World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseTed Takayuki Tanouye was born in Torrance, California, United States in 1919 into a Japanese-American family. He graduated Torrance High School in 1938. In Feb 1942, he enlisted in the US Army. Later in the same year, he learned that his family was interned at the Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas, United States; they would later be transferred to the Rohwer War Relocation Center, also in Arkansas. Tanouye was assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and reached the front line in Italy on 5 Jul 1944. Three days later, his unit was tasked to advance against a German position near Molino a Ventoabbto in the Toscana region of Italy. Although wounded by a grenade, he continue to locate German machine gun positions and working with others to silence them, often exposing himself to enemy fire while doing so. After the target, code named Hill 140 by the US Army, was captured, he refused to be treated for his wounds until he created a defensive formation on the reverse slope of the hill. He was taken away from the front lines to recover from the wounds received on 7 Jul. On 1 Sep 1944, after returning to action, he was seriously wounded by a land mine near San Mauro Cilento in southern Italy, and he died of those wounds five days later. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on 7 Jul 1944. He was initially buried in Italy, but in 1948 his remains were exhumed and re-interned at the Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles, California. In the 1990s, his award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In Jun 2000, his family received the medal from US President Bill Clinton at the White House in Washington DC, United States.

Ted Tanouye Interactive Map

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Ted Tanouye Timeline