President honors three Asian American heroes

 Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi's challenge to incarceration of Japanese Americans went all the way to the US Supreme Court where she won her case.

As his administration winds down, President Biden took time to honor three Asian American heroes.

On January 2, 2025 the President awarded the highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom to Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi for her role in challenging the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Amerians during World War II.

The following day, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. awarded the Medal of Honor to seven US Army soldiers, two of whom were Asian Americans: Private First Class Wataru Nakamura (posthumous) and Private Bruno R. Orig (posthumous),

Born in Sacramento, California, Endo challenged the injustice and reached the Supreme Court. Her resolve allowed thousands of Japanese Americans to return home and rebuild their lives, reminding us that we are a Nation that stands for freedom for all.

Endo is one of four and the only woman who challenged the constitutionality of the Japanese American incarceration and the only one to win her case. The other challengers were Gordon Hirabayashi, Min Yasui, and Fred Korematsu, whose cases were not successful. 

Though her case was the only successful one, Endo’s legacy is less known than the other thre. While the three men have been awarded the Presidential Medals of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed on American civilians. Endo was overlooked.

“I think that it relates in two parts: the fact that she’s a woman [and] I think it relates in part to the fact that her case hasn’t been elevated,” said Kathryn Bannai, 73, a member of Endo’s Presidential Medal of Freedom committee, speaking to NBC News in May 2024. 

The Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest honor awarded to civilians, is awarded to US citizenswho have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice.

The Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of valor for those in the military.

The others receiving Medals of Honor wereCorporal Fred B. McGee (posthumous), Private First Class Charles R. Johnson (posthumous), retired General Richard E. Cavazos (posthumous), Captain Hugh R. Nelson, Jr. (posthumous), and Specialist Fourth Class Kenneth J. David.   

All of the January honorees were from minority groups. In August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed secretaries of the military branches to review decorations given to Black and Native American veterans to determine whether their actions “warrant the award of the Medal of Honor,” the military’s highest award for valor.

Of the more than 3,500 service members who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, only 94 African Americans, 59 Hispanic and 35 Asian or Pacific Islanders have received the decoration, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. 

Following are the battlefield incidents that earned the Medal of Honor for the Asian Anerucans:

Wataru Nakamura 

Pfc. Nakamura was a 20-year-old Japanese-American when the U.S. entered World War II and then-President Franklin Roosevelt ordered citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps. Nakamura and his family were sent to a camp in Rowher, Ark.

Wataru Nakmura

After Japanese American men were allowed to enlist, he signed up for the Army, according to his nephew Gary Takashima. He was assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese-American unit that fought in Italy and became one of the most decorated American units of the war. 

After World War II, Nakamura joined the Army Reserve and was called up when the Korean War began. On May 18, 1951, Nakamura, serving as a lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry Division, volunteered to repair a communications line between his platoon and the command post. 

As he made his way along the line, he came under fire from an enemy unit threatening to breach the company defense lines. Nakamura rushed the enemy troops with a fixed bayonet and singlehandedly destroyed a hostile machine gun position, driving the enemy from several bunkers that they had captured. 

When his ammunition ran low, he withdrew under intense enemy fire until he met an ammunition party climbing the hill. With more ammunition, Nakamura returned to the fight, killing three enemy soldiers in one bunker before charging another. 

Continuing to press the attack, he was mortally wounded by an enemy grenade. Nakamura was 29. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions and sacrifice. 

“He lost his life, volunteering for an assignment, helping out his unit,” Takashima said. “My uncle had a commitment to his service and his fellow soldiers. It impressed one of his buddies, Richard Edlebeck. When Richard learned years later his friend didn’t receive the Medal of Honor, he spent the rest of his life working on a packet.” Takashima said his uncle would have been honored to receive the award but “felt all of this was too much for doing what he was supposed to do.” 

Bruno Orig 

Pvt. Orig was born in Hawaii to parents from the Philippines. He was 11 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, plunging the U.S. into World War II. Following the example of his father and stepfather, he enlisted in the Army in 1950 less than two months after the North Koreans attacked the South, igniting the Korean War. 

Bruno Orig

On Feb. 15, 1951, while assigned to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Orig was returning from a wire-laying mission near Chipyong-ni, Korea, when he saw several of his comrades had been wounded during an attack. Disregarding his own safety, Orig rushed to them and began administering first aid under fire. 

With the help of several comrades from the company command post, Orig began removing the wounded to safety. A

fter returning to help more of the wounded, Orig volunteered to man a machine gun because most of the crew had been wounded. He provided covering fire so a platoon of allies could escape and continued firing even as his company’s positions were overrun. 

After the battle was over and the area secured, Orig was found dead beside his weapon. In front of his position lay the bodies of several enemy soldiers. He was 20 years old. 

For his sacrifice, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

 “He came upon a firefight, rescued fellow soldiers, took a machine gun position, engaged with the enemy and ultimately died in action,” his nephew Charles “Chuck” Allen III said. “But [he] saved a platoon and doing that is now being recognized.” 

“I was deeply honored to join the President and the family of Private Orig in this long-deserved and long-overdue recognition of his truly extraordinary heroism," said Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii. "That this true son of Hawai‘i gave the ultimate measure of devotion to save the lives of his comrades, and that our country has the capacity to right wrongs of omission decades later, represents the very best of our military and of our nation.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.