Gender

Male

Birth date

1923-9-11

Place of birth

Las Cruces NM, U.S.A.

Inducted

1942-10-12, Las Cruces NM

Enlistment type

Draftee

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

CO.D 159th BN. IRTC

Military specialty

Clerk Typist 405

Stationed

United States at Huntsville, Texas (Sam Houston College) Ardennes Rhineland Central Europe (Battle of the Bulge)

Separated

Camp Hood TX

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

Battle of the Bulge (P.O.W.)

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Service Bar, Sharpshooter Browning Automatic Rifle Expert

Living conditions

POW

Additional information

Japanese-Americans from New Mexico faced serious frustrating and prejudicial experiences during World War II. The story of Dr. Roy Nakayama, one of New Mexico State University's distinguished gradutes, who became the leading chile research scientist in New Mexico, serves as an illustration of these problems. Roy was raised on his father's farm in the Mesilla Valley. He was one of eight children of immigrant Japanese parents. When the United States entered the war against Germany and Japan, Roy was a student at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He enlisted in the Army on October 12, 1942, and served in the infantry until Novemeber 30, 1945. Roy was captured by the Germans in the European Theatre of the war during the Battle of the Bulge. He spent seven months as a POW, 'cold, hungry, and marching, always marching.' When he was finally liberated from a small town east of Wiesbaden, Germany, he weighed eight-seven pounds and had ulcers and amoebic dysentery.* While Roy Nakayama was in the service of his country, members of the family of his future wife, Rose, were sent to concentration camps in California and Colorado. After the War, Roy could no longer meet the physical demands of farming so he chose to return to college. Because he was Japanese, he was denied admission. Fortunately, some of his old professors intervened on his behalf. He was eventually readmitted to New Mexico A & M, completed a B.S. Degree in Botany, earned his Master's and Doctorate in Plant Pathology and Horticulture at Iowa State University, and attained national recognition for his research on pecans and chile. * Nancy Tod, 'The Deeds of Roy Nakayama: Chile and Pecans; Research and Teaching,' Southern New Mexico Historical Review, vol. 1, no 1 (Jan. 1994), pp. 21-28.