The Okubo family was interned at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California; and then they were moved to the camp at Hart Mountain in Wyoming.
Okubo joined the US Army in May 1943.
Okubo 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.
For his actions in October 1944, Okubo was awarded the Army's third-highest decoration, the Silver Star. In the 1990s, there was a review of service records of Asian Americans who received the Silver Star during World War II. Okubo's award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, he was presented with his medal by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, but only seven of them were still alive.
Okubo's Medal of Honor recognized his conduct in fighting in eastern France in 1944. many times, he exposed himself to intense fire to treat and evacuate wounded men.
The words of Okubo's citation explain:
Technician Fifth Grade James K. Okubo distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 28 and 29 October and 4 November 1944, in the Foret Domaniale de Champ, near Biffontaine, eastern France. On 28 October, under strong enemy fire coming from behind mine fields and roadblocks, Technician Fifth Grade Okubo, a medic, crawled 150 yards to within 40 yards of the enemy lines. Two grenades were thrown at him while he left his last covered position to carry back wounded comrades. Under constant barrages of enemy small arms and machine gun fire, he treated 17 men on 28 October and 8 more men on 29 October. On 4 November, Technician Fifth Grade Okubo ran 75 yards under grazing machine gun fire and, while exposed to hostile fire directed at him, evacuated and treated a seriously wounded crewman from a burning tank, who otherwise would have died. Technician Fifth Grade James K. Okubo's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
Okubo is the namesake of the Okubo Family Health Clinic at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
The Okubo Barracks at the Fort Sam Houston in Texas are named after the "Nisei" soldier.
Automotive industry
The automotive industry refers to the design, manufacture, marketing and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's biggest economic sectors in terms of the money it makes. The automotive industry began in the 1890s with hundreds of manufacturers making the "horseless carriage". The Ford Model T was one of the first cars to be sold for very little money. For a long time, the United States was the biggest producer of automobiles. In 1929, before the Great Depression, the world had 32,028,500 automobiles in use. The U.S. automobile industry had produced over 90% of them. At that time, the U.S. had one car per 4.87 persons. From the 1960s, Japan became the second biggest producer of automobiles in the world. China became the world leader in making automobiles in 2009.
Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor
The Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor was created immediately after World War I. The US Navy decided to recognize via the Medal of Honor two manners of heroism. One in combat and one in the line of a sailor's profession. The original upside-down star was designated as the non-combat version and a new pattern of the medal pendant, in cross form, was designed by the Tiffany Company in 1919. It was to be presented to a sailor or Marine who "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, distinguish[es] himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" and without detriment to his mission. This pendant became the "Tiffany Cross".
The "Tiffany Cross" is suspended from the classic light blue Medal of Honor ribbon with 13 white stars. At the ribbon top is a bar with the word "VALOUR". The medal is a gold cross pattée overlaying an oak and laurel wreath on the obverse side, with an antique anchor in each arm of the cross. The center, overlaying the cross, is an octagon with the phrases "UNITED STATES NAVY" to the top and "1917·1918" to the bottom, on the perimeter separated by two stars. The center of the octagon is the Great Seal of the United States. The reverse side is flat, suitable for engraving. Recipients medals often had intricate inscriptions.
On 4 February 1919 Congress, in the same act that created the Navy Cross and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Congress provided:
Designed by Tiffany Company, this medal became the "Tiffany Cross" and eligibility was retroactive to 6 April 1917, when the United States entered World War I.
Despite the "actual conflict" guidelines, the "Tiffany Cross" was awarded to Floyd Bennett and Richard Byrd for arctic exploration, and to John Siegel for a rescue at sea. In the words of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the "Tiffany Cross" Program was "poorly regulated and documented."
The "Tiffany Cross" was unpopular, perhaps because it so closely resembled the German Iron Cross. Recipients, such as Admiral Byrd, requested, received, and wore the classical inverted star design. Byrd received his "Tiffany Cross" on 27 February 1927 from President Coolidge. He received his classical Medal of Honor on 20 June 1930 from President Hoover. His motives for the change are not remarked upon. In 1942, the Navy returned to using only the original 1862 inverted 5-point star design, and ceased issuing the award for non-combat action.
During the "Tiffany Cross's" active status, the next lower naval award was the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, followed by the Navy Cross. By congressional action on 7 August 1942, in the same act that terminated the "Tiffany Cross", the Distinguished Service Medal and the Navy Cross swapped places, with the Navy Cross also becoming solely a combat award.
The US Naval History & Heritage Command asserts that 28 sailors and Marines received the "Tiffany Cross", but does not provide a list. However, a review of:
make a nearly complete list. There are at least three recipients (Byrd, Bennett, Siegal) who have been awarded the "Tiffany Cross" for non-combat actions. There may be other in-period recipients that have also have received one, but these aren't known, and would require investigation of similar nature for each.
Naval History &amp; Heritage Command
The Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) is at the historic Washington Navy Yard. It is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage. The NHHC is composed of 42 facilities in 13 geographic locations. This includes the Navy Department Library, ten museums and one heritage center, USS Constitution repair facility and detachment, and Historic ship NAUTILUS.
"Be the recognized authority on U.S. naval history and instill pride in America's naval heritage."
The position of Director of Naval History was first established in 1944.
Similar collections that document the Navy’s history in specialized areas of interest are located at the eleven official U.S. Navy museums nationwide.
There are fifteen official Navy museums. They are designed to educate a national audience about the history, customs, and traditions of the U.S. Navy. These museums are dedicated to community outreach and offer curriculum-based education programs, docent-led tours, special evening programs, summer activities, lectures, and musical performances that are open to the public and free of charge. For more information on the following Navy museums, visit the NHHC website:
Opel Signum
The Opel Signum is a car produced by Opel. It was a more upmarket version of the Vectra that it was based on and it arrived in 2003 with a facelift in 2005 and was discontinued in 2008 with no replacement. It was sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Signum.