file photo.jpg [33689]

William Nakamura

SurnameNakamura
Given NameWilliam
Born21 Jan 1922
Died4 Jul 1944
CountryUnited States
CategoryMilitary-Ground
GenderMale

Contributor:

ww2dbaseWilliam Kenzo Nakamura was born in Seattle, Washington, United States in 1922 to Japanese immigrants. He attended the Washington Middle School and graduated from Garfield High School, both in Seattle, and then attended the University of Washington. During WW2, in 1942, he and his family were interned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho, United States on the basis of their ancestry. He enlisted in the United States Army in Jul 1943 and volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team consisting of Japanese-Americans. On 4 Jul 1944, near Castellina Marittima in the Toscana region of Italy, Private First Class Nakamura's platoon was pinned down by German machine gun fire. He crawled 20 yards toward the source of the machine gun fire and threw four hand grenades, killing or wounding at least three Germans and silencing the machine gun. In the afternoon on the same day, he volunteered to stay back to cover a withdrawal of his platoon from advancing Germans; he successfully pinned down a German machine position that was threatening the withdrawal, but in the process he was struck down and killed. He was buried in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his sacrifice that day. In 1990, his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest American military award. In Jun 2000, Nakamura's surviving family was presented with the Medal of Honor by US President Bill Clinton at the White House in Washington DC, United States.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Jun 2025

William Nakamura 互動地圖

Photographs

Portrait of William Nakamura, 1942-1944

William Nakamura Timeline

1922年1月21日 William Nakamura was born in Seattle, Washington, United States.
1944年7月4日 American soldier William Nakamura volunteered to stay behind to cover his platoon's retreat near Castellina Marittima, Italy. Discovering that a German machine gun position was threatening the withdraw, he crawled toward it and fired on the Germans to temporarily silence the machine gun. He was killed by the German return fire shortly after. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
2000年6月21日 Mikio Hasemoto, Joe Hayashi, Robert Kuroda, Kaoru Moto, Kiyoshi Muranaga, Masato Nakae, Shinyei Nakamine, William Nakamura, Joe Nishimoto, James Okubo, Frank Ono, Kazuo Otani, Ted Tanouye, and Francis Wai's Distinguished Service Cross medals were posthumously upgraded to the Medal of Honor, and the medals were presented to surviving family members at a ceremony at the White House, Washington DC, United States.




請考慮透過 Patreon 支持本站。任何數量都會有莫大幫助!感謝您的支持。

請幫助宣傳:

 Reddit
 Bluesky
 Mastodon

​訂閱 WW2DB,掌握最新動態:

 RSS Feeds




Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name 
Your Webite 
Your Email 
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type 
Your Comments 
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.

查詢 WW2DB


More on William Nakamura
Event(s) Participated:
» Advance to the Gothic Line

William Nakamura Photo Gallery
Portrait of William Nakamura, 1942-1944


著名二戰名言
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."

Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal


支持本站

請考慮透過Patreon 支持本站。 任何數量都會有莫大幫助。 謝謝!

或者,請透過 TeeSpring 購買 WW2DB 周邊商品來支持我們,謝謝!