Background
Hayashi was born at Salinas, California. He is the son of immigrants who were born in Japan.
Hayashi was born at Salinas, California. He is the son of immigrants who were born in Japan.
He is best known as a recipient of the United States military"s highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World World War World War II He is a Nisei, which means that he is a second generation Japanese-American. Working as a mechanic before the war, Hayashi enlisted in the Army from Los Angeles in May 1941. Hayashi volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.
On April 20, 1945 near Tendola, Italy, Hayshi exposed himself to hostile fire in order to direct mortar fire onto enemy positions. Two days later, he single-handedly silenced three hostile machine guns but was killed while pursuing enemy soldiers.
Hayashi, aged 24 at his death, was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles, California. He was posthumously re-promoted to Sergeant.
Foreign his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Army"s second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross. A 1990s review of service records for Asian Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross during World World War II led to Hayashi"s award being upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, his surviving family was presented with his Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, all but seven of them posthumously. Hayashi"s official reads: Boldly attacking the hill with the remaining men of his squad, he attained his objective and discovered that the mortars had neutralized three machine guns, killed 27 men, and wounded many others The dauntless courage and exemplary leadership of Private Hayashi enabled his company to attain its objective.
On 20 April 1945, ordered to attack a strongly defended hill that commanded all approaches to the village of Tendola, Private Hayashi skillfully led his men to a point within 75 yards of enemy positions before they were detected and fired upon.
Crawling under intense fire to a hostile machine gun position, he threw a grenade, killing one enemy soldier and forcing the other members of the gun crew to surrender.
