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Vincent Okamoto
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Vincent Okamoto
please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
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{{Short description|WWII relocation camp internee, US Army officer, judge and author (1943â2020)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
factoids | |
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| serviceyears = 1967â1970
Biography
Okamoto was born November 22, 1943, to an American family of Japanese origin that was interned during the Second World War at the Poston relocation camp in Arizona. He was the youngest of the ten children of Henry and Yone Okamoto.Following the family's release they moved to South Chicago, where his parents ran a small grocery store. The family later moved to Gardena, California, when he was twelve years old. He attended Gardena High School, where he served as senior class president. He was a three-year letterman in track and football and belonged to the Men's Honor Society.{{citation |last=Penh|first=Ronald|title=JVincent Okamoto, Vietnam War hero and LA Superior Court Judge, dies at 76| newspaper=Gardena Valley News |date=October 9, 2020 |url=https://gardenavalleynews.org/vincent-okamoto-vietnam-war-hero-and-la-superior-court-judge-dies-at-76/}}US Army and career in Vietnam
Okamoto attended El Camino College from 1962 to 1965. From 1965 to 1967 he attended University of Southern California (USC) receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations in 1967. He enrolled in the ROTC and was the first non-UCLA student to be commissioned through the UCLA ROTC program. He earned his commission as a U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant.After receiving Ranger training he was given orders to report to Vietnam. In 1968, Okamoto was assigned as the intelligence-liaison officer for two months for the Phoenix Program while attached to Company B of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.Okamoto distinguished himself on August 24, 1968, while serving as a platoon leader with an infantry unit near Dầu Tiếng. A ground attack was launched against his battalion's night location by three reinforced People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong companies. The initial assault destroyed a strategic section of the perimeter. Under heavy automatic weapons, small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire, Okamoto moved five of his men to restore this vital position.Realizing the need for supporting fire, he ran to a partially destroyed armored personnel carrier and manned its machine gun. After the weapon malfunctioned, he dashed through the fusillade of enemy fire to a second and then a third carrier to place suppressing fire on enemy soldiers."Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides" by Christian G. Appy, Penguin Books, 2003, page 361. www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142004499Civilian life
Personal
After returning to civilian life, he enrolled in college and attained his law degree at USC. He also married his sweetheart, Mitzi Nishiyama on December 8, 1967. He was also instrumental in establishing the Japanese American Vietnam War Veterans Memorial at the National Japanese American Veterans Memorial Court.Legal
Okamoto spent five years as a prosecutor and eight years practicing law privately.On April 15, 2002, Governor Gray Davis appointed Okamoto to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench. He was honored as the 2006 UCLA Veteran of the Year. Okamoto continued to serve the community on various Veterans boards, in Gardena city government.Writing
Okamoto was a novelist as well, having penned Wolfhound Samurai: A Novel of the Vietnam War.search.barnesandnoble.com/Wolfhound-Samurai His second publication called Forged in Fire: The Story of Hershey and Joe was released in 2012.www.amazon.com/Forged-Fire-Hershey-Based-StoryDeath
Okamoto died on Sunday, September 27, 2020.{{citation |title=Judge Vincent Okamoto Dies at Age 76| newspaper=Pacific Citizen |date=September 27, 2020 |url=https://www.pacificcitizen.org/judge-vincent-okamoto-dies-at-age-76/}} The official cause of death was ruled as a cardiac arrest. He was laid to rest next to his mother, Yone Okamoto at Green Hills Cemetery.Honors
Okamoto was the highest-decorated living Japanese-American veteran of the Vietnam War. His medals include- Purple Heart with three oak leaf clusters
- Distinguished Service Cross
- Silver Star
- Bronze Star
- Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
See also
References
{{Reflist}}{{Arizona during World War II}}- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "Vincent Okamoto" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 7:22am EDT - Sat, May 18 2024
- "Vincent Okamoto" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 7:22am EDT - Sat, May 18 2024
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