Japanese-American WWII war hero Ben Kuroki dies

RIP Mr. Kuroki.

That's a good story, RIP Kuroki

During my childhood I was fascinated by the stories of men from Ben Kuroki's generation, and now most of them are no longer with us. RIP Mr. Kuroki.

Interview of Ben Kuroki: http://www.ww2online.org/view/ben-kuroki/segment-1

What is the purpose of this article ? Is it considered that Japanese people must be proud of him ?

What is the purpose of this article ?

He's a hero. Like "Davy Crockett".

Japanese people should thank him for his service. He, and his colleagues are the reason the whole of Japan does not speak Russian right now.

*What is the purpose of this article ? Is it considered that Japanese people must be proud of him ?

What is the point of your comment?

@ebisen "the whole of Japan does not speak Russian right now"

Rubbish of American origin. After hard experience of American occupation Japan still use native language, not American English.

@glasshouse "What is the point of your comment?"

He fought Japanese people being a pure American servant. He is not a Hero for Japan.

@yamanashi Did anywhere say the he is a Hero for Japan? Did he receive war medals in Japan at all? Maybe you should stick to your native Language as well....

He was hailed a hero and a patriot at a time when tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were confined at internment camps amid fears of a Japanese invasion of the West Coast.

Not a particularly positive time in American history, and one which many Amercians, myself included, are not very proud of. But what we can take pride in is:

After the war, Kuroki enrolled at the University of Nebraska, where he obtained a journalism degree. He published a weekly newspaper in Nebraska for a short time before moving to Michigan and finally to California, where he retired as the news editor of the Ventura Star-Free Press in 1984.

In 2005, he received the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal, one of the nation’s highest military honors.

Luckily the U.S. got past the bigotry that irrational fear had caused in the early 1940's and men like Kuroda quickly became part of the fabric of the country, and, more importantly, publicly recognized him for his bravery,

RIP...Ben is a true hero.

The reverse would never have happened in Japan at its xenophobic height.

I admire the Japanese Americans like Ben Kuroki and their strong resolve despite the fact that they got the really short end of the stick during WWII. I visited the Japanese American museum in San Jose a few years back and I had many tears in my eyes during the presentation. Japanese Americans were treated with no respect and lost everything they had despite the fact that they assimilated back into the US society that shunned them and were the most decorated military group in WWII in Europe as the 442nd infantry. The discrimination that Japanese Americans suffered compared to the German or Italian Americans is incredible to say the least. Just because they looked different than a white European descendent of even Germans or Italians made them an enemy on the eyes of the US government, what garbage. My wife's ancestors came to the US to farm and eventually returned to Japan due to the Sino discriminatory attitudes in the early 20th century which is a shame. They contributed as doctors, dentists, farmers, shopkeepers etc. and did not discriminate like other Asian minorities at that time, and made a mark in the business and culture of the western United states.

Japanese people should call him as traitor. Because of his indiscriminate bombing , Many innocent children and elderly lost the limbs and arms. He shamed and humiliated his ancestors. He was the embarrassment for Japan although he was a hero for US.

gabrial: The reverse would never have happened in Japan at its xenophobic height.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8D_Kurusu

Ryō Kurusu (来栖良 Ryō Kurusu?, January 8, 1919 – February 17, 1945) was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is noted for being the only Eurasian (American-Japanese Hāfu) person to be commemorated in Japan's Yasukuni Shrine. ...

Kurusu was born on January 8, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to Saburō Kurusu (a career diplomat) and Alice Jay Little (an American who adopted Japanese citizenship after their marriage in 1914) . ...

... In February 1945, as the situation grew increasingly dire, Kurusu himself participated in the air defense of Tokyo, intercepting and shooting down one American aircraft in a Nakajima Ki-84 on February 16. On February 17, while running to his aircraft to conduct another interception mission, Kurusu was struck in the head by a nearby aircraft's spinning propeller. He was decapitated and died instantly in what was later determined to be a tragic accident. Because the incident took place during an air raid, Kurusu was officially declared as "killed in action", and is enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine as such.[3]

Kurusu's funeral was attended by a number of high-ranking diplomats and military officers. His father chose the following English inscription, by Herodotus, for Ryō's headstone: "In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons." His mother, Alice, was later quoted as saying "I am proud that my son was able to die for his Emperor and his country."

