Most Honorable Son
eBook - ePub

Most Honorable Son

A Forgotten Hero's Fight Against Fascism and Hate During World War II

  1. 432 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Most Honorable Son

A Forgotten Hero's Fight Against Fascism and Hate During World War II

About this book

Foreword by Naomi Ostwald Kawamura of Densho

Introduction by William Fujioka of JANM

Afterword by Jonathan Eig

The first comprehensive biography of unjustly forgotten Japanese American war hero Ben Kuroki, who fought the Axis powers during World War II and battled racism, injustice, and prejudice on the home front.

WINNER OF THE NEBRASKA BOOK AWARD


Ben Kuroki was a twenty-four-year-old Japanese American farm boy whose heritage was never a problem in remote Nebraska—until Pearl Harbor. Among the millions of Americans who flocked to military stations to enlist, Ben wanted to avenge the attack, reclaim his family honor, and prove his patriotism. But as anti-Japanese sentiment soared, Ben had to fight to be allowed to fight for America. And fight he did.

As a gunner on Army Air Forces bombers, Ben flew fifty-eight missions spanning three combat theaters: Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific, including the climactic B-29 firebombing campaign against Japan that culminated with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He flew some of the war’s boldest and bloodiest air missions and lived to tell about it. In between his tours in Europe and the Pacific, he challenged FDR’s shameful incarceration of more than one hundred thousand people of Japanese ancestry in America, and he would be credited by some with setting in motion the debate that reversed a grave national dishonor. In the euphoric wake of America’s victory, the decorated war hero used his national platform to carry out what he called his “fifty-ninth mission,” urging his fellow Americans to do more to eliminate bigotry and racism at home.

Told in full for the first time, and long overdue, Ben’s extraordinary story is a quintessentially American one of patriotism, principle, perseverance, and courage. It’s about being in the vanguard of history, the bonding of a band of brothers united in a just cause, a timeless and unflinching account of racial bigotry, and one man’s transcendent sense of belonging—in war, in peace, abroad, and at home.

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Yes, you can access Most Honorable Son by Gregg Jones in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Praise
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Table of Contents
  6. FOREWORD
  7. INTRODUCTION
  8. PROLOGUE
  9. Chapter 1 - FIT FOR SERVICE
  10. Chapter 2 - “THIS IS URGENT”
  11. Chapter 3 - “THIS IS YOUR COUNTRY”
  12. Chapter 4 - ALONE
  13. Chapter 5 - “ARE YOU AN AMERICAN CITIZEN?”
  14. Chapter 6 - “IN NO SENSE READY FOR COMBAT”
  15. Chapter 7 - QUEEN OF THE SEAS
  16. Chapter 8 - “CHINAMAN BOY”
  17. Chapter 9 - “HEY, THEY’RE SHOOTING AT US!”
  18. Chapter 10 - “LOOK AT ME NOW”
  19. Chapter 11 - “ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING?”
  20. Chapter 12 - A BIG CHANCE
  21. Chapter 13 - “NOW, I BELONG”
  22. Chapter 14 - GAMBUT
  23. Chapter 15 - BROTHERS IN ARMS
  24. Chapter 16 - ON TO ITALY
  25. Chapter 17 - BIG DEALER
  26. Chapter 18 - DOUBLE TROUBLE
  27. Chapter 19 - NO END IN SIGHT
  28. Chapter 20 - RETURN TO ENGLAND
  29. Chapter 21 - MISSING IN ACTION
  30. Chapter 22 - PRISONERS IN A GILDED CAGE
  31. Chapter 23 - TUPELO LASS
  32. Chapter 24 - SPECIAL ORDERS NUMBER 174
  33. Chapter 25 - THE BIG ONE
  34. Chapter 26 - TIDAL WAVE
  35. Chapter 27 - A HELLHOLE OF FIRE, FLAME, AND SMOKE
  36. Chapter 28 - THE LONGEST NIGHT
  37. Chapter 29 - LIMBO
  38. Chapter 30 - MORAN CREW
  39. Chapter 31 - A DISAPPOINTING FINALE
  40. Chapter 32 - AN ENEMY AT PEAK STRENGTH
  41. Chapter 33 - THE KILLING MONTH
  42. Chapter 34 - DEATH DENIED
  43. Chapter 35 - HOMECOMING
  44. Chapter 36 - MOST HONORABLE SON
  45. Chapter 37 - RESIST THE DRAFT
  46. Chapter 38 - COMMONWEALTH CLUB
  47. Chapter 39 - “NO TURNING BACK”
  48. Chapter 40 - HEART MOUNTAIN
  49. Chapter 41 - A TURNING POINT
  50. Chapter 42 - HONORABLE SAD SAKI
  51. Chapter 43 - TINIAN
  52. Chapter 44 - DÉJÀ VU
  53. Chapter 45 - FIREBOMBING TOKYO
  54. Chapter 46 - WOUNDED ENEMY
  55. Chapter 47 - A WAR WITHOUT MERCY
  56. Chapter 48 - OUT OF LUCK
  57. Chapter 49 - UNSCRIPTED ENDING
  58. Chapter 50 - A GREATER CAUSE
  59. Chapter 51 - FIFTY-NINTH MISSION
  60. Chapter 52 - A PATH IN PEACE
  61. Chapter 53 - PUBLISHER, REPORTER, EDITOR
  62. Chapter 54 - HIDDEN HEROES
  63. Chapter 55 - RECKONING, REMEMBRANCE, AND REWARD
  64. EPILOGUE
  65. AFTERWORD
  66. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  67. NOTE ON SOURCES
  68. ENDNOTES
  69. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
  70. ABOUT THE AUTHOR