Ben Kuroki: A True Hero

Ben Kuroki, a brave, smart and determined soldier who served in the American Air Force, is someone who’s remembered as a hero in World War ll. Recently passing away last year, Kuroki was the first American of Japanese descendants to fight in the American military. After being rejected by the first sign up station for the army, Ben and his brother Fred drove 150 miles to another recruiting sign up, where he was then accepted. At the time, the Air Forces blocked soldiers of Japanese ancestry from flying, but Kuroki earned his way into the Force. Kuroki fought in a bomber crew and flew 58 bomber missions over Europe, north Africa and Japan. He was also in a mission that raided over Nazi oil fields in Ploesti, Romania 1943.