Before he walked into the annals of history as one of the Greatest Generation, Ed Tanaka walked across the stage of his St. Louis High School to a standing ovation.
American-born, Tanaka joined the US Army’s 100th/442nd Regiment, made up of Japanese- American volunteers. It was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare!
The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit had to be replaced nearly 2.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations; twenty-one of its members earned Medals of Honor. Its motto was “Go for Broke”, which became the title of a book written by his brother.
Shortly before he enlisted at 19, he was watching a newsreel at a theater with his two best buddies — one from an Italian family, the other from a German one. When the newsreel showed Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. “We just burst out laughing because there we were.”
In 1946 Tanaka was befriended by a Czech prisoner. Paul Penczner painted a picture of him on a tent canvas with a frame made from an ammunition box. That painting became Tanaka’s prized possession. Penczner’s works now hang in the Vatican, the Supreme Court, the White House, and a Tanaka household.
After serving his country with honor, Tanaka was denied a home because of his Japanese heritage and had to marry in another state because it was illegal for a “yellow” to marry a white in Missouri. His response was to “Love your enemy with humor.”
It was this humor I remember him for. The father of my neighbor, he was always interesting, with a ready smile, a twinkle in his eye, and an infectious giggle.
He truly was one of the Greatest Generation.
