No one has ever
mentioned that there were two
Japanese-Americans in Company G 506th
Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne
Division. When Company G men would talk of
Izumi they were really remembering
Private First Class Takeshi Miyoko who
joined Company G February 11, 1945. The
reason they don’t remember Mr. Miyoko is
because he died in 1970 of a heart-attack
and time has forgotten him.
On August 8, 2007 Tim Moore tried to get
Izumi a Combat Infantry Badge when he
sent a letter to a Congressman. This
letter has been discredited by Tim Moore
himself in an email he sent me in January of
2019. What’s interesting in this letter is
that two of the men who claimed to have been
at Bastogne with Company G weren’t actually
there and a third man who signed it is still
not sure to this day if Izumi was there.
The three men were Ira
Morehart, Thomas Kennedy and James “Pee Wee”
Martin. Ira
Morehart came into Company G the same day
as Private First Class Takeshi Miyoko,
February 11, 1945. The second man Thomas
Kennedy was lost to hospital in
September
1944 and never came back to Company G so he
wasn’t their either.
Second Lieutenant Kennedy also signed a
different document saying that Izumi was
not only in Bastogne but was wounded there
too. Both documents signed by Thomas
Kennedy are false as we know now that Izumi
wasn’t at Bastogne and neither was Kennedy.
Why Kennedy lied twice we will never know.
We know that Kennedy lied because he wasn’t
even in Company G in Bastogne.
Mentioned above it talks of 2nd Lt Kennedy
in two paragraphs.
He attested to 2 different letters that
Izumi was at Bastogne.
Well guess what, 2nd Lt Thomas Kennedy
was back
home in the United States September 15, 1944
and did not leave the USA again in WWII.
Here is the documentation.
A person could can see where Ira Morehart thought he was in the Battle of the
Bulge after watching all of the movies and
TV shows over the years. He was in the
Alsace-Lorraine region starting February 11, 1945 and was
there the rest of the way. There is no
doubt that the Japanese-American was Private
First Class Miyoko that Mr. Morehart was
mentioning.
Mr. Martin in a signed affidavit in 2019
said he wasn't sure Izumi was there.
Mr. Martin doesn't have to wonder anymore.
Izumi wasn't there in the snow of the
Ardennes or Alsace-Lorraine regions but Takeshi Miyoko was
in the Alsace-Lorraine region when he joined
Company G February 11, 1945.
Two Company G
Commanders also said that Izumi was there.
The names of the two
Captains were Joseph Doughty and William
Cann. The only problem is that the two
Captains were also remembering Private First
Class Miyoko and not Izumi. Izumi didn’t
come in until after the war had ended.
Captain Joseph Doughty was with Company
G from Bastogne until March 8, 1945 when
Captain William Cann took over. Both
Doughty and Cann knew a Japanese-American
soldier when in command of the Company.
That man was Private First Class Takeshi
Miyoko.
In
the letter from Cann he was very
detailed about what was going on at the end
of the war. That was 2 weeks before Izumi
arrived into Company G (May 16, 1945). That
means it was Private First Class Takeshi
Miyoko who he remembers.
Captain Cann even
remembers that the Japanese-American
Paratrooper was as Private First Class.
Takeshi Miyoko was a Private First Class
while Izumi was just a Private when he came
into the Company three months after Miyoko.
The Bottom line is
Private First Class Takeshi Miyoko was in
the Alsace-Lorraine region as he joined Company G February
11, 1945 and was
awarded the Combat
Infantry Badge while
Izumi wasn't in Bastogne and didn’t come in until after the war was
over.
The man to remember is
Private First Class Takeshi Miyoko who died
so young in 1970.
Brian N. Siddall
February 29, 2020
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