Masaru Yamamoto
| Date and Place of Birth: | August 5, 1919 Waialua, Hawaiian Islands |
| Date and Place of Death: | November 29, 1943 Scapoli, Italy |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Unknown |
| Rank: | Private |
| Military Unit: | 100th Infantry Battalion US Army |
| Area Served: | Mediterranean Theater of Operations |
Masaru Yamamoto was born in Waialua in the Hawaiian Island on August
5, 1919. He attended McKinley High School in Oahu and was employed by E.
E. Black Ltd., as a painter before entering military service on November
14, 1941.
Initially, Yamamoto served with the 298th Infantry Regiment at Schofield
Barracks. Like many people in Hawaii, he was Nisei - second-generation
Japanese, and on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked the US
fleet at Pearl Harbor, everything changed. Americans of Japanese
ancestry in Hawaii were treated with suspicion and those in military
service found their duties suddenly reduced to menial tasks.
Eventually, the 100th Battalion was formed, a fighting unit made up
entirely of second-generation Japanese. Yamamoto took basic training
with the 100th at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and quickly became a part of
the 100th "Aloha" baseball team. The Aloha team initially played against
the military police unit at Camp McCoy but soon found competition in
nearby towns. In February 1943, the 100th Battalion moved to Camp
Shelby, Mississippi for advanced unit training where the Aloha team
continued to play.
The 100th Battalion left Camp Shelby for North Africa on August 11,
1943. They landed at Oran, Algeria on September 2, where they guarded
supply trains for a couple of weeks. It was in North Africa that the
Aloha baseball team played their last game. Challenged by the 133rd
Infantry Regiment, the 100th called upon Lieutenant Paul E. Froning, who
had just joined them. Froning would pitch in the minors after the war
and helped defeat the 133rd, 26 to 0.
On September 19, 1943, the 100th Battalion left the relative safety of
North Africa for Italy. They landed at Salerno and went into combat
against the Germans on September 29. Private Yamamoto was killed in
action at Scapoli, Italy, two months later on November 29, 1943.
Masaru Yamamoto is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery in Hawaii.
100th Battalion baseball team
Thanks to Kerry Yo Nakagawa of the Nisei Baseball Research Project and Hawaii State Library for help with this biography. Photo of 100th Battalion team courtesy of Sons and Daughters of the 100th Infantry Battalion Archives.
Date Added: February 8, 2013
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