Seattle-born Shiro Kashino was a teenager when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Japanese Americans on the West Coast were sent to incarceration camps. Imprisoned at Minidoka, Idaho, Kashino enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, joining the famed all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team that fought in France and Italy and earned 21 Medals of Honor – including one conferred on Kashino. But while Kashino was a bonafide American war hero, an Army court found him guilty of participating in a bar fight in France, jailed him for two weeks, and stipped him of his rank. More than 50 years later, the military reviewed the matter and restored Kashino's rank in 1997 – months after Kashino died of cancer.
Star Quarterback
Born in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood in 1922, Shiro "Kash" Kashino was the son of Japanese immigrants, a Nisei (the first generation born in the U.S.). The youngest of six children, he was raised in Leschi on the 500 block of 32nd Avenue, where his parents had rented a house when they moved to Seattle from Denver in about 1918. His father had worked in Denver for the S. Ban Company, an import/export business, and then he became the company's Seattle branch manager.
Eighteen minutes into the 1986 documentary film East of Occidental, there is a photo of a child in a Leschi School baseball uniform. That was Kashino, who was interviewed for the film.
After both of his parents died within a year (1934 and 1935), the older children moved the family to 731 18th Avenue on what was once called Renton Hill – now thought of as the southern part of Capitol Hill.
Life moved along. Kashino was a star quarterback on the 1938 Garfield High School football team that won the city championship. But everything changed after Pearl Harbor. By May 1942, every person of Japanese descent on the West Coast, whether a citizen or not, had been ordered to report to "assembly centers" and then relocated to incarceration camps inland. Most Japanese Americans in the Puget Sound area were first sent to makeshift camps at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, and then to Minidoka, Idaho, a barren desert tract that was soon fashioned to primitive quarters for many thousands of detainees.
Kashino had lived most of his young life in what he referred to as "all-white" Leschi, which it was in those days. He later said that growing up among whites, and then attending multi-racial Garfield High School, taught him how to get along with people of different backgrounds and to assimilate. He was unreserved – atypical of Nisei males, his daughter said – and stood up for what he thought was right. When bullied by bigger students at Garfield, he fought back.
The camp at Minidoka was his first exposure to a larger Japanese community. Before the war, most Japanese Americans in Seattle lived in Nihonmachi (Japantown), centered from Yesler Way to Jackson Street, from today’s International District up to about 18th Avenue.
In the 2009 book A Tragedy of Democracy, author Greg Robinson wrote, "Fears of Japanese American disloyalty before Pearl Harbor were based overwhelmingly on bias ... There have never been any documented cases of sabotage or spying by any west coast Japanese Americans; nor even in Hawaii, with the minor exception of one individual, who was not prosecuted" (Robinson).
Off to War
By 1943, the Nisei were offered the opportunity to enlist in the U.S. military. Many joined, eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the land of their birth and citizenship. Kashino was among them, assigned to the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for which he took on a leadership role, having been promoted to staff sergeant. His company fought the Nazis valiantly in France and Italy and Kashino was wounded in action several times. In his first engagement with enemy troops, in Italy, his head was grazed by a bullet. After being treated at a field hospital, he was told that the 442nd was being moved to France and that he could join them later. Instead, he collected his clothes and left the hospital, without permission, to stay with his troops – his first of several cases of "reverse AWOL."
In October 1944, as Allied forces battled through France toward Germany, Kashino’s company was sent to the German-occupied town of Bruyeres. Fighting from tree to tree in the surrounding forest, and from building to building in the town, the Japanese American unit prevailed against German defenders trying to prevent another advance toward their borders.
The Japanese Americans looked forward to a bit of rest after their victory at Bruyeres. But almost immediately they were dispatched to rescue a nearby battalion of soldiers from Texas who had been surrounded by German troops in a forest outside of Bruyeres. Fighting to rescue what became known as the "Lost Battalion" went on for four days, led by Kashino under miserable conditions. The 442nd prevailed in the rescue, though Kashino was wounded twice. After being treated for the first injury, he rejected the advice of medics to sit out the rest of the battle. Insisting on getting back to the front, he slipped away before anyone could stop him.
