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Veteran receives France’s Legion of Honor medal

Nisei veteran Kazuichi Hamasaki of Maui had France’s highest decoration, the Legion of Honor, pinned on him Oct. 4 at Wailuku Hongwanji.

He joins 18 other Mauians, members of the famed 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, who were honored earlier this year for their efforts during World War II to drive the German army out of France. They fought in the fall of 1944 in the Vosges Mountains that divided France from Germany.

The battles of Bruyeres and Biffontaine and the rescue of the “Lost Battalion” are part of the lore of the units made up mostly of Japanese-Americans, some of whom came from internment camps on the Mainland.

Hamasaki’s decree was signed by Francois Hollande, current president of France, on June 12 and named him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Leonard Oka of Maui’s Sons & Daughters of Nisei Veterans made the presentation Oct. 4 with Hamasaki’s family and other nisei veterans in attendance.

The Ordre National de la Legion d’honneur was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.

The president of France is the grand master of the order and appoints all members to the order.

Hamasaki was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s 2nd Battalion, Company G.

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