Gender

Male

Birth date

1917-5-30

Place of birth

Paauhau HI, U.S.A.

Inducted

1943-3-27, Hilo HI

Enlistment type

Volunteer

Service branch

Army

Service type

War

Unit type

Combat

Units served

Company F & D, 442nd, Regimental Combat Team

Military specialty

1542 Platoon Leader and Co. Exec. Officer, Company F, 442nd RCT

Stationed

Camp Shelby, MS; Italy; France

Separated

Army Separation Ctr, Oahu HI

Unit responsibility

To carry out orders of higher headquarters in crushing the military forces of Germany.

Personal responsibility

To look after the welfare of the men of my platoon and to lead them into battle.

Major battles (if served in a war zone)

European Theater of Operation:
Rome-Arno
Rhineland
No. Appennines
Po Valley Campaigns.

Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)

Bronze Star for rescuing a wounded fellow soldier under heavy artillery fire
Purple Heart
Distinguished Unit Badge w/ 2 Oak Leaf Cluster
Combat Infantryman Badge
See 'The Men of Company F' by Ronald Oba pp 123 - 125 for description of distinguished unit badges.

Living conditions

Living conditions in the front lines were utterly miserable especially in the Vosges Mountains in France. It was rainy and bitter cold and our feet were wet and cold all the time since we were standing in water accumulated in our fox holes. We slept standing or sitting in our fox holes.
Bathe? We didn't even think about it.
Meals? C & D dehydrated rations.
Entertainment? Self preservation was utmost in our minds.

Most vivid memory of military experience

One of the saddest sights I ever saw in the front lines was in the Vosges Forest when I witnessed Capt. Hill, our F Company C.O. with tears flowing down his face, helping an aid man bandaging up a 16 year old German captive who had his testicles shot off, then to top it off, the youngster raised his head from a supine position, took one look toward his scrotum and uttering the most pitiful groan plopped his head back down onto the ground.

Missed most whilst in the military

Mother's cooking and family life and all of my friends back home.

Most important thing, personally, to come from military experience?

My military experience helped me to broaden my horizon and made me realize that I needed more education. Consequently, immediately after my discharge from active service, I matriculated at the University of Hawaii and earned my BS and MS degrees in Zoology. I would like to have my family and friends to know that they were a great inspiration to me in my quest for excellence in my military and civilian career for which I am grateful.

Additional information

Biographic data of Michio Takata.

Father's name: Kazuo Takata
Mother's name: Hatsume Sekimoto Takata

I was born the third of 5 children, 2 of whom are deceased (biography prepared on 4/28/94).

EDUCATION: Elementary: Paauhau Elementary School (1923 - 1930)
Intermediate: Honokaa Intermediate School (1930 - 1934)
High: Hilo High School (1934 - 1936)
University: University of Hawaii (1947 - 1953) BS Degree in Zoology with specialization in Marine Biology (1951)
MS Degree in Zoology with specialization in Marine Biology (1953)

FAMILY
Wife: Shinako Hamatake Takata
Children: Lloyd, Garret and Earl - now living in Atlanta, GA; Honolulu, HI and Torrance, CA respectively.
Grandchildren: Leah, Amy, Kimberly, Caralyn, Carly and Tori (all girls!!)

WORK EXPERIENCE:
1. Laboratory Assistant and Sugar Mill Maintenance Mechanic at the Paauhau Sugar Plantation Company (1936 - 1943)

2. Division of Fish and Game, first in the Department of Agriculture and Forestry; then with the reorganization of the state departments, in the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Joined the Division of Fish and Game as an aquatic Biologist in 1953, worked way up to the Chief of Fisheries, and in 1958 was appointed Director of Fish and Game.

As such, I headed the Division which was comprised of the Administrative, Wildlife, Fisheries, and Enforcement Branches. While serving in that capacity, my services were made available as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for a month through a special arrangement with the State of Hawaii.

This assignment entailed travelling to New Caledonia where I was met by the Fisheries Officer of the Trust Territory of the Pacific and an expert fisherman from Japan to comprise a team. We received our briefing from the UNDP officials and set up our headquarters there in Noumea.

Subsequently, our team travelled to Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa and American Samoa to assess their fishery development potentials. After gathering whatever information we could through actual field trips and interviews with officials within our limited time frame we returned to Noumea, wrote up our report and submitted it to the UNDP officials, thus ending our assignment.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION:
Affiliate Graduate Faculty of the University of Hawaii
American Fisheries Society
Society of Sigma Zi
Hawaiian Academy of Science
Conservation Council for Hawaii
Marine Resources Advisory Panel of the Governor's Committee on Science and Technology
Advisory Subcommittee of Invertebrate and Aquatic Biota of the State Department of Agriculture
Governor's Interim marine Affairs Advisory Council
Leeward Community College Marine Technical Advisory Committee
Sea Grant Advisory Council
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Environment and conservation program Advisory Board
Animal Species Advisory Commission
Pacific Islands Fisheries Development Committee for the Pacific Tuna Development Foundation
International Association of Game, Fish and Conservation Commissioners
Western Association of State Game and Fish Commissioners (served as its president in 1967)

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS:
Co-authored several fisheries publications.

MILITARY SERVICE: Inducted into the United States Army as a volunteer on March 27, 1943 and served as a member of Company F, 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the European Theater of Operation. Received a battle field commission as a Second Lieutenant in France on January 16, 1945 and promoted to First Lieutenant on July 26, 1945. Separated from active duty on August 21, 1946 and immediately joined the U.S. Army Reserve and after a total of 26 years of active and reserve duty retired from the Army of the United States with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

DECORATIONS:
Purple Heart
Bronze Star
Distinguished Unit Badge with Oak Leaf Cluster

CIVIC AFFILIATIONS:
1. 442nd Veterans Club of Honolulu. Served as its president for the year 1972. The highlights of that year were:
(a) The hosting of the Goodwill Sumo Tournament in Honolulu featuring the top sumotoris from Japan, including Hawaii's own Jesse Kuhaulua or 'Takamiyama'.
(b) A 23-day tour of Japan by three bus loads of 442nd members, spouses and relatives. This trip was unique in that the entire delegation had an audience with the then Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko at the Togu Gosho Palace in Tokyo. It was my great honor and privilege to represent the 442nd Veterans Club of Honolulu and the tour group in extending greetings to the Royal Couple in accordance with the strictest adherence to proper protocol. I had to be coached by the protocol officer at the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu before leaving for Japan on what to say and how to behave in addressing the Crown Prince.
After exchanging greetings I had the pleasure of presenting to him on behalf of the 442nd Veterans Club of Honolulu, two carvings, i.e. a tiki and a porpoise made of the native Hawaiian woods, the Milo and the Iliahi or Sandalwood.
The couple spent an hour of their precious time talking with virtually each one in our delegation. That experience with the Royal Couple was by far the apex of our trip to our ancestral land.

2. Sugino Dance Academy, Ilima Ballroom Dance Club, Hawaii Gardenia Circle (a ballroom dance cliub), and the 442nd Ballroom Dance Club (now defunct). I was instrumental in the formation of the latter, a subsidiary organization of the mother club, and served as its dance instructor with the assistance of my wife Shinako, Joe and Peggy Obayashi and Biggie and Jesse Nakakura for 9 long years.

3. Served as General Chairman of the 1979 Nisei Veterans Reunion here in Honolulu.

HOBBIES:
Past: Tennis, baseball, barefoot football, fishing, hunting, skin diving, SCUBA diving, and spear fishing.
Present: Golfing, ballroom dancing, hula dancing and choral singing.