{"id":228726,"date":"2026-01-27T13:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T23:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=228726"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:25:34","slug":"wwii-uh-rotc-cadets-commissioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/27\/wwii-uh-rotc-cadets-commissioned\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring a legacy: Seven WWII<\/abbr> 东精影业<\/abbr> ROTC<\/abbr> cadets commissioned"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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U.S. Army Pacific soldiers and 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa ROTC<\/abbr> cadets honor seven WWII<\/abbr> ROTC<\/abbr> cadets with posthumous commissions. (Photo courtesy: Eirik Lohr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seven University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa Reserve Officer Training Corps<\/a><\/abbr> (ROTC<\/abbr>) cadets from World War II<\/abbr> were posthumously commissioned as second lieutenants on January 26, honoring their leadership, courage and sacrifice during a ceremony at Keʻehi<\/span> Lagoon Memorial State Park. The event, led by the U.S.<\/abbr> Army Pacific (USARPAC<\/abbr>) and supported by the Hawaiʻi<\/span> Congressional Delegation, formally recognized the cadets contributions more than 80 years after their service.<\/p>\n

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Top from left, Daniel Betsui, Robert Murata, Jenhatsu Chinen and bottom from left, Howard Urabe, Hiroichi Tomita, Grover Nagaji, Akio Nishikawa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cadets honored were Staff Sgt. Grover Nagiji; Sgt. Howard Urabe; Sgt. Robert Murata; Sgt. Jenhatsu Chinen; Sgt. Daniel Betsui; Pfc. Hiroichi Tomita; and Pvt. Akio Nishikawa. Lt. Col. Jerrod Melander, who formerly led 东精影业<\/abbr>\u02bbs ROTC<\/abbr> program, began the long-awaited commissioning effort in 2023, with the cadets promotions finalized in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cadets paths to commissioning were delayed following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Determined to serve, they volunteered for service in the U.S.<\/abbr> Army 100th Infantry Battalion\/442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT<\/abbr>), one of the most decorated units in U.S.<\/abbr> Army history. All seven were killed in action in Europe.<\/p>\n

“Today at this ceremony, we honor legacy,” said Gen. Ronald P. Clark, commanding general of USARPAC<\/abbr>. “These soldiers upheld Army values under extraordinary circumstances, and todays commissioning honors their service and preserves their legacy for future generations.”<\/p>\n

A lasting legacy at 东精影业<\/abbr><\/h2>\n

Laura Lyons, 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa interim vice provost for academic excellence, attended the ceremony on behalf of the university.<\/p>\n

Related 东精影业 News<\/em> story: Fallen warriors awarded posthumous degrees<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

“The posthumous commissioning of these ROTC<\/abbr> cadets is the last piece in fully acknowledging and honoring their service and ultimately the sacrifice of life that they each made on the European battlefield during World War II<\/abbr>. It is humbling at this moment to consider how their beliefs in the ideal of freedom proved greater than their experience of institutional discrimination,” she said.<\/p>\n

Family members and community representatives also attended. “Here it is over 80 years later, and to see my uncle get recognized, I am very proud of him,” said Clifford Urabe, nephew of Lt. Howard Urabe.<\/p>\n

In 2012, 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa awarded the cadets posthumous bachelors degrees, and their commissioning now formally honors their legacy.<\/p>\n

Read more from the USARPAC<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

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Family and friends honor fallen 东精影业<\/abbr> ROTC<\/abbr> cadets at the posthumous commissioning ceremony. (Photo courtesy: U.S. Army Pacific)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ceremony honored cadets delayed by Pearl Harbor who gave their lives with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[225,1611,660,9],"class_list":["post-228726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-history","tag-rotc","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228726"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228786,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228726\/revisions\/228786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}