Jimmie Jimmie Fukuichi Yamaguchi

Jimmie was born in Bellevue on June 4th, 1919 to hard working parents Tatsu and Yaichi Yamaguchi. He had several brothers and sisters. He was closest to sisters May and Mineko who lived locally and raised families themselves. The family had a large farm in Bellevue where Overlake Golf Course exists now. They raised vegetables that were sold in the Seattle market. He attended Bellevue High School where he played baseball. There was a large Japanese-American community in the area and his family had many friends.

After high school, he joined the Army. Interesting that he was doing what he loved when WW II broke out. He was in the Army playing on the All-Army Baseball team. He like to pitch was deemed "too short" and was put a first base or shortstop. When the war broke out, Jimmie along with the other boys of Japanese ancestry were gathered up and sequestered while the federal government decided what to do. As their families were taken from their homes to internment camps, Jimmie and his buddies volunteered to join the famous Japanese-American 442nd Army and were shipped to Europe to win the war. On the train ride across the country towards the east coast transport ships, Jimmie and two Army buddies from Fresno got off the train at an Ohio dinner stop and found the only Chinese restaurant in a small mid-western town. Nori had left the internment camp due to a sponsorship by a local doctor in this little Ohio town. She was on her night off eating at the Chinese restaurant when in walks two of her Fresno school buddies - yes with Jimmie in tow. Nori took 1 look at Jimmie and said thought "that's my future husband". And so it was that after Jimmie came back to the States after two injuries (1 in Italy and 1 in France) that they married. This year would have been 70 years. Wow. What great role models.

Jimmie did not often talk about specifics of the war, but he said it was gruesome. In Italy their regiments were sent to locations where all others had failed, and they found success but with huge casualties. He had one injury there and was sent to get “patched up” in Livorno, Italy – they called it “Leghorn” for some reason. Once healed, Jimmies was sent to another Japanese-American 442nd regiment in France. His highlight was winning an Army lottery while in France and getting a long weekend in Nice, France. He never said what he did there, but he said it beat the battlefront in every way. He sustained a more serious injury after that in a battle where the German troops were shelling on the Americans. On bomb came down and exploded seriously injuring one of his buddies and to a lesser extent to himself. Unable to walk, he crawled over, grabbed this Army buddy by the collar and dragged him a couple hundred yards to safety and the medics. Only then did he find out why he couldn’t walk – he had shrapnel and and a bullet in his leg and buttocks. The bullet is still there. That was serious enough that he was shipped home.

In later years, Jimmie had his Bronze Star, the French Legion of Honor presented by the French ambassador and is the highest honor the French government gives to non-citizens, and Jim received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He and the 442nd are the most decorated of any group of any branch of the military in American history. Their slogan was “GO FOR BROKE”. Jim repeated that more than any other phrase throughout his life. He was the quiet war hero.

Nori and Jimmie had a son, Bob, a daughter, Mary Katherine (after the Ohio doctor’s daughter with who Nori became quite attached), and another son, Fred. They were very active in Seattle’s Drum and Bugle Corps and were often on road trips with the group sometimes taking the cousins along.

Jimmie took a job as a mail carrier and did that for 30 years while moonlighting doing "Red Cap" work at the airports. HI mailman years were spent in Ballard where he became good friends with many of his home owners.

He and later Nori became big time golfers belonging to 4 groups at one time. They traveled all over the US to golf and loved Hawaii. His saying was “drive for show, but putt for MONEY!”. Very true if you know golf at all.

In his last years, Jimmie enjoyed his family and food. Prawns/shrimp were his favorite. So any place that served them was OK with him. He claimed to not have much appetite but always finished his food and half of Nori's as well. We have so many memories of great trips too. Many of them to Hawaii where we’d stay at the military hotel, the Hale Koa, on the best beach of Waikiki. He loved the hot tub and telling stories about the war.

When I started dating Mary Kay, I was invited by Nori with whom I'd worked at the famous Polynesia Restaurant on Seattle's Waterfront. I was welcomed into their Beacon Hill home my Mary Kay and Nori and then met Jimmie. He looked at me like a fox in the hen house. We sat down, Mary Kay next to me on the sofa, with Jimmie across in his chair giving me the "eye". Their Sheltie, Christie, rested her nose between Mary Kay and me and growled every time I moved or spoke. Jimmie smiled each time. It took a while to get into Jimmie's inner circle but once I did I knew I'd met a pretty cool guy. I think he was only disappointed with me in one aspect, that I didn't follow through enough on my golf swing - which is still true and he is still right. Even last hear at 96, he'd take a club and hit a few balls when we went over to our family house in Zillah in sunny eastern Washington.

Jimmie leaves a great legacy. Three kids: Mary Kay, married to Larry, Bob, married to Patti, and Fred. Five Grandkids: Jayna, Katie, Jimmy, BJ and Adam. Four and a half great grandkids: Jordan, Madysen, Olivia, Kayla, and Kim & Adam's baby due in late May . Jim was the last of his many siblings to pass on. He was closest to Auntie Mineko who also passed away after a fall a few years ago at 100 years of age. Jimmie would have been 97 on June 4th