Theodore "Ted" Shigeru Kanamine

Brigadier General (Ret) Theodore “Ted” Shigeru Kanamine – who was among more than 120,000 U.S. citizens placed in American internment camps during World War II and later became the first Japanese American active duty general in the U.S. Army – passed away on March 2, 2023 at home. He was 93.

Ted was born in North Hollywood, Calif. in 1929, where he spent his early childhood with his parents Thomas and Lucille and younger sister Joyce.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and Executive Order 9066 in early 1942, they scrambled to sell their belongings, including his father’s store, in preparation for internment. They were bused to the Santa Anita Racetrack “Assembly Center” to live for a few months, before boarding a train – with just two bags apiece – to the Jerome, Ark. internment camp (one of 10 in the country). He was 12.

In 1944, through the War Relocation Authority, Omaha, Neb., lawyer Henry Monsky took the Kanamine family into his home. Ted’s father did the gardening, and mother the housekeeping and cooking. “We didn’t have a car, didn’t have anything. We had come directly from camp with nothing more than our clothes and whatever my sister and I could carry,” he recalled in a 2009 family book. Omaha gave the family “something of a normal life again.”

Ted graduated from Omaha Tech High School in 1947 and went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He was a varsity swimmer and graduated with a degree in criminal psychology in 1951. He was admitted to law school at the University of Nebraska and, while there, was baptized into the Catholic Church. He remained a devout catholic – and lifelong ‘Huskers fan.

He met his wife Mary Stuben during summer break while working at the Omaha Field Club pool. Shortly after law school graduation, June 26,1954, they were married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, because Nebraska miscegenation statutes barred interracial marriage.

In 1955, Ted was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps (MP), and after MP basic course at Fort Gordon, Ga., was assigned to Garmisch, Germany.

What followed was a succession of advancements – and many family moves – that included: Munich, Germany; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Gordon, Ga.; Korea; Saskatchewan, Canada; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Bangkok, Thailand; Vietnam; Falls Church, Va.; Carlisle, Penn.; Fort Myers, Va.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort McPherson, Ga.; Mannheim, Germany; and Fort Meade, Md.

Among his career milestones, he was as aide to 4-star General Creighton Abrams during the Vietnam War before taking command of the large 716th MP Battalion providing security to Saigon. “That was the highlight of my career, commanding soldiers in war,” Ted said. In 1969, while working for the Army Criminal Investigation Division in Washington, D.C., Lieutenant Colonel Ted Kanamine became lead investigator on the My Lai Massacre case. Later, when stationed at the Pentagon, he worked with the Department of Defense’s Vietnam Task Force focused on Agent Orange. Then in 1972, Gen. Abrams was confirmed as Chief of Staff of the Army and requested LTC Ted Kanamine again work on his staff. In 1974 Gen. Abrams pinned Ted as a full colonel. Four years later in 1976, Ted was promoted to Brigadier General – becoming the U.S. Army’s first active duty Japanese-American general. BG Kanamine retired May 31, 1981 – after 32 years of duty (Army ROTC, Naval Reserves and US Army) and 21 moves.

Among his military decorations were the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.

In 2012 he was inducted into the Military Police Corps Hall of Fame at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Ted and Mary settled in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in 1981. He immersed in volunteer work – joining the city code enforcement board and committees, the American Red Cross, and attaining the Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree. He was instrumental in obtaining community support to build Holy Family Catholic Church in Port St. Lucie and led the Catholic Men’s Club and other church groups.

Ted bowled a perfect game of 300 at age 58 and threw out the first pitch at a Colorado Rockies game in 2005. He and Mary continued traveling for pleasure across the county, Central America, back to Europe and to Israel.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, they moved to Naples, Fla. to live with their daughter Laura and her husband Howard Rutizer.

Ted Kanamine passed peacefully at home on Thursday morning March 2 following a brief battle with cancer. He leaves a large and loving legacy in his family including his wife, Mary; their five children Ted and his wife Sara; Mike; David; Laura and her husband Howard Rutizer; and Linda; a nephew Gregg Tamai and his wife Susie; a niece Katie Takahama; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

When asked by Discover Nikkei what he’d learned from his many experiences, Ted said: “Life is not always ‘peaches and cream.’ Tough times and big problems arise, but a close family and good friends can solve almost anything. Home and country must be protected. Have the personal discipline to know what is right and develop the skills necessary to do whatever the task is in the best way you know how. This reflects my development in the military and the way I live my life. I believe in the philosophy of ‘Duty – Honor – Country.’ I think my family and friends know this.”

A viewing at Hodges Funeral Home at Naples Memorial Gardens will be 4pm-6pm Sunday March 12; a funeral mass at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples, Fla., at 11am Monday March 13 followed by a reception; and burial with full military honors at Sarasota Veterans National Cemetery 2pm Tuesday March 14.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or the American Red Cross or Boys Town USA.