Benny Saburo Nakazato, July 9, 1944

Benny lived in Stable Camp, Chin Chuck.  He had gone to Hakalau School, graduated from Hilo High and had started at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  On December 7th, he had been working at Pearl Harbor and rescued his wounded boss.  He returned to the Big Isle and, in March 1943, enlisted in the Army.
 
About 2 weeks before he was killed, his unit, the 100th/442nd, had captured the strongly held town of Belvedere, Italy for which they were given the highest award for a military unit - the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation. They continued up the west coast of Italy where Benny was killed by artillery on July 9, 1944. He was awarded the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster for having been wounded on more than one occasion.
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PFC Benny Saburo Nakazato
PFC Nakazato was survived by his parents, a sister and 2 brothers, one of whom was also fighting with the 100th in Italy at the time. Services were held at the Hakalau Japanese Language School in August 1944 with about 400 persons attending.  First interred at the Veterans Cemetery in Hilo, he was finally buried at Punchbowl when it was dedicated in 1949.
For the Hakalau Kuleana, our responsibility is to care for the land, the people, and the culture. We are guided by cultural values of YESTERDAY: Engage in collective effort. Look out for each other. Honor hard work. Show respect for those who came before us. Aloha and Mālama `Aina. In 2021, Akiko Masuda added two more values to the list: Consistently show up. Whatever has to be done, jump in and do it!