In the midst of the Lost Battalion rescue, on its second day, Lt. Colonel Alfred Pursell, the battalion commander, ordered Kashino and other volunteers to meet a re-supply convoy of trucks approaching that evening. Kashino demurred, concerned that the nearby Germans would hear the trucks and attack his men. He urged waiting until the next morning. The commander insisted, so Kashino led the unprotected group of a dozen soldiers along a trail to the trucks. As Kashino had predicted, the Germans fired on the group, killing eight and wounding three more. Kashino was the only one not injured seriously. Yet his commander’s order had given him no choice.
Conflict and Punishment
Upon returning to his base, Kashino confronted the officer about the results of his command and added that the soldiers would rather have starved in the U.S. incarceration camp from which they came than go on a needlessly dangerous mission. The commander was later overheard saying that Kashino would pay for his insubordination – and that is what eventually happened.
Fighting continued the next day, with Kashino leading a charge on the hill separating his men from the Lost Battalion. During that day’s fighting, he was shot in the back. He wanted to continue fighting but was convinced by one of his soldiers to get medical attention. He did, and was told to rest, but once again he left the aid station before he could be stopped. He got a ride back to the fighting in a supply jeep. But the jeep drove into an ambush, and Kashino sustained a severe leg injury. He was sent to England for recovery, which took three months.
Once recovered, he turned down the opportunity to be sent home. He was ordered to escort soldiers across the English Channel for assignment in France. There, he found the 442nd in southeastern France and rejoined them. In celebration, they went out on the town on that February 1945 evening, settling in for beers at a dance hall. One of their number became belligerent and punched a military police officer, setting off a barroom brawl. Things were eventually smoothed over, and the MPs left without making any arrests. Within a day or two, however, four of the soldiers who had been at the bar, including Kashino, were arrested by MPs. The officer who ordered the arrests was none other than Colonel Pursell, the commander whom Kashino had confronted months before, now getting his revenge.
Valor on the Gothic Line
After the men, including Kashino, had been confined for a month, the 442nd was redeployed to Italy, and after some delay, Kashino and two of the other three prisoners went with the unit. They were sent to fight in the Battle of the Gothic Line, which began on April 5, 1945. The Gothic Line is the Apennine mountain range, which cross northern Italy east to west, and historically had been impenetrable when controlled from the ridgetop. The U.S. 5th Army had already been repelled. The challenge for U.S. troops was how to take the German defensive line, when every known road to the top was controlled by German troops.
The attack strategy was to climb the steep, 3,000-foot granite cliff from its back side on unknown roads in the dark of night. Kashino led his group to the top, finding that the Germans, who had never expected an attack from the rear, were not guarding that side at all. The western end of the German Gothic Line defense collapsed within a half hour of the Americans reaching the top. Fighting their way along the ridgetop, the Americans and Allied forces prevailed. German forces in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945, followed less than a week later by Germany’s total surrender.
In the course of the fighting, Kashino was injured three times. In the same battle, Lt. Daniel Inouye, the future U.S. senator, was shot in his right arm, which then had to be amputated. Kashino was awarded the military’s Silver Star "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy," for his actions in battle on April 14, 1945, in Italy. The award describes Kashino’s leadership:
"Kashino led a platoon in an attack on an enemy observation post located on a hill overlooking Carrara. Leaving one squad to support the assault as a base of fire, Staff Sergeant Kashino led two squads to the foot of their objective where he sent one squad to the right and one to the left while he proceeded alone to the peak of the reverse slope.
"Reaching the top, he encountered two enemy emplacements, each manned by two enemy soldiers. Opening up with his submachine gun, he killed two and wounded a third as they fled down the slope of the hill.
