Hiroshi miyamura granddaughter birthday

It turns out our brand-new secretary of defense is something of a movie star, or at least a documentary movie star. Instead, Austin helps tell the story of Staff Sgt. The night was April 24th, , and then-Corporal Miyamura and his squad of machine gunners were defending the South Korean capital, Seoul, from Chinese troops.

Kelly Hildahl, daughter of Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, receives the burial flag at the funeral for the Korean War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient.

Army Ret. A thousand enemy troops snuck through the gaps and surrounded the American positions before attacking in waves. The Americans held on as long as they could, but there were too many Chinese troops to hold off forever. It was during that onslaught that Miyamura made a fateful decision. Miyamura ordered his troops to fall back, choosing to sacrifice himself to cover their retreat.

He killed more than 50 Chinese soldiers before running through all his ammunition and charging them himself. Unfortunately for Miyamura, the Chinese soon came under fire from American mortars while he was still behind their lines. Unbeknownst to his buddies, Miyamura was captured by Chinese troops. He and many other Americans were sent on a forced march hundreds of miles north to a prisoner of war camp rife with disease and starvation.

Forty percent of all POWs died before making it home, but Miyamura somehow survived over two years there. When the fighting stopped in , Miyamura was released, weighing less than pounds. He was the first down the gangplank to greet his family when his boat arrived at the dock in San Francisco, and his hometown of Gallup, New Mexico put on a parade for him.