Herbert Sasaki, 84; Served With 442nd RCT
LA Times, May 30, 2005
By VALERIE J. NELSON
Times Staff Writer

Herbert Sasaki, who dedicated himself to preserving the legacy of the famed
Japanese American military unit that he fought with during World War II,. has died. He
was 84. Sasaki died during heart surgery May 13 at the Texas Heart Institute in
Houston, said his daughter Beverly Yamamoto.

He served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought in Italy and France
from 1944 to 1945 and became the most decorated military unit during Wdrld War II.
Sasaki would later help spearhead efforts to erect monuments to the regiment in Hawaii;
Washiniton, D.C.; and Camp Shelby, Miss., where the unit was formed. "He wanted to
make sure that no one would forget that the 442nd fought for freedom at a time when their
families were incarcerated and to prove they were Americans," his daughter said.

After earnng a Bronze Star in the war, Sasaki settled near Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg,
Miss., returning to Arnice Dyar, whom he had met at the base laundry and married before
shipping out in 1943. The Ku Klux Man reacted to the interracial marriage by burning
a cross in her grandparents' frontyard, Yamamoto said.

Sasaki was active in the 442nd Assn., which is composed of veterans of the regiment
and provides major funding for the Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby. He served
on the museum’s board for 12 years, helping it grow from a small classroom to a $4.5
million facility.

Herbert Masaru Sasaki was born and raised in Pomona, the son of a grocer who
was also a lay Christian minister. His mother died when he was 8. He joined the Illinois
National Guard before his family was detained in relocation camps through much of
the war, then he and a brother volunteered for the Army.

After the war, Sasaki worked in the poultry business before serving another four
years in the Army and seeing action in the Korean War. He spent the rest of his career
as a broker for International Paper Co. In October, Sasald was presented the Mississippi
Distinguished Civilian Service Medal for his work at the museum.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Sylvia
Heidingsfelder, a son, Kenneth; and two grandchildren.

Obituary - Rafu Shimpo Friday 20, 2005
442nd Vet., Herbert Sasaki Dies at 84

Herbert Sasaki first saw Camp Shelby as. a 23-year-old Japanese-American
soldier who left his family in an interment camp to fight with the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team:While the regiment trained at Camp Shelby, he met Armice Dyar,
a girl from Purvis who worked in a laundry on base.They married in 1943 and, after
serving in Europe during World War II Sasaki settled in Hattiesburg. He died Friday
at age 84. He always talked about bow the Mississipp-ians responded to them,
Armice Sasaki said Monday. He said they took them in as a family.

After serving in Europe with the 442nd and earning a Bronze Star, Sasaki made a
living determining the sex of chickens. He served another four years in the Army
dining the Korean War and later became a broker for International Paper Co.

But it was the 442nd and its legacy as the most decorated unit of World War II
that was his lifes work, said his daughter, Beverly Yamamoto of Athens, Texas.
It was the most important thing to him.that the442nd was recognized for what
they did: she said.Sasaki served 12 years on the board of directors of the Armed
Forces Museum at Camp Shelby. He was active in the museums evolution from
a small class room building to a former theater and, finally, to the current $4.5 million
facility. The 442nd Association, an organization of veterans of the WWII regiment,
is a major financial backer of the museum and paid for air conditioning the old theater 
building.

I remember him as a solid citizen of that board, said retired Gen. Mickey Walker,
chairman of the museum board and former chief of the National Guard Bureau. He
was just a strong member in everything weve attempted to do.But Sasaki didnt push
his ideas to the forefront.Herb was a man of few words? Walker said. He didnt
have a lot to say. He was more an action man than he was a talker? He was presented
the, Mississippi Distinguished Civilian Service Medal for his work at the museum.

The 442nd Association returned to Camp Shelby in 1995 for an anniversary reunion.
During an interview then Sasaki remembered the friction between the California
soldiers and the natives of Hawaii. They didnt like to conform to anything, Sasaki
said of the Hawaiians They liked to fight. They fought even us because we
thought they were too obnoxious?

Funeral services for Sasaki were held at 10 am. Thursday at Hulett-Winstead Funeral
Home.