the family name is Hasemoto.
Mikio Hasemoto (born July 13, 1916 – died November 29, 1943) was a brave soldier in the United States Army. He is famous for receiving the Medal of Honor, which is the highest award for bravery a soldier can get in the U.S. Army. He earned this medal for his amazing actions during World War II.
Early Life in Hawaii
Mikio Hasemoto was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents had moved to Hawaii from Japan. Mikio was a Nisei, which is a Japanese term for someone born in America whose parents came from Japan. This means he was a second-generation Japanese-American.
Joining the Army
In June 1941, Mikio Hasemoto joined the U.S. Army. This was about six months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Hasemoto chose to join a special army unit called the 100th Infantry Battalion. This battalion was made up almost entirely of Nisei soldiers. Most of these brave Japanese-American soldiers came from Hawaii and the mainland United States.
The Medal of Honor
For his heroic actions in November 1943, Mikio Hasemoto was first given the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). This was the Army's second-highest award for bravery.
Many years later, in the 1990s, the U.S. government looked back at the records of Asian American soldiers who received the DSC during World War II. They decided that some of these soldiers, including Hasemoto, deserved an even higher honor.
Because of this review, Mikio Hasemoto's award was changed to the Medal of Honor. On June 21, 2000, a special ceremony was held at the White House. President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to Mikio Hasemoto's family. Twenty-one other Asian American soldiers also received the Medal of Honor that day. Only seven of them were still alive to accept their medals in person.
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