He died fighting for freedom while his family lived behind barbed wire.
November 14, 1919: Ted T. Tanouye, a 442nd Regimental Combat Team war hero who lived and died by the “Go For Broke” motto, was born in Torrance, California.
Ted Takayuki Tanouye grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Southern California. He loved sports, he loved Torrance High School, and he loved the country he believed in. His teachers described him as quiet but determined. Friends remembered him as steady and loyal. None of them could have known how quickly the world would change around him.
In October 1940, at the age of twenty, Ted registered for the nation’s first peacetime draft. He followed every rule set before him. He believed service was a duty. What he could not have imagined was the contradiction waiting ahead.
One day after the government announced the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans in 1942, the United States Army inducted him.
He put on the uniform while his family prepared to be sent to camp.
Son in Uniform. Family Behind Barbed Wire.
While Ted trained and deployed, the Tanouye family was ordered from their home in Torrance and sent first to the Santa Anita Assembly Center. From there they were shipped to Jerome, Arkansas. They later arrived at Rohwer, another incarceration camp in the same region. They lived behind barbed wire and armed guard towers while their son fought overseas for a country that had taken their freedom.
Unfortunately, this was not unusual. Thousands of Nisei soldiers served in Europe while their parents and siblings lived in confinement. Ted carried that knowledge with him wherever he went. Being the oldest of six children sharpened his sense of duty, and perhaps, his courage.
Go For Broke
Ted joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the almost all–Japanese American unit that would become one of the most decorated in U.S. military history. From the start, he stood out. His officers described him as fearless. His men trusted him without hesitation.
On July 7, 1944, near Molino a Ventoabbto in Italy, Staff Sergeant Tanouye led his platoon up a steep hillside under heavy enemy fire. He crawled across exposed ground to neutralize two machine-gun nests. He destroyed an enemy position with grenades. Even after being severely wounded, he refused evacuation. He continued directing his men until the enemy was forced to withdraw.
Only then did he finally receive medical aid. His actions saved lives. His leadership carried his platoon forward.
A Dreadful News in a Dreadful Place
After he recovered enough to return to combat weeks later, Ted Tanouye was killed on September 6, 1944, while shielding another officer from a grenade blast. As he was carried away on a stretcher, his last words to his men were, “Go for broke! Go for broke!”
When news of his death reached the Tanouye family, it arrived at Rohwer. Behind barbed wire. Inside a place they had been forced to live, surrounded by watchtowers and soldiers.
They had lost their son in a war fought for freedom while their own freedom had been taken from them.
For his actions in Italy, Ted Tanouye was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Decades later, after a review of overlooked Asian American service records, it was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. His name joined the small group of Americans whose courage stood beyond question.
Legacy Larger Than Life
Ted Tanouye never saw the country he believed in apologize for its injustices. He never saw the barbed wire come down. But his life and his sacrifice forced the nation to confront who belonged, who was loyal, and who deserved to be recognized as American.
Today, the City of Torrance honors him through a memorial plaza. The Army recognizes him as one of its greatest heroes. And his story continues to challenge the idea that patriotism is defined by ancestry, appearance, or circumstance.
Even in one of America’s darkest chapters, there were those who chose to stand for something larger than themselves. Ted Tanouye truly lived and died by the motto, “Go for Broke.”
