April 21, 2009

World War II veteran Akira Toki receives Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award

(MADISON) – In a ceremony during the April 17 meeting of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs at the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Madison, Mr. Akira Toki of Madison was presented the Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award for April 2009.

Toki was born in Madison, WI in 1916 as the only son of Japanese-American fresh produce grower-supplier parents. In response to the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, and as an indication of loyalty to his nation, Toki joined the U.S. Army on Feb. 12, 1942 at Fort Sheridan, IL, just one week prior to President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizing the forcible internment of about 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry.

Toki completed Combat Infantryman training at Camp Blanding, FL. as a member of the 141st Infantry Battalion, a segregated Japanese-American unit commanded by Anglo-American officers. He was subsequently moved with the 141st Infantry Battalion to Camp Shelby, MS, Camp Patrick Henry, NJ, and then to Naples, Italy.

In 1943, President Roosevelt approved the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a military unit consisting of Americans of Japanese descent; the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Infantry, which trained at Camp McCoy, WI, and subsequently fought in Europe, was the most decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of the United States. Toki joined the battle-depleted 100th Battalion of the 442nd Infantry as a replacement in Leghorn, Italy on September 18, 1943, and he participated in the rescue of the 1st Battalion of the 141st Infantry of the 36th (Texas) Division, famously known as the “Lost Battalion,” in three days of fierce combat operations in the Vosges Mountains, France, and subsequently fought in the Champaign Campaign, also in France.

Fighting in Italy, in the battle of Mount Folorito, Italy, on April 5, 1945, he was seriously wounded in the head by shrapnel that pierced his helmet, resulting in over three months of hospitalization; upon his recovery, he was promoted to Sergeant and rejoined his unit, serving in the Army of Occupation in Italy and participating, as a part of the 15,000 troop contingent of American, British, and Italian forces, in the VJ Day parade through Leghorn, Italy, with the 442nd in the lead. He was honorably discharged from the Army on December 5, 1945 at Fort Sheridan.

His military decorations include a unit awarded Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

After the war, Akira Toki returned to Madison and married Mary Shimasaki, who along with her parents had been interned at Tule Lake in northern California during World War II even though she had been born in the United States. Together they raised three daughters in Madison, and, capitalizing on his two years of pre-war UW Agriculture School training, he joined the family farm business and helped provide the Madison area with fresh produce until the time of his retirement several years ago.

Toki served initially as a volunteer guide and subsequently as a bedside visitor and as the Crafts Program Coordinator at the Madison Veterans Administration Hospital from the day it opened in 1951 until his recent 93rd birthday, providing the hospital with over 23,000 hours of volunteer service during the intervening 58 years.

He is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, serving as a past State Commander and as the organization’s representative to the Madison VA Hospital for 25 years. He is also a member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the Cootie, 40 Et 8, the Madison Veterans Council, and he has been a very popular and an often requested guest at Madison Area Schools, speaking on the topics of his military service and the changes in Madison over his lifetime.

Toki has consistently served his country, state, community and family with the greatest of honor, humility and good humor, and he has personally dealt with prejudice with great dignity.

The Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes living veterans who have compiled a record of exemplary service as a military service member, a veteran, and a citizen during the veteran’s lifetime.

Toki is the eighth recipient of the Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Board, through a subcommittee consisting of three board members, appointed by the Board Chair, selects the recipients. Nominations are accepted from any Wisconsin resident and the Board especially encourages submissions from Wisconsin veterans, veterans service organizations, county veterans service officers and other veterans groups.

There are up to six annual awards. Nominations may be submitted at any time during the year, but no later than the 15th of the month preceding the month of a Board meeting at which the presentation is to be made. For more information about the award, to include previous recipients, go to www.WisVets.com/BoardAward or call WDVA toll-free 1-800-WIS-VETS (947-8387).