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Army Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro poses for a photo at Yokohama Port, Japan, 1959.
Episode 2705 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Army Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange in her story reported that according to DoD documents, When Army Staff Sgt. Edward Noboru Kaneshiro learned his fellow soldiers were in trouble in Vietnam, he didn’t hesitate to take on the enemy alone. His fearlessness and courage saved his comrades and led to mission success. More than five decades after that feat, the award Kaneshiro initially earned was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
Lange also reported that Kaneshiro was born July 22, 1928, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Japanese immigrants. He was the 8th of 16 children – nine boys and seven girls – and grew up working on his family’s farm. He graduated from Leilehua High School in June 1946 and worked for several civilian employers before enlisting in the Army on April 2, 1959, four months before Hawaii became a state.
On the morning of Dec. 1, 1966, their platoon came upon a village. Two of the platoon’s squads had deployed to its center, while Kaneshiro’s squad scouted more open terrain to the village’s east. No one in the platoon knew the village was heavily fortified with a bunker and concealed trench system that was harboring a massive force of enemy fighters.
Thanks to Kaneshiro’s incredible bravery, the squads were able to get to safety and reorganize as a platoon, which led to many saved lives and a successful withdrawal from the village.
Listen to episode 2705 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Army Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
