Young - Oak Kim Colonel Young - Oak Kim ( Korean : 김영옥 ; Hanja : 金永玉 ; RR : " Gim Yeong - ok " , M - R : " Kim Yŏng - ok " , 1919 – December 29 , 2005 ) , a highly - decorated U . S . Army combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War . He was a member of the U . S . 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team , and a combat leader in Italy and France during World War II . He was awarded 19 medals , including the Distinguished Service Cross , two Silver Star s , two Bronze Stars , three Purple Heart s , a Bronze Medal of Military Valor , a Légion d ' honneur , a Croix de guerre , and ( posthumously ) the Korean Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit . He died of cancer at the age of 86 . Early years . Kim was born in Los Angeles in 1919 . His parents were Soon Kwon Kim and Nora Koh . He had three brothers , two sisters , and one adopted brother , Andy Kil . His father was a member of Daehanin - dongjihwe ( 대한인 동지회 , literally : " The Great Korean Association " ) , the group Syngman Rhee established in Hawaii to help liberate Korea from Japan . This background helped Kim build a strong cultural identity . He grew up in Bunker Hill , Los Angeles , California , where his father operated a grocery store at the intersection of Temple Street and Figueroa Street . Kim graduated from Belmont High School and proceeded to Los Angeles City College . He dropped out after a year . He tried various jobs , but racial discrimination prevented him from staying long at any job . The U . S . Army refused his enlistment for the same reason . But after the U . S . Congress enacted a law subjecting Asian Americans to conscription , Kim was drafted into the Army . He entered service on January 31 , 1941 , three months before his father died . World War II . After spending half a year in the Army as an engineer , Kim was selected for the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning , Georgia . Upon graduating in January 1943 , he was assigned to the U . S . 100th Infantry Battalion , a unit of Japanese Americans from Hawaii . The battalion commander offered him a transfer , fearing ethnic conflict . ( Korea was still under Japanese control . ) But he insisted on staying , saying " There is no Japanese nor Korean here . We ' re all Americans and we ' re fighting for the same cause . " The 100th Battalion was sent to North Africa to assist in the war in Europe , but initially the U . S . Army had no plan for its deployment . By its own request , the battalion was sent to the front and joined the war in Italy . There , Kim ' s map - reading skills and determination led to success in many battles and some " impossible missions " . In the planning for Operation Diadem , the Allies needed to determine the locations of German tank units . Captain Kim , as officer in the joint U . S . 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team , volunteered to capture German soldiers to gain intelligence . On May 16 , 1944 , with Private First Class Irving Akahoshi , he crawled into German territory near Cisterna , Italy . They captured two German soldiers in the daytime , while the enemy rested for the evening watch . The information they gathered from the prisoners helped determine that there was not a tank unit in the breakthrough path the Allies were considering . The Allies broke the Gustav Line , and liberated Rome . He also led elements of the 100th Battalion in battles at Belvedere and Pisa , which helped break the Gothic Line . The Allies were able to occupy Pisa without casualties . In France , Kim was the battalion ' s operations officer . He fought in battles that liberated the towns of Bruyères and Biffontaine . He sustained severe wounds from enemy fire in Biffontaine , and later spent a six - month leave in Los Angeles in late 1944 . Germany surrendered shortly before he was to return to the European Theater of Operations . Korean War . Kim left the Army after World War II . However , there were not many opportunities for a young Korean man . He started a self - service laundry , which was quite rare at the time . The business was very successful ; Kim ' s earnings were five times his salary as an Army captain . Two years later , war broke out in Korea . Kim abandoned the business and re - entered the Army : The Army allowed all soldiers with Korean heritage — and anyone who could speak at least a word of Korean — to work in the Army Security Agency . Kim was no exception , but he wanted to fight . At his request , he was sent to East Asia , and by pretending not to know any Korean and with the help of people he had known from World War II , he was able to join the infantry . This was the first time he had ever been to Korea . He was assigned to the 31st Infantry of the 7th Infantry Division in April , 1951 as the intelligence officer , under William J . McCaffrey , who scouted him . Kim worked not only as an intelligence officer , but also virtually as an operations officer , by the request of McCaffrey . Kim rescued many U . S . and Korean Army troops in several battles . The 31st Infantry played a major role in stopping Chinese troops , and pushing them back above the 38th parallel . Kim ' s unit was the very first to cross that line . The 7th Infantry Division redrew the situation map every day , but only recorded the locations of regiments or larger military units . However , the map from May 31 , 1951 included the location of Kim ' s battalion . During Operation Piledriver in August , after a battle in which his unit proceeded to the north of Kimhwa , his unit was mistakenly bombarded by the 555th Field Artillery Battalion , because it seemed too far north to be friendly . Kim was seriously injured in the friendly fire incident . He was saved by doctors from Johns Hopkins University , who were in Tokyo . He made it back to Korea after two months of recuperation . Upon his return , McCaffrey put him in command of the regiment ' s 1st Battalion . After fighting for nearly a year , Kim left Korea in September 1952 . Kim also organized his unit ' s sponsorship of an orphanage in Seoul . In 2003 , the government of the Republic of Korea decorated Kim for his social service . Kim returned to Korea in the 1960s as a U . S . military advisor . Retirement . After serving in the Army for 30 years , Kim retired in 1972 . He then actively participated in Asian - American community affairs . He helped found the Go For Broke Monument , Go For Broke Educational Foundation , the Japanese American National Museum , the Korean Health , Education , Information and Research Center , the Korean American Coalition , the Korean American Museum , the Korean Youth and Cultural Center , and the Center for Pacific Asian Families . Kim died from cancer on December 29 , 2005 , at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles . He was survived by three stepsons , as well as one sister and two brothers . Tributes . A newly opened middle school in Los Angeles ' fourth local district was named Young Oak Kim Academy in 2009 in recognition of Kim . In 2010 , the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies opened at University of California , Riverside .