Barney Hajiro was born in September 1916 in Puunene, Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. His parents immigrated from Japan in the early 20th Century and worked on a sugar plantation on Maui. The plantation used immigrants from Japan. His mother was a "picture wife" who was brought from Japan. She was in her late teens when she reached the islands. Hajiro had four sisters and five brothers. He is the oldest of the sons. The family was poor. Hajiro started work when he was 16 years of age. He worked the fields removing grass from the plantation. The sugar plantation had free housing, but the children had to sleep on the floor. Hajiro could not attend high school because his father could not afford the cost. Hajiro enjoyed running but could not participate in school sports. He was inspired by the 1934 Olympics but plantation people could not participate. Opportunities for the Japanese-Americans were greater on the mainland compared to the islands. Hajiro worked in a baseball park starting in 1938 and ended up winning the Maui running championship. He registered for the draft in 1940, before 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941 was the date that Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by Japanese naval air forces]. Hajiro became the last Japanese-American draftee from Hawaii in February 1942.

Barney Hajiro entered the Army and was immediately required to do manual labor around the Hawaiian Islands in preparation for the possibility of an invasion. He was not even issued a weapon during this period. Prior to Pearl Harbor being attacked on 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941], he was working for a contractor on Kauai doing gardening work. That was followed by a job as a stevedore. When the attack actually came, he was in Honolulu. He not only could see and hear the antiaircraft guns but a shell fell close to him. People were injured by the American weapons fire. Smoke could be seen coming from the harbor. People wanted to get guns. That included the local inhabitants of Asian ancestry. There were few Caucasians in the area at the time. When the 442nd [Annotator's Note: 442nd Regimental Combat Team] was organized, Hajiro volunteered for the outfit. There were about 100 volunteers who stepped forward to join. The volunteers shipped out to Oakland and then took a train to Mississippi for their training. Hajiro was from the country so he was awed by some of the sights he saw on the mainland. When he reached Mississippi, he was issued a rifle and began a series of forced marches. He did not particularly care about the environment at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. The 100th Battalion [Annotator's Note: 100th Infantry Battalion] was sent from their training in Wisconsin to join the 442nd at Camp Shelby. That was only briefly before the 100th shipped out to North Africa. The 442nd would later join them following the capture of Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome was liberated on 5 June 1944]. Prior to going overseas, Hajiro was stationed in Alabama to guard German prisoners of war, POWs. The captives were picking beans. The POWs were former members of the Afrika Korps. The Germans seemed like nice people to Hajiro. Some had even been born in the United States. Hajiro, at the time, had dual citizenship. He maintained his Japanese citizenship. After a few months, he went to Virginia and then shipped out in a convoy for 28 days to Africa and then Italy. He was with the heavy weapons M Company [Annotator's Note: Company M, 3rd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team] when he arrived.

Barney Hajiro fought in Northern Italy. Hajiro was the messenger for Company M [Annotator's Note: Company M, 3rd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team], the heavy weapons company. After the battle at the Arno River, the unit was pulled back for a rest. While there, a fight between some Italians and Hajiro and his buddy ensued. A Caucasian MP [Annotator's Note: military policeman] arrested Hajiro for something that would have not been an issue in an American city. Hajiro's captain moved him from the heavy weapons company to Company I, a rifle company. The officer said if Hajiro wanted to fight, he would put a rifle in his hands and let him fight. Hajiro felt the officer did not like Japanese. Hajiro was issued a BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle]. A short time later, the captain who had punished Hajiro was killed in a German ambush. Lieutenant Potter [Annotator's Note: no given name provided] in Company M was of German ancestry. His grave in Italy is still visited by Hawaiians. The 442nd crossed the Arno River. He remembers the German 88mm guns [Annotator's Note: 88mm multi-purpose artillery] as being very frightening. The first battles in Italy were tough because the Germans were pounding the 442nd and the new troops were not sure of what to do. Hajiro saw men dying next to him. He wanted to go back to Hawaii.

