Frank H. Ono - Soldier

Soldier

Ono joined the US Army in September 1943.

He volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.

During a battle on July 4, 1944, near Castellina, Italy, Ono advanced ahead of his unit and single-handedly defended his position against an enemy counter-attack. He then braved intense hostile fire to aid two wounded comrades and, when it became necessary to retreat, voluntarily covered his unit's withdrawal. For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Army's second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross.

Ono left the Army while still a private first class. He died at age 56 and was buried in Highland Cemetery, North Judson, Indiana.

A 1990s review of service records for Asian Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II led to Ono's award being upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, his surviving family was presented with his Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, all but seven of them posthumously.