Young Oak Kim: Korean-American Hero of World War II, Korean War

As a Korean-American officer in the 100th Battalion, Young Oak Kim might have seemed out of place. Most of his fellow officers were White, and virtually all of the men he commanded were Japanese-Americans.

But Kim did not see it that way. He saw himself as an American serving alongside other Americans. And he fit in so well and performed so gallantly that he became the most decorated Asian-American soldier in history.

Joining the 100th Battalion

Kim, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, joined the Army in 1941 and started out as an engineer. He was selected to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga., and shortly after graduating, was assigned to the 100th Battalion.

Almost immediately after joining the unit in January of 1943, Kim was offered the opportunity to transfer. Korea was under brutal occupation by the Japanese, and Kim's superiors feared he would not mix well in a battalion consisting almost entirely of Japanese-Americans. His assignment had apparently been a mistake.


But the 24-year-old lieutenant insisted on staying, telling Lt. Col. Farrant Turner, the battalion commander, that the soldiers of the 100th were all Americans fighting for a common cause.

Initially a platoon leader, Kim gained a promotion to captain as a well as a positions as battalion operations officer and intelligence officer. He also gained the respect of his men during combat in Italy.

Kim's Daring Mission

Kim would win 19 medals during his military service, including the Distinguished Service Cross. He received his nation's second-highest decoration for a daring volunteer mission on the night of May 16. 1944, in Italy. Kim and five other men crawled into enemy positions to capture a pair of German soldiers. The prisoners gave up information that proved vital to the Allied breakout from the Anzio beachhead.

Earlier, Kim had been awarded a Silver Star for leading an attack that bagged 58 prisoners near Cassino, Italy.

After seeing action in further battles in Italy and France, Kim suffered a serious wound in the hand during a fight for the French town of Biffontaine in October of 1944. While being evacuated, Kim narrowly escaped when his litter train was captured by Germans. He was on leave when the war in Europe ended.

Heroism in Korea


Kim left the army after World War II, but went back into service during the Korean War in 1950, winning a second Silver Star. He led South Korean guerilla groups, served as both an intelligence and operations officer and earned a promotion to major. Ironically, he had never set foot in the nation of his ancestry before the war.

Despite being wounded in a friendly fire incident, Kim went on to lead a battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment of the Seventh Infantry Division, becoming the first ethnic minority to command a regular U.S. Army combat battalion. His unit helped turned the tide of the war and push Communist troops back across the 38th parallel.

Kim remained in the Army until 1972, retiring as a colonel.


Kim the Community Leader

After serving in the Army for 30 years, he 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, who was active in helping war orphans in Korea, continued his charity work after leaving the military. He served with the United Way and several other non-profit organizations, and was a co-founder of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation, a group that educates teachers and student about Japanese-American veterans.


His volunteer work was instrumental in the building of the Go For Broke Monument in Los Angeles. A stone structure dedicated in 1999, the monument honors members of the 100th/442nd as well as Japanese-Americans who served in military intelligence in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.

Kim died of cancer in 2006. A middle school in Los Angeles was renamed Young Oak Kim Academy in his honor in July of 2009.

A middle school named for a Korean-American war hero will be set up in California this year. The Los Angeles Unified School District announced on Tuesday that Young Oak Kim Academy will open in the Koreatown area of the city in September. The late Colonel Kim Young-oak was a highly decorated member of the U.S. Army’s 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in World War II and the Korean War.

Born in Los Angeles, Colonel Kim was a second-generation Korean-American widely remembered for his wartime heroics. He was awarded medals from France, Italy, Korea and the U.S. for courageous and exemplary achievements. Following his discharge from the Army, Kim devoted the rest of his life to charity work, helping war orphans and young people. Dying at the age of 86 in 2006, he is one of the most admired figures in the history of Korean immigration to the U.S.

Young Oak Kim Academy is L.A.’s first middle school and third school overall named for a Korean, after Charles H. Kim Elementary and Mariposa-Nabi Primary Center. Its establishment is due in great part to the efforts of the Friends of Colonel Young Oak Kim, an organization founded in 2006 by a group seeking to commemorate the colonel’s exemplary spirit. After organizing campaigns and sending numerous petitions to the local community and politicians, the organization’s efforts have finally borne fruit.

Kim as Author

Issued by the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Foundation commemorating the service and sacrifices of the Japanese American soldiers at the unveiling of the Go For Broke Monument in Los Angeles on June 5, 1999.