‘Lost Battalion’ Soldier Killed in Utah Car Crash
RAFU WIRE SERVICES
Saturday, March 17. 2007

Jim Tazoi, 87, was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for wartime heroism.

Tazoi served in the 442nd Regimen­tal Combat Team. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his ef­fort to rescue a Texas battalion that had mistakenly marched behind German lines in October 1944, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. He carried shrapnel and a large scar on his back from inju­ries suffered during the war. Tazoi also received the Cross of Valor from the Italian government and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters.

In an interview for the program “Utah WWII Stories” on the PBS af­filiate KUED, Tazoi described being wounded during the battle to rescue the “Lost Battalion.”

“I just happened to look down and there in that trench was a Ger­man soldier looking right at me, but I think... I don’t know whether he had a gun or not,” Tazoi said. “Maybe 10 seconds before that he could have been firing on us, but he was hoping that I wouldn’t notice him. But when I looked down and I saw him, I raised my gun and he let out a squeal, and I still remember that.”

Tazoi joined the Army with several friends about nine months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In a 2004 interview with the Tribune, Tazoi said he faced racism after return­ing home. He recalled an Idaho restau­rant owner who refused to serve him and two other soldiers, all in uniform.

“We thought about busting up the place,” he said. “Then we decided to just move on.”

A memorial service was held on Tuesday at the Garland Tabernacle and a funeral with military honors was to be held Wednesday at Garland Cemetery.