"Meanwhile, hostile forces began firing on the assault group from three sides and the platoon leader asked for volunteers to go back and ask for mortar support. He volunteered to go and, while descending the hill, noticed a number of his men who were wounded and under enemy machine gun fire. The foe fired at him but he delivered his message to the mortar section and returned to aid the wounded, found their strength depleted by casualties, and went back to the mortar section and obtained makeshift litters and bearers who, directed by him, evacuated the injured.
"He then returned to the top of the hill and reorganized his men for defense. At dawn, the foe counterattacked again but Staff Sergeant Kashino fully exposed himself and wounded two and pinned down three more of the foe who were attempting to creep up on his position.
"His heroic gallantry exemplifies the highest traditions of the American Soldier" ("Shiro Kashino – Hall of Valor").
Honor Restored
Just a few days after the end of the European war, Kashino was brought to trial, along with the other two survivors of battle, on charges from the bar altercation in France. Denied counsel or witnesses, they were found guilty, sentenced to six months in the stockade without pay, and stripped of their ranks. Kashino was released after two months in consideration of his front-line service. He was shipped home in September 1945 and discharged the following month.
Nearly 20 years later, at a military reunion, he was advised by a former officer to appeal his case. This led to a series of legal proceedings that lasted for 14 years, culminating in a reversal of Kashino’s conviction and the reinstatement of his rank. Alas, the decision came six months after Kashino had died of cancer.
In addition to setting aside the court-martial conviction, the military judge wrote to Kashino’s wife, "Your husband was an American Hero – and that is how he should be remembered" ("Shiro 'Kash' Kashino ...").
For his military service and heroism, Kashino was awarded
- Six Purple Hearts, a U.S. military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving.
- Two Bronze Stars, a U.S. military decoration awarded for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
- One Silver Star, the U.S. military’s third-highest decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the military for outstanding courage in action.
- The Congressional Gold Medal, the most distinguished form of recognition bestowed by Congress. Through this tradition, Congress expresses public gratitude on behalf of the nation for distinguished contributions. Due to Kashino’s court martial conviction, not reversed until 50 years later, he did not receive this honor in his lifetime. However, in November 2011, all members of the 442nd were awarded the honor collectively.
A Full Life
After the war, Kashino traveled to Chicago to reunite with Louise Tsuboi; they had fallen in love at Minidoka. They married in December 1945. He studied air conditioning and refrigeration at a technical institute in Chicago, but he couldn’t get work with the union due to his race, so they returned to Seattle. He found the same exclusion in Seattle as well. Eventually he got work as a car salesman, which he did for many years. While at Seattle’s Smith-Gandy Ford, he participated in the salesmen’s strike of 1958. Years later, after that company went out of business, he was hired at Bill Pierre Ford in Lake City, where he became a manager.
In Seattle, where the Kashinos raised three daughters, he became a community leader, helping to establish the Nisei Veterans Committee’s (NVC) memorial hall in historic Japantown, which honors him to this day with a display. He became the second commander of the NVC. In his leadership of the committee, Kashino steered it as not only a veterans group but also a community organization. He encouraged sponsorship of youth basketball and baseball programs. He was the organizer of many community events that encouraged families and community members to engage in social interactions, such as dances, bazaars, and picnics. Because of the discrimination at the time, these social events were important in rebuilding a Japanese American community.
An important achievement of Kashino’s was raising the money to erect the memorial monument at Seattle’s Lakeview Cemetery in honor of Washington's Nisei war dead. This was accomplished around 1949.
His daughter Debbie said that as she was growing up, her father didn't talk about his past publicly. However, when he was diagnosed with cancer in 1991, he realized he had a message he needed to convey. "I think when he realized he had cancer he was more interested in telling his story,” she told The Seattle Times. "He wanted to leave a legacy for Japanese Americans to have pride in who we are" ("Shiro 'Kash" Kashino ..."). He did this, she said, through telling stories that showed the bravery and courage of those Japanese Americans who fought in war.
Shiro Kashino died on June 11, 1997, six years after his cancer diagnosis. The funeral of this beloved Japanese American community leader was attended by 750 people. He is buried in Seattle’s Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park.