Many of Barney Hajiro's friends died or were wounded in the Vosges Mountains of France. It was sad. The 36th Division was with the Seventh Army in France [Annotator's Note: Hajiro was with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team which was attached to the 36th Infantry Division in France]. After traveling from Italy through Marseilles by train and truck, the 442nd joined the 36th which was a Texas outfit. The 442nd had been part of General Mark Clark's Fifth Army in Italy before the transfer to France [Annotator's Note: in Italy the 442nd Regimental Combat Team had been attached to the 34th Infantry Division]. Upon arriving in France, Hajiro and a friend captured a German headquarters outfit including its commander. The German colonel, the other prisoners, and equipment were turned over to the MPs [Annotator's Note: military police]. After a stint in a rest area, the men moved forward and were even involved in what they called a "banzai attack" where they attacked the Germans head on. [Annotator's Note: This attack was up a hill known as "Suicide Hill" in Biffontaine, France.] Machine gun fire cut down many of the men in the attack. They had to obey the orders even though the fire was heavy. Hajiro carried his BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] into the fight. He was hit multiple times in his extremities but managed to return to the rear for treatment of his wounds. He had what was called a "million dollar" wound in his left wrist. He was hit in the shoulder and the face. He was lucky that there were no wounds in his chest. The Germans must have given him a break. From the aid station, he was transferred to a field hospital. He could hear dying mean crying for their mothers during the battle. Hajiro felt sorry for them. As Hajiro advanced during the attack, friends were hit by machine gun fire. To stop and help a wounded friend would mean death. The next day after the battle, Hajiro was in the field hospital. He did not find out all his buddies died until later. After recuperation, Hajiro decided to return to his Company I [Annotator's Note: Company I, 3rd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team] instead of going home. His commander informed him that he was up for the Medal of Honor. It surprised Hajiro. [Annotator's Note: This battle had occurred in late October 1944.]

Barney Hajiro was involved in major combat prior to the battle of 29 October. [Annotator's Note: On 29 October 1944, Hajiro was wounded while participating in a "banzai charge" against German machine gun emplacements on a terrain feature known as "Suicide Hill" near Biffontaine, France.] He captured a German patrol on 22 October after shooting their officer in the head with his BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle; the memory makes Hajiro laugh]. There were more than a dozen heavily armed Germans. They laid down their arms and surrendered to Hajiro and his buddy. Others came to help oversee the 200 or so prisoners. If the officer had not been killed, the enemy troops likely would not have given up. Hajiro received a prized German pistol from one of his prisoners but, he sold it on the French Riviera for 200 dollars to a colored soldier. Hajiro and his buddies spent all the money drinking in the bars in the rest area. Killing people is not good. The enemy was just fighting for their country. War is hell. When Hajiro and his platoon charged a German strongpoint, they were subjected to a crossfire from automatic weapons. Hajiro also took out a couple snipers around this time. During the "banzai charge" Hajiro used his BAR to take out two enemy machine gun nests with two Germans in each position. Much of this is stated in the citation for his Medal of Honor.

Barney Hajiro spent time in Nice, France and then in Michigan in hospitals recovering from his combat wounds. While in Michigan, he received his Distinguished Service Cross in 1945. It was a proud moment for him, but he was ready to be discharged and return home. He used his pay to catch a train to Oakland [Annotator's Note: Oakland, California] and then a ship to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii] and finally home [Annotator's Note: home was in Puunene, Maui, Hawaii]. He was in the 52-20 Club [Annotator’s Note: a provision of the G.I. Bill which provided veterans with 52 weeks of unemployment pay of 20 dollars per week while they sought employment after discharge] only briefly. He received a supervisor job at the local plantation but there was a strike. He was happy to get the job. There was bigotry toward him when he was called Jap [Annotator's Note: period derogatory term for Japanese]. Hajiro never had postwar memory issues. He led a happy life. He was married in 1946. He received only 100 dollars for mustering out pay. He struggled. In the early 21st Century, Hajiro learned that his military decoration was being upgraded to the Medal of Honor. Hajiro was grateful for the recognition. President Clinton [Annotator's Note: William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, 42nd President of the United States] bestowed the Medal on Hajiro. Hajiro does not think about the Medal but he thinks about the battles he participated in and the men he fought with. They all deserve the Medal of Honor. He is happy the veterans received the G.I. Bill and could attend school. While he was in the service, he encountered bigotry in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. He did not know whether to use the white or black restrooms. He was told to go in the white restrooms because his skin was yellow. [Annotator's Note: Hajiro laughs.] When he was in New Orleans, he remembered seeing a statue of General Lee [Annotator's Note: Confederate General Robert E. Lee]. He was a great general who fought against General Grant [Annotator's Note: Union General Ulysses S. Grant] in the Civil War. Hajiro dreamed about Lee when he was a young man. Hajiro studied American and not Japanese history as a youth in school. He is just as American as anyone. Robert E. Lee was one of his favorite generals. When General Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; later 34th President of the United States] came to Honolulu, Hajiro saluted him. He was his former supreme commander.

Barney Hajiro and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team were attached to the 36th Infantry Division when he observed Caucasian troops fleeing in the face of German guns. He asked them why they were running. Hajiro took his BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] and drew the enemy fire from the retreating men. [Annotator's Note: A side conversation ensues where attempts are made to jog memories of the event.] Following the war, Hajiro never talked to his two children about the war. His emphasis was more on drinking beer and being happy. He never attended school after discharge because he was a farm boy. [Annotator's Note: The interview ends with the camera close-up of Hajiro and his Medal of Honor.]