Tsuneo Shishido

Tsuneo Shishido was born on September 12, 1926 in Hawaii, to Bansaku and Kiu (Abe) Shishido.

He passed away on October 24, 2014 in Whittier, California, at the age of 88.



Tsuneo was born on September 12, 1926 to Bansaku Shishido and Kiu Abe close to Olaa, Hawaii. Olaa was a plantation town on the Big Island of Hawaii where many Japanese immigrated as laborers to harvest sugar cane. Living in a sugar plantation town must not have been easy for Tsuneos family, but the family undoubtedly experienced difficulty when Tsuneos Father died early. Tsuneo, however, found strength and comfort from their large family unit, consisting of three older brothers, Jack, Tsugio, and Seichi, and four sisters, Etsuko, Ayako, Setsuko, and Miyako. Tsuneo enjoyed preparing meals for his younger sisters. Eventually, the family moved to Hilo, Hawaii, where Tsuneo graduated from High School.

In 1948, Tsuneo joined the U.S. Army at the of age 22 and was stationed at Germany. In 1950 and 1951, he fought in the Korean War. Later, Tsuneo would tell his brothers and sisters that he was awarded a Purple Heart from shrapnel wound to the leg. Being a humble man, what Tsuneo didnt tell his brothers and sisters was that he received many other medals in addition to the Purple Heart. In going through his military documents that were located after his passing (in order to apply for a Presidential Citation), Tsuneos son, Glen, located a document entitled Statement of Military Awards and Data, dated November 9, 1961, issued by the Air Force Branch, Military Personnel Records Center, General Services Administration, St. Louis 32, Missouri. This document stated that Tsuneo received the following awards for his military service, all but the last one earned during the Korean War:

*Purple Heart - GO 6, 3d Engr Const Bn, 50

*Bronze Star Medal GO 32, 24 Inf Div, 51

*Korean Service Medal with one Silver Service Star for participation in the UN Defensive, UN

Offensive, Communist Chinese Forces (CCF) Intervention, 1st UN Counteroffensive,

and CCF

*Spring Offensive Campaigns

*United Nations Service Medal

*National Defense Service Medal

*Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem GO 45, 24 Infantry Div, 5*Army of Occupation Medal with Japan and Germany Clasps.

This document corroborates the boxes of medals Tsuneo gave to his son Glen when Tsuneo was living in Hawaii. Glen recognized the Purple Heart medal. But he also recognized another box entitled Bronze Star which contained an interesting looking medal. So Glen asked about the circumstances that lead to Grandpa receiving the Bronze Star. With a grin and a twinkle in his eye, Grandpa talked about his suicide mission. He said his commanding officer asked for volunteers for what was essentially a suicide mission. Some enemy facility had to be blown up. Three men volunteered, two American soldiers including Tsuneo, and a South Korean soldier. They took off into the night, each going separately. Grandpa said he tried but could not reach the target, as there was a lot of enemy resistance, nor could the other American soldier. But the South Korean soldier broke through and detonated their target. Later, when Grandpa caught up with his unit he reported to his commanding officer. His commanding officer was surprised to see Grandpa and said, Shishido, you are still alive? Im going to put in for a medal for you. Grandpa related about the Korean War in his typical humble fashion that Korea was very cold, that they fought half a million Red Chinese, and that his Division did lots and lots of retreating. But as his military records shows Grandpa also did a lot of attacking. He further fought in the single largest battle of the Korean War, the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) Spring Offensive. Tsuneos record indicates he fought for 9 months in actual combat.

After the Korean War, Tsuneo was stationed in Tokyo, Japan where he met and married Kayoko Kawai in 1954. Tsuneo deeply loved Kayoko to the very end, regarding whom Tsuneo always referred to a bijin, which in Japanese means beautiful woman. They had two children, Glen and Jane, both of whom were born in Hawaii, as Tsuneo was eventually assigned back to Hawaii at Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu.

As career military personnel are required to travel overseas and to different military bases, beginning in 1964 Tsuneo and family reported to Misawa Air Force Base which is located at the very Northern tip of the main island of Japan. Tsuneo thoroughly enjoyed his four year assignment in Japan as he loved to vacation at the numerous hot spring inns located in Japan. He bathed at hot springs called onsen all over Japan, from those located in Aomori prefecture in Northern Japan down to those located in the southern Japan on the island of Kyushu. At the hot spring inns, he enjoyed wearing the traditional casual kimonos called yukata and walking around in wooden slippers called getta. He also loved the breakfast at these inns which always served his favorites, miso soup and salted salmon.

The last place Tsuneo was stationed was at Clovis Air Force Base in eastern New Mexico in 1969. In Clovis, he and the family lived off base for awhile in an arid, desert-like setting where they encountered in their yard numerous native lizards called horned toads, and where neighbors invited him to partake in a local beef delicacy called mountain oysters.

Tsuneo retired from the Air Force in 1969 as a Staff Sergeant, and returned to Oahu, Hawaii. As he had supervised commissary and mess hall operations in the later part of his military career, he briefly worked in food preparation in Hawaii. He later worked at Kuakini Hospital on Oahu doing air conditioner maintenance work. It was doing air conditioner work that Tsuneo actually became blind in one eye from an industrial injury.

Tsuneo very much adored his daughter Jane, regarding whom he was protective all his life. One of Tsuneos greatest joys was traveling to visit or being visited by his grandchildren, Glen Michael, Christopher, and Jennifer. All three were constantly amused by Grandpas humor. One of their favorite stories was grandpa and grandmas cruise to Alaska where quite a few passengers asked Grandpa whether he was an Eskimo, and Grandpa replied each time that he was. The apple of his eye was his granddaughter Jennifer, whose middle name is Masako. He always referred to Jennifer as Princess Masako, alluding to the crown princess of Japan. After Tsuneo stopped working completely, he became an avid walker. He enjoyed walking the numerous hills at his home located in pacific palisades in Northern Pearl City, Hawaii. Indeed, Tsuneo enjoyed walking until he could no longer do so due to the full onset of Parkinsons disease in 2011.

Tsuneo is survived by his wife, Amy Kayoko, his daughter Jane, and son Glen and daughter-in-law Jeanne and their 3 children.



A memorial service will be held at Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California, on Monday, November 10, 2014 at 10:30am,