Kobe Shoji
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Kobe Shoji | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 27, 1920 Upland, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 13, 2004 (aged 84) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Agriculturist |
| Employers | |
| Known for | Sugar cane expertise |
| Spouse |
Chizuko "Chiz" Fujiwara
(m. 1943) |
| Children | 3, including Dave |
| Military career | |
| Branch | U.S. Army |
| Service years | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | First Sergeant |
| Unit | 442nd Infantry Regiment |
| Awards | |
Kobe Shoji (July 27, 1920 – November 13, 2004) was an American executive in the sugar cane industry, veteran of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, and athlete.[1][2][3][4]
Shoji was born in Upland, California; his father, a Japanese immigrant, owned a lemon farm.[2] He enrolled at Chaffey Junior College before transferring to Pomona College. He was active in athletics as a single-wing tailback and a long jumper for the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.[1]
Internment and military service
In his junior year, in response to Executive Order 9066, the college's president E. Wilson Lyon arranged for him and the college's other Japanese-American students to temporarily transfer to Oberlin College, but he instead elected to go into internment with his family.[5] He was relocated to the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, where he met his wife Chiz and endured heat of 120 °F (49 °C) in the shade.[2][4] The next year, he chose to enlist in the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a fighting unit composed almost entirely of second-generation Japanese-Americans which became the most decorated in U.S. military history.[6][7] After completing basic training, he married Chiz at Poston in 1943 and was sent to Europe.[1] He fought in southern France and Italy, attained the rank of First Sergeant, and was awarded two Purple Hearts for his service.[1][8]