Biography
Ben Kuroki was born in Gothenburg, Nebraska, United States to Japanese-American immigrants, Shosuke and Naka (née Yokoyama) Kuroki on May 16, 1917. They had 10 children. When he was a year old the Kuroki family relocated to Hershey, Nebraska, where they owned and operated a farm. The Lincoln County town had a population of about 500. He attended Hershey High School and was the Vice-President of his senior class, graduating in 1936.
After the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Ben's father encouraged him as well as his brother Fred Kuroki to enlist in the U.S. Military. The brothers were rejected by the recruiters in Grand Island, so they tried again at North Platte, where their enlistment was processed without any questions—perhaps, as a humorous story suggests, the recruiters thought that Kuroki was a Polish name. Kuroki said this recruiter said nationality was not a problem as he made $2 for every recruit. His brothers Bill and Henry also served in the military during the war.
The two Kuroki brothers enlisted in the U.S. Army, two of the very first Nisei to do so. In January 1942, they were sent to basic training at Sheppard Field, Texas.
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