10/05/2026
I was forunate to meet 100th veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura during his visit to Hawaii. He was sweet, funny and so humble with lots of great stories about life in New Mexico.
Hiroshi "Hershey" Miyamura was born on October 6, 1925, in Gallup, New Mexico, to Japanese immigrant parents who ran a 24-hour diner. Growing up in a working-class railroad town, he earned the lifelong nickname "Hershey" from a teacher who struggled to pronounce his birth name.
When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred in December 1941, anti-Japanese hostility swept across the United States. Federal authority forced more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps under Executive Order 9066. Because Gallup sat outside designated coastal military exclusion zones and local community members supported the family, the Miyamuras avoided forced removal.
Eager to prove his devotion to his country, Miyamura enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1945 and trained as a heavy machine gunner with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Following the end of World War II, he was released from active duty on July 18, 1946, and joined the Organized Reserve Corps (ORC) upon returning to New Mexico. He married Tsuruko "Terry" Tsuchimori in June 1948 and began building a civilian life, maintaining his reserve status until he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War in September 1950.
By early 1951, Corporal Miyamura was serving as a machine gun squad leader in Company H, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.
On the night of April 24, 1951, near Taejon-ni, Korea, Chinese Communist Forces launched a massive surprise assault against UN positions during the Chinese Spring Offensive. Wave after wave of troops moved down the surrounding hills toward Miyamura's position. Recognizing that his squad was about to be overrun, Miyamura took immediate action.
He ordered his men to fall back while he remained behind to cover their retreat. Moving through heavy fire, he engaged approaching forces in close quarters, treated wounded soldiers, and carried them toward safety. When a nearby machine gun position ran short of crew, he manned the weapon himself until it ran completely out of am******on.
Miyamura held off the assault long enough for his squad to safely evacuate, but he was severely wounded by gr***de shrapnel. Isolated and unable to retreat, he was captured on April 25, 1951.
Back in Washington, military officials reviewed action reports from Taejon-ni. Miyamura's extraordinary valor met the highest criteria for the nation's supreme military decoration, and President Harry S. Truman signed the Medal of Honor authorization in late 1951.
However, the U.S. military stamped the award with a rare security classification: TOP SECRET.
Miyamura was being held in a Chinese-operated Prisoner of War camp along the Yalu River. Military intelligence recognized that if his captors learned they held a soldier who had single-handedly broken their assault and received America's highest award for valor, his life would be in immediate danger.
For nearly 28 months, Miyamura survived brutal winter conditions, starvation rations, and long forced marches. He endured the entire ordeal completely unaware that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. Back in New Mexico, his family was notified only that he was missing in action.
On August 20, 1953, during the POW exchanges known as Operation Big Switch, Miyamura was released at Panmunjom. Weighing under 100 pounds, he crossed into UN territory at Freedom Village. Shortly after his release, brigadier general Ralph Osborne pulled him aside and broke the news: he had been awarded the Medal of Honor.
On October 27, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the medal to recently promoted Staff Sergeant Hiroshi Miyamura during an official ceremony at the White House. During his career and post-war life, he also earned the Purple Heart, the POW Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with three bronze service stars, the United Nations Korea Medal, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Following his discharge, Miyamura returned to Gallup. He opened an auto repair shop, raised his family, and spent the next several decades serving his local community and mentoring young veterans.
When Miyamura passed away on November 29, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, at age 97, he was buried with full military honors at Sunset Memorial Park in Gallup. His hometown continues to honor his legacy through Hiroshi H. Miyamura High School, Miyamura Park, a bronze statue, and the Hiroshi H. Miyamura Highway along Interstate 40.
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