23rd Hiroshi H. Miyamura

Good morning,

I hope you are well.

This week we honor a Veteran who sadly passed away last year, his story is incredible and I'm surprised Hollywood has not produced a film about it.

But first!

On this day - 1968

On this day 55 years ago the USS Pueblo and its 83 crew members were captured by North Korean forces after they allegedly entered Korean territorial waters (within 12 miles of land).

The crew were taken to POW camps. When spoken to afterwards, they talked about starvation and torture by their captors. They were released exactly 11 months later and incredibly, North Korea still have the USS Pueblo which is still stated as active and is in commission.

North Korea are currently using the ship as a museum, and do not look like they will be handing it back anytime soon!

In todays newsletter we honor.....

Hiroshi H. Miyamura

At the time he passed away he was only one of the two last surviving Medal of Honor (MOH) recipients of the Korean War. His MOH was the first one to be classified as "Top Secret", but why? Well for very good reason, read on to discover.....⬇️ 

His nickname was "Hershey" because a teacher couldn't pronounce "Hiroshi" and this stuck throughout his life. I still get called by my nickname from other Veterans I served with, but that's another story...

"Hershey" was the son of Japanese immigrant's and was the forth of nine children. Sadly his mother passed away when he was just 11 years old.

He joined the United States Army in January 1945 and was a machine gunner in the 100th Infantry Regiment, 442nd Infantry Regiment. "Hershey" volunteered to join them due to his Japanese ancestry as this regiment was made up of primarily Japanese-Americans.

"Hershey" was discharged from the Army just after Japan surrendered. He then enlisted as a reservist before going back to his home town Gallup, New Mexico, where he became and auto mechanic and owned a service station. He was then recalled to active duty following the start of the Korean War.

On April 24th 1951, Hiroshi was serving as a Corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, when the Chinese conducted a night attack.

Hiroshi knew his men could not hold out much longer and so ordered his men to retreat, whilst he stayed and fought the enemy at close range, at times with his bayonet.

He bravely remained to cover their withdrawal, and it is estimated that he killed over 50 enemy soldiers before he was captured and taken prisoner.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor, but this was kept secret because as Brigadier General Ralph Osborne told reporters, "if the Reds knew what he had done to a good number of their soldiers just before he was taken prisoner, they might have taken revenge on this young man. He might not have come back"

For 28 months Hiroshi was a POW and kept in horrendous conditions, forced to March 300 miles over 5 weeks with little food, and for over a year his family did not know what had happened to him.

He often thought about his comrades in captivity and did not know that due to his actions many were saved from certain death.

After his release he was informed of his Medal of Honor and promoted to sergeant before being honourably discharged from the military shortly after.

He was a very active veterans ambassador right until the very end, until he died on November 29th 2022, and was buried with full military honors.

May he RIP.

Did you know?

Keeping to this weeks unexpected Korean War theme.

The Korean War was the first time that the United States used the newly formed United Nations as a cover for their military intervention. The UN passed a resolution to send troops to South Korea to defend it from the North Korean invasion. This marked the first time that the UN had authorized the use of military force, and it set a precedent for future UN-led peacekeeping operations.

Anything I can improve on, or if you know of any stories that are interesting let me know by hitting reply.

Have a great week and speak soon.