Hideyuki Hayashida, KIA

Reprinted from Center's March 2008 Okage sama de

The story of Chris Chruma’s search for the circumstances of his grandfather’s death got us thinking about the children and grandchildren of Nisei veterans who were lost at war. Board member Sam Hironaka suggested we look into the story of Hideyuki Hayashida.

Hideyuki Hayashida grew up in Lower Paia.  His parents, Minoru and Masue operated a fish market.  He graduated from Paia School, and was part of the Maui High Class of 1937.  He was working as a dental assistant to his sister Helen’s husband, Dr. Masami Hamamura, when he was drafted into the Army.  He shipped out for basic training in Wisconsin in early 1942.

During the war Hayashida’s wife, Hatsuyo Munekata, lived in Upper Paia with her widowed mother.  On July 8, 1942 she gave birth to a son, Ronald.

On January 10, 1944 Hayashida was killed in the Battle of Monte Cassino.  He never had the chance to see or hold his first born child.

After the war, Mrs. Hayashida moved with her infant son to Honolulu and worked for Home Insurance Co. (now First Insurance Co.), retiring from the company in the 1980s. 

Ronald Hideo Hayashida is now an Associate Professor of Political Science, School of American and International Studies at Ramapo College in New Jersey. 

Ron recalls, “After the war, a lot of my father’s compatriots in the 100th and 442nd helped.  I guess they had a code of taking care of families of those who never came back.  Our family dentist was Dr. Curtis Kometani, who headed the Medical Corps of the 100th, and was with my father on the fateful day at Monte Casino.  I think another veteran was her lawyer.  In 1964 I graduated from Cornell.  The Vietnam War was heating up and I had a 1-A draft status.  I received a notice to take a physical in Manhattan in preparation for my induction into the Army.  I told my mother about it, and soon after received a copy of a letter sent by an Associate Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court attesting to the fact that I was a 4-A, Sole  Surviving Son.  So with the stroke of a pen, my draft status changed from 1-A to 4-A.”

Ron lives with his wife, Susan Meyer, in Washington Township, New Jersey. Their 19-year old daughter, Alix Hideko, a sophomore at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, is pursuing a mathematics-economics major and an English minor.

“I always wondered what it was like for my father to grow up without a father,” reflects Alix.  “It must have been hard for my grandmother to raise a young child alone. And I wish that I knew more about my grandfather: how are we similar, and how are we different?”

On August 30, 2007, Hatsuyo Hayashida passed away.  In January 2008 Alix and her parents traveled to Maui to inter her grandmother’s ashes next to Hideyuki’s at the Makawao Veterans Cemetery.