Sakato a WWII vet, hero
aurora» Some called him George, others Joe. But among the scores of mourners who memorialized George T. “Joe” Sakato on Saturday afternoon, everyone called him a hero.
Sakato, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his daring actions in France during World War II that helped rescue a surrounded American unit, died Dec. 2 at 94. Following his interment earlier in the day at Fairmount Cemetery, he was recalled by family and friends, veterans — including four other Medal of Honor recipients — and current military members as a man defined by much more than his bravery on the battlefield.
But his military service, at a time when Japanese-Americans were forced into internment camps, shaped his legacy.
“I learned humility from a man who, for a few minutes in October of 1944, was the most heroic person on the planet,” said Rick Crandall, a longtime friend who helped organize the memorial at the Heritage Christian Center in Aurora. “I learned true patriotism from someone who watched his mother and father lose their life possessions and be forced to live on a farm in Arizona because they looked different.
“He could’ve been angry for the rest of his life, and with good reason. Instead, he used that anger to become an example of what a real American looks like.”
A succession of speakers also remembered Sakato as open-
hearted, compassionate and entertaining — a caring and nurturing man who reveled in the contagious joy and exuberance of kids. They told stories of how he loved to dance, loved his family and how he loved the Denver Broncos so dearly that he always wore a pair of boxers with the team insignia on game days.
But his notoriety grew from his heroism with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated unit of Japanese-American soldiers that during the war became highly decorated. He sometimes explained that he fought two battles — one against the Nazis and another against discrimination in his own country.
Sakato, having just watched a fellow soldier die in his arms as they fought to take a key hill, went on a rampage against the enemy — he later labeled his state of mind “road rage.”
He launched an assault in which he killed 12, personally captured four and assisted his platoon in taking another 34 prisoners. The actions helped save the unit known as “The Lost Battalion” that had been isolated behind enemy lines.
Afterward, Sakato was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. But decades later, review of military records upgraded the recognition, and President Bill Clinton presented him the Medal of Honor in 2000.
“Joe was not an ordinary Joe,” said Lawson Sakai, a fellow veteran of the 442nd, “but a true American hero. Wherever you are, Joe, rest in peace.”
Sakato’s niece, Seleste Sakato, recounted that while his family intended to name him Joe, they mistakenly spelled the name “Geo.” And so officially, he became George.
“But family has always known him as Uncle Joe,” she said. “When we realized his real name was George we said, ‘What? Who’s that?’ ”
Three ukulele groups joined to lead the congregation in the 442nd’s fight song, “Go For Broke.” And toward the event’s conclusion, everyone honored Sakato’s insistence that when he was remembered at the memorial, they sing “Taps” — more commonly heard as a bugle refrain.
Together, the crowd rose and honored a life welllived.
“That life does not and should not end today,” Crandall said. “It is on us to be witness that such a remarkable man lived.”