The Heroic Story Of First Class Frank H. Ono of Delta, Colorado, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII.
The Heroic Story Of First Class Frank H. Ono of Delta, Colorado, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII.
U.S. Army Private First Class Frank H. Ono of Delta, Colorado, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on July 4, 1944, near Castellina Marittima, Italy.
Ono’s father was an immigrant from Japan, while his mother was from Ireland. He was a Nisei, which means he was a second-generation Japanese-American.
He joined the Army in September 1943 and volunteered to be a part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, mostly made up of Japanese-Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.
During a battle on July 4, 1944, near Castellina Marittima, Italy, Ono advanced ahead of his unit and single-handedly defended his position against an enemy counter-attack. He then braved intense hostile fire to aid two wounded comrades and voluntarily covered his unit's withdrawal when it became necessary to retreat.
Ono left the Army while still a private first class. He died in 1980 at age 56 and was buried in Highland Cemetery, North Judson, Indiana.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the battle. A 1990’s review of service records for Asian Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II led to Ono’s award being upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
Related topic
Nile Clarke Kinnick Jr. (July 9, 1918 – June 2, 1943) was an American naval aviator, law student, and college football player at the University of Iowa.
He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All-American. He died during a training flight while serving as a United States Navy aviator in World War II.
Kinnick was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, and the University of Iowa renamed its football stadium Kinnick Stadium in his honor in 1972.
On June 2, 1943, Ensign Kinnick was on a routine training flight from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington off the coast of Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria.
He had been flying for over an hour when his Grumman F4F Wildcat developed an oil leak so severe that he could neither reach land nor the Lexington, whose flight deck was already crowded with planes preparing for launch anyway.
He followed standard military procedure and executed an emergency landing in the water but died in the process.
Rescue boats arrived on the scene eight minutes later but found only an oil slick. His body was never recovered.
He was one month and seven days away from his 25th birthday and was the first Heisman Trophy winner to die.
Thanks for reading, leave your thought in the comment section below.
Comments
Post a Comment