Turbotsat, thanks for the info. It broadened my horizons. Writing something on the discussion board leading to an eyeopener is a gratifying experience. I stand corrected. Both sides had their heroes then. RIP to both of them. I'm curious as to how his mother Alice was treated during the war. This I write with no malicious intent to blame either side.

@heynong Yes, that is generally what the U.S. government figured at the time. I guess you would say the same of German-Americans? Don't you have a better reason to support or oppose a war than what you imagine your ancestors would have thought? If he was wrong to drop bombs on children and the elderly then it doesn't matter if they have an ethnic resemblance, does it? Ethnic nationalism is one of humanity's most pernicious modern ideas.

At first glance, it's odd for me to find a story about an American war hero who served primarily in the European Theater of WWII on Japantoday, a site about life in Japan, the country itself and the people that live there. The man was an American whose ancestors just happened to be Japanese, and many people of his background were persecuted during WWII by those who those hastily inferred that they have substantial connections with Japan, the country itself, and therefore disloyal to America. However, I'm not saying that the good people Japantoday have misplaced intentions to publish this story here, not at all. I bet some of them are Americans themselves who thought the guy deserves recognition wherever possible, and I don't blame them for thinking that and choosing to publish it here. After all, it's well known that the US media has a bias against Asians at large. Most of the time when we see Asians on mainstream American TV, cinema or media, if not exclusively, is when they fit the bill of negative racial stereotypes (including that submissive Asian woman/white male dynamic). So good on you JT.

Yamashi: After hard experience of American occupation

Japan has NO IDEA what occupation by a foreign force means. Tell your bullshit to the East European countries under the USSR :( and see how they react!

gabrial888: ... Both sides had their heroes then. RIP to both of them. I'm curious as to how his mother Alice was treated during the war. This I write with no malicious intent to blame either side.

More info on his father's wikipedia page. They had two daughters younger than Ryo, who both married Americans, and Alice Little adopted another daughter after her husband died.

I guess she wasn't treated badly, it looks like she stayed on in Japan after the war, and her daughters moved back to the States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabur%C5%8D_Kurusu

Saburō Kurusu (来栖 三郎, March 6, 1886- April 7, 1954) was a Japanese career diplomat.

... He had three children, a son Ryō, and a daughter Jaye were both born in the United States; another daughter, Teruko Pia, was born in Italy in 1926. Both daughters married Americans and moved back to the United States. ... Following the Allied victory in Japan, the American military tribunal elected in February, 1946, decided not to prosecute either Kurusu or Nomura. Kurusu was a visiting professor at Tokyo University and lived at a country estate in Karuizawa with his wife Alice. ...

Thank you again, turbosat, for the info. that gives a glimpse into the lives of those who've gone on what must have been extraordinary cross-cultural rides. I agree with your sense that Alice wasn't treated badly. Alice and her children's firsthand accounts in the war time if exist would provide a lot of fresh perspective on Japan at the time. Also for Saburo Kurusu her husband who tried to negotiate peace before the attack on Peal Harbor, it must have been wrenching, frustrating experience to see Japan go into war against the U.S.

You are welcome. I haven't read them, but there is a historical novel based on the family ("Riding the East Wind" by Otohiko Kaga), at Amazon, also a memoir written in 1958 by an American woman in the same situation ("Bridge to the Sun: A Memoir of Love and War"): married to Japanese diplomat, interned in USA, repatriated on the same ship. Kurusu himself wrote a book, "Ho to fikushon", I don't know what it's about, though.

What is the purpose of this article ? Is it considered that Japanese people must be proud of him ?

I wonder if yamanashi was trying to comment on the fact that this article is under the 'national' section of the paper? That was a strange place to put it. It should be under 'world' news, as this veteran was not a Japanese national.

Turbosat, much appreciated for the further references. I add them to my future reading list. Good stuff.