https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/resources/military/15757/

Kenneth Aijiro "Iggy" Tashiro

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Gender Male
Birth date 1929-9-8
Place of birth Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.
Inducted 1947-7-9, Ft. MacArthur CA
Enlistment type Volunteer
Service branch Army
Service type War,peacetime
Unit type Combat
Units served IPW Team - 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Division (Korea)
Military specialty Military Intelligence - Interrogation of prisoners of war.
Stationed Ft. Ord, CA; Presidio of Monterey, CA; ATIS, Tokyo, Japan; 24th Infantry Division, Kokura, Japan; 19th Infantry Regiment, Beppu, Japan; 19th Infantry Regiment, Korea (until June 1951); HQ Company SWC, Osaka, Japan (until November 1951); Ft. Bragg, NC (until discharge).
Separated Ft. Bragg NC
Unit responsibility To interrogate prisoners of war.
Personal responsibility Jeep driver and interrogator.
Major battles (if served in a war zone) Our unit received 5 battle stars. I personally was involved in combat in Korea, the month of July 1950.
Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit) 5 Battle Stars; Presidential Unit Citation; Korean Presidential Unit Citation; Bronze Star (meritorious service); Combat Infantryman Badge.
Living conditions At first, we slept in foxholes, we bathed by a well, we had C-rations. Later in August we received a large tent for our IPW Team, but sometimes we slept in Korean houses. We played cards, saw an occasional movie. My biggest thrill was seeing Bob Hope and entourage at Pyong Yang, North Korea.
Most vivid memory of military experience Being left behind by our Lt. He ordered us to go up a hill to watch for the enemy. When the action started, we (three enlisted men) got down the hill, looked for the Lt. and my jeep, and found he had 'bugged out' with my jeep!
Missed most whilst in the military My family.
Most important thing, personally, to come from military experience? 'War is hell' as quoted by someone more famous than me. Not only have I seen men killed (one before my own eyes) but I've seen the bodies of South Korean civilians killed by North Korean soldiers. The real victims in war are the civilians. In our rush towards the Chinese border, we liberated much territory and many local governments. Then we retreated south and the civilians retreated with us and some of them were killed - man's inhumanity to man.


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