Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs
Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award

Past Award Recipient
April 2009

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Akira Toki was born in Madison, WI in 1916, the only son of Japanese-American fresh produce grower-supplier parents; and in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor and as an indication of his loyalty to our country, he joined the U.S. Army on February 12, 1942 at Fort Sheridan, IL, one week before President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the forcible internment of about 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry of whom approximately 62% were American citizens and their exclusion from the entire Pacific coast, including all of California and most of Oregon and Washington, except for those in internment camps; and he completed Combat Infantryman training at Camp Blanding, FL as a member of the 141st Battalion, a segregated Japanese-American unit commanded by Anglo-American officers, and subsequently moved with the 141st to Camp Shelby, MS, Camp Patrick Henry, NJ, and finally Naples, Italy; and

WHEREAS, at that time, it was questioned whether or not Japanese-American soldiers could be trusted in combat, and he and other Japanese-American servicemen had domestic travel restrictions placed upon them, and they were frustrated by being initially assigned to stateside office duties; and in 1943, President Roosevelt approved the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a military unit consisting of Americans of Japanese descent; and the 100th Battalion of the 442nd, which trained at Camp McCoy, WI, and subsequently fought in Europe with tremendous courage and was the most decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Akira Toki joined the battle-depleted 100th of the 442nd as a replacement in Leghorn, Italy on September 18, 1943; and he participated in the rescue of the 1st Battalion 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, and in the Battle of Po Valley, Italy; and 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; and 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; and he was honorably discharged from the Army on December 5, 1945 at Fort Sheridan; and his military decorations include 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, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Distinguished Unit Citation, awarded to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team for its extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy involving the degree of heroism which would warrant the award of the Distinguished Service Cross to an individual; and

WHEREAS, 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; and 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; and

WHEREAS, Akira 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; and 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; and he is 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; and

WHEREAS, while Akira Toki had to make difficult choices throughout his life, he 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’; and with his wife Mary in 1988, he quietly took great personal satisfaction when Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II on behalf of the U.S. Government stating that the government’s actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” and which granted about $1.6 billion in reparations that were later disbursed by the U.S. Government to surviving internees and their heirs.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Marvin J. Freedman, Chair of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, proclaim Akira Toki as the recipient of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs Veteran Lifetime Achievement Award on this 17th day of April 2009.

MARVIN J. FREEDMAN, Board Chair