{"id":7637,"date":"2026-03-25T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7637"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:30:00","slug":"a-hero-at-la-torreto-army-pvt-shinyei-nakamine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7637","title":{"rendered":"A Hero at La Torreto: Army Pvt. Shinyei Nakamine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-03-25T13:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>On June 2, 1944, in the rugged terrain near La Torreto, Italy, a young man from Honolulu displayed the \u201cextraordinary heroism\u201d we think about on Medal of Honor Day.<\/p>\n<p>This is the story of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmohs.org\/recipients\/shinyei-nakamine\" rel=\"noopener\">Army Pvt. Shinyei Nakamine<\/a>, a Nisei soldier of the legendary \u201cPurple Heart Battalion.\u201d Company B, 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was composed primarily of Japanese Americans who fought with a ferocity and devotion that earned them a place in history. They would eventually join the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=442\">442nd Regimental Combat Team<\/a> and become the most decorated unit for its size and length of service.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A one-man offensive<\/h2>\n<p>On that June afternoon, the company\u2019s mission hit a deadly wall of German machine-gun crossfire. Pinned down 200 yards from a hostile knoll, the situation was dire. On his own initiative, Nakamine began a series of valorous actions:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The First Nest: He crawled through the dirt to within 25 yards of an enemy position. He charged, firing his submachine gun, killing three and capturing two.<\/li>\n<li>The Flank: Later that day, he spotted an enemy scout on the right flank. Again, he crawled 25 yards closer and neutralized the threat.<\/li>\n<li>The Second Nest: Spotting another nest 75 yards away, he returned to his platoon, grabbed an automatic rifle team, and led them back. He crawled to within grenade range, wounding one and capturing four more.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The ultimate sacrifice<\/h2>\n<p>After these heroic feats, Nakamine wasn\u2019t finished. Spotting a third machine-gun nest 100 yards to his right, he once again led his team toward the danger. It was during this final push that he was killed by a burst of machine-gun fire. He was 24 years old.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A delayed honor<\/h2>\n<p>For decades, the full extent of the heroism displayed by Nisei soldiers like Nakamine wasn\u2019t fully recognized at the highest level. That changed on June 21, 2000.<\/p>\n<p>President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to Nakamine\u2019s sister, Anita Korenaga, in a ceremony at the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rest in peace<\/h2>\n<p>Private Nakamine is laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.<\/p>\n<p>He remains a symbol of the \u201cGo For Broke\u201d spirit\u2014a reminder that courage transcends race and that the cost of freedom is often borne by the young and the brave.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/145796\/a-hero-at-la-torreto-shinyei-nakamine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On June 2, 1944, in the rugged terrain near La Torreto, Italy, a young man from Honolulu displayed the &#8220;extraordinary heroism&#8221; we think about on Medal of Honor Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Hero at La Torreto: Army Pvt. 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