George Sakato, 94, Dies; Awarded Medal of Honor [View all]

George T. Sakato didn’t think he would be much of a combat soldier. He was only 5 feet 4 inches tall, and he couldn’t hit the target on the rifle range in Army basic training.

But in a firefight in the Vosges Mountains of northeast France in October 1944, Private Sakato engaged in extraordinary feats of heroism. He killed five German soldiers and captured four others, then made a one-man rush under heavy fire that enabled his squad to destroy a German strongpoint atop a hill. When his squad leader was killed in a counterattack, he took charge, killed another seven enemy soldiers and assisted in taking 34 prisoners in all.

Mr. Sakato died on Wednesday in Denver at 94. He was the last survivor of the seven living Japanese-American veterans to whom tribute was paid more than a half a century after they fought gallantly for a nation that feared and loathed their people.

His daughter, Leslie Sakato, confirmed his death.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/obituaries/george-sakato-94-dies-awarded-medal-of-honor.html?ref=todayspaper