American Valor Quarterly Issue 1 - Winter 2007 | Page 15

The Hero of Taejon-ni
Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura in the Korean War
An Excerpt from Veterans Chronicles
The World War II Veterans Committee, and now, the American
Veterans Center, began with the production of the award-winning
radio documentar y series, World War II Chronicles,
commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II. This program,
hosted by the late, great “Voice of World War II,” Edward J.
Herlihy, aired on over 500 stations nationwide between 1991 and
1995 on the Radio America network. In the years since, the
American Veterans Center,
with the World War II
Veterans Committee and
National Vietnam Veterans
Committee, has produced
dozens of radio documentaries
and series, in an effort to bring
the histor y of the Second
World War to the American
public.
The Center’s tradition of
quality radio programming
continues with the weekly
series, Veterans Chronicles,
hosted by Gene Pell, former
NBC
Pentagon
Cor respondent and head of
Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. With
Veterans Chronicles, listeners are taken to the battlefields with
the men and women who have served our country so gallantly. The
series is broadcast on the Radio America network and past shows
can be heard at www.americanveteranscenter.org, www.wwiivets.com
or www.vietnamvetscommittee.org. In this issue, we print an excerpt
from a recent episode.

Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura received the Medal of Honor for his
valor in the Korean War during a battle on April 24 and 25,
1951. Corporal Miyamura is credited with killing more than 50
of the enemy while covering his squad’s withdrawal before being
severely wounded and captured by Chinese Communist forces. He
spent the next 28 months as a prisoner of war. Hershey’s story
begins in the American southwest, in New Mexico.

Hiroshi Miyamura: I was born in Gallup, New Mexico.
My parents came from Japan and settled in Gallup in 1906.
I have five sisters and a brother. I just lost my oldest sister
last year. Growing up, I used to be a great fan of the movies
and I always had cowboys as my heroes. One of my favorites
was “Hopalong” Cassidy, because he was such a gentleman,
and yet when he needed to be forceful, he was. I admired
him for that.
Gene Pell: You wanted
to get into World War II
earlier than you did as part
of the 442 nd Regimental
Combat Team, correct?
Miyamura: Yes. I don’t
know if you know, but our
government had passed a
law at the outbreak of the
war and it classified all
Japanese citizens as enemy
aliens. We were not
allowed to volunteer for
the service, or be eligible
for the draft, until after a
group of Japanese American university students in Ha ݅