Takeyoshi Tamashiro
Takeyoshi Tamashiro was a family oriented man, he was loving, caring, and a wonderful father to my aunties and uncles. He was there to offer a home, and food for his children. He was a husband that provided for my grandma, and cared about her very much. From what I hear he was a brave, courageous man that joined the army to fight for his country. No matter what the circumstances were, he was determined to defend his country, even though he was divided to either fight for his culture or for the nation he lived in. Even though he was serious about working hard. He could cut loose and relax with his friends, drinking outside with the cool clean Lana'i breeze blowing throughout the garage. He always had a smile on his face, and he was a very enjoyable person to be around. My aunties and uncles said his philosophy was to enjoy life, hard work always pays off, and family is everything. He also lived by these philosophies throughout his life.
My grandpa was born in Waipahu, Oahu on February 8th, 1917. He was the youngest son of four sons and a daughter, of Bukan Tamashiro, and Ushi Fukuchi. When he was as young as six to ten years old he moved to Okinawa from his Waipahu home to live with his father for a while, due to the divorce of his mother and father. He attended a Japanese school, where he got his Japanese education, which later payed off. Before World War II, my grandpa and his father traveled back to Hawaii. To earn money he worked in the sugar cane fields of Waipahu.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, all Japanese Americans were reclassified to enemy alien, and were not allowed to enlist in the U.S. military. The Japanese Americans in Hawaii weren't targeted to this treatment, because they made up a huge part of the local work force and shipping them off to internment camps would have a disastrous effect on the Hawaii economy. In January 1943, President Roosevelt, decided to permit these Japanese Americans to volunteer in an all American-Japanese regiment to fight for their country. He was first apart of the 100th Battalion, he was apart of the C Company, made mostly of Hawaii residents. Then he later joined the 442nd Regiment. His Sergeant was the late Senator Spark Matsunaga. By May 1944 they've been fighting for nine months and lost over 900 men out of the 1300 that they started with. They fought in eight major campaigns in Italy, France, and Germany, including the battles at Belmont, Bruyeres and Biffontaine. At Biffontaine, the unit fought the "Rescue of the Lost Battalion". In this bloody confrontation, the 442nd unit lost more than 800 troops. My grandpa was sliced across the chin by the debris flying when a bomb exploded near him, he was suddenly covered with dirt up to his waist, lying there helplessly under the European soil, his fellow soldiers came to his rescue. My grandma said if no one helped him that instance, he would've died there. In less than two year of combat, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team earned more than 18,000 individual decorations. My grandpa was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery, Purple Heart for injuries sustained in the war, European Campaign medal for fighting in Europe, Pacific Campaign medal for representing the Pacific, and other medals that represent Freedom, and his badge to represent his Infantry. My grandpa was a brave man during the war, and he fought very hard for his country.
After the war my grandpa went to Okinawa to work as an interpreter. That's where he met my grandma Nobuko Tamashiro. They got married in 1947 in Okinawa by an American Counselor. In February 1948, my uncle Thomas Tamashiro was born. Soon after they came back to Hawaii on a boat, and from Oahu they traveled to the island of Lana'i to raise their family of seven boys and one girl. On Lana'i my grandpa was the butcher at our family store Richard's Shopping Center. He also loved golfing on the nine hole public golf course, he loved hitting the ball over the pure, lush, green fairways when he wasn't working or hosting a party in the garage. He was a family oriented man. He provided for his children by working hard in the family run store. During the summer his children helped him in the store by stocking groceries, and during the summer they started working in the pineapple fields for Dole Company with my grandma. After high school my aunties and uncles left one by one from Lana'i to come to Oahu to attend college. My grandma and grandpa still lived on Lana'i raising the rest of the younger children. Then he became very ill, and needed surgery. He came to Oahu on emergency for bleeding internally. My grandpa passed away while recovering from surgery on November 14, 1972 at Queens Medical Center. He was missed by his family, which his youngest son was only six years old. He left behind his wife, seven sons, and a daughter. He was buried at Punch Bowl Cemetery with honors and a 21 gun salute. His coffin was draped with the American flag which was presented to my grandma during the ceremony.
Some of my uncles don't have to much memories of him since he died when some of them were still little children. With their limited memories they can look back at the times when they played in front of the lawn with my grandpa on his breaks from his butchering job. Also driving to the golf course in their 57 Chevy, or going to the harbor to watch the cranes and boats working. They also remember waking up at five in the morning, and going to the golf course on Lana'i. They also enjoyed going camping on the beach with the whole family. My aunty remembers his long conversations with her, because she was the only girl he taught her to be strong, and be her own person. He instilled in his children family is always first, and hard work will always pay off, also to enjoy life. I always wanted to meet him, but the memories my family has of him I will always pass down from generation to generation. I often visit his grave with my grandma, and I can't help to think that he's looking down at us.
