{"id":1498,"date":"2025-05-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2025-12-07T21:24:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T04:24:33","slug":"ben-kuroki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/ben-kuroki\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Kuroki"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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He was American in every way, except for his last name.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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May 16, 1917: Ben Kuroki, who would go on to become the only Japanese American to fly combat missions over Japan in World War II, is born in Nebraska\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Ben was born on May 16, 1917, in Gothenburg, Nebraska. He grew up doing chores on the family farm, cheering for American sports teams, playing basketball for his high school, and even serving as senior class vice president.<\/p>

In every way that mattered, Ben was American.<\/p>

Except his last name was Kuroki. His parents were Japanese immigrants.<\/p>

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The Kuroki family, Ben, one of ten children, is the second one standing on the left, Hershey, Nebraska, late 1920s<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Ben Kuroki shaking hands with \"Tupelo Lass\" ground crew member prior to the Ploesti, Rumania raid, August 1, 1943<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The largest aerial assault at that time, Ploesti, Rumania, August 1, 1943<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The \"Honorable Sad Saki\" was a B-29 with the 505th Bomb Group. Kuroki was called the \"Most Honorable Son.\"<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ben Kuroki holding a shattered plexiglass turret when he was almost killed, credit Jean Lukesh<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor<\/a>, Ben didn\u2019t hesitate. He volunteered for the U.S. military, determined to prove his loyalty. But the Army told him: We don\u2019t accept \u201cenemy aliens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben didn\u2019t give up. He kept pushing until he was finally allowed to join, assigned to a non-combat role in the Army Air Forces. It wasn\u2019t enough for him. He wanted to fly.<\/p>\n

And somehow, against all odds, he did.<\/p>\n

Ben Kuroki became the only Japanese American to fly combat missions over Europe in World War II, completing 30 bombing runs. Later, he fought to be allowed into the Pacific Theater, where he flew 28 more missions against Japan.<\/p>\n

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When the war ended, Ben didn\u2019t stop fighting. He traveled the country, speaking out against racism and injustice. He urged Americans to learn from the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, calling it a stain on the nation\u2019s ideals.<\/p>\n

In reflecting on his life, Ben once said: \u201cI had to fight like hell for the right to fight for my own country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remember this farmer boy from Nebraska, so maybe others won\u2019t have to fight like hell just for the right to fight for their country. <\/p>

So a last name like Kuroki isn\u2019t any less American than Smith.<\/p>\n

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Ben Kuroki traveled around the country to encourage other Niseis to also enlist during the war<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ben Kuroki became a celebrity among the younger Nisei incarcerees<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ben Kuroki being welcomed into the Veteran of Foreign Wars in Omaha, Nebraska, 1944, credit WRA<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Ben, his wife, Shige, and Nebraska Governor David Heineman at a banquet for the documentary, \"Most Honorable Son,\" August 1, 2007<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Technical Sergeant Ben Kuroki wearing Distinguished Flying Cross (x3), Air Medal with oak leaf clusters (x5), and service medals for WWII service<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Kuroki, a Nebraska-born son of Japanese immigrants, became the only Japanese American to fly combat missions over Japan during World War II. Denied enlistment at first, he fought through racism and bureaucracy to prove his loyalty and became one of America\u2019s most decorated airmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[78,20,99,62,98,248,94,6,250,33,32,15],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aapi-heritage-month","tag-aapi-history","tag-american-hero","tag-asian-american-history","tag-ben-kuroki","tag-civil-rights-activism","tag-hidden-story","tag-japanese-american-history","tag-military-war","tag-never-forget","tag-quiet-americans","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1498"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6210,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1498\/revisions\/6210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}