World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseGeorge Taro Sakato was born in Colton, California, United States to Japanese immigrants. He graduated from Redlands High School in Redlands, California. In early 1942, his family moved to Arizona, United States in order to avoid being interned by the US government on the basis of their ancestry. He enlisted in the US Army in Mar 1944 and volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team consisted of mostly Japanese-Americans. On 29 Oct 1944, while fighting on a hill code named Hill 617 by the US Army near Biffontaine, France, after his platoon had nearly destroyed two German defense lines, his unit was pinned down by hostile fire. He led a charge that overcame a German position. After his squad leader was killed in combat, he took command of the squad and halted a German counterattack. For this action, he was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross medal. After a 1990s review of US military service records of Americans of Asian descent, the award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award of the US military. It was presented to Sakato by US President Bill Clinton at the White House in Washington DC, United States in Jun 2000. He passed away in Denver, Colorado, United States in 2015. He was buried at the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

George Sakato Interactive Map

Photographs

George Sakato Timeline