James Okubo

James Kazuo Okubo (, May 30, 1920 – January 29, 1967) was a United States Army soldier. He was a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II.

Early life Okubo was born in Anacortes, Washington. and graduated from Bellingham High School. His parents were Japanese immigrant parents. He was a Nisei, which means that he was a second generation Japanese-American.

Following the signing of Executive Order 9066, the Okubo family was interned at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California; and then they relocated to the camp at Heart Mountain in Wyoming.

Okubo volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This army unit was mostly made up of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.

For his actions in October 1944, Okubo was awarded the Army's third-highest decoration, the Silver Star. After the war, he became a dentist in Detroit, and was killed in a car accident on January 29, 1967.

In the 1990s, there was a review of service records of Asian Americans who received the Silver Star during World War II. Okubo's award was one of those upgraded to the Medal of Honor and in a ceremony at the White House, on June 21, 2000, the formal presentation was made by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the nation's highest military honor during the ceremony, but unfortunately, only seven were still alive to receive it.

Okubo's Medal of Honor recognized his conduct in frontline fighting in eastern France in 1944.

Awards and decorations alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.

Namesake Okubo is the namesake of the Okubo Family Health Clinic at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

The Okubo Barracks at the Fort Sam Houston in Texas are named after the Nisei soldier. The barracks are now used for wounded soldiers.