Pvt. Kenneth Otagaki, 27, Japanese American veteran of the famed 100th Infantry Battalion which is still making news in Italy ...

1944-07

War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement, 1942-1945 circa 1941-1947

WRA no. G-681

Image

The Bancroft Library

Full title:Pvt. Kenneth Otagaki, 27, Japanese American veteran of the famed 100th Infantry Battalion which is still making news in Italy is the first of his fellows at Walter Reed Hospital to receive the Combat Infantryman Badge, awarded to men who come up to War Department specifications in the field, particularly under combat conditions. Otagaki, who is wearing the new decoration, received the Purple Heart January 23, ten days after shrapnel from an exploding mortar shell cost him a leg, several fingers and the sight of one eye. He has been at Walter Reed two months. A native of Hawaii, Pvt. Otagaki was manager of a farm near Honolulu at the time he entered army service 42 months ago. After he has learned to walk again, he hopes to return to Honolulu, where, he says, he has jobs waiting. The Combat Infantryman Badge is a narrow rectangle. The silver wreath circling the pin distinguishes it from the Expert Infantryman Badge. Its award carries a ten dollar monthly pay increase. Photographer: Van Tassel, Gretchen "Washington, D.C.", .
Part of: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement

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