BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University will honor a man whose education and dreams were terribly interrupted by World War II, but who went on to serve with distinction in that war.
James K. Okubo was born in Anacortes and moved to Bellingham with his parents who ran the Sunrise Cafe on Holly Street.
He graduated from Bellingham High School and enrolled in the education department at Western Washington University.
But his education was cut short in 1942 when he, his family and other Bellingham residents of Japanese decent were forced from their homes and taken to a war relocation camp in California.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, and, while serving with a legendary all-Japanese squad in France, braved grenades and heavy machine gun fire to rescue members of a battalion caught behind enemy lines.
James returned from the war and settled in the Detroit area where he achieved his dream of becoming a dentist and served on the faculty of the University of Detroit Dental School.
He died in a car crash in 1967 at age 46.
He was initially awarded the Silver Star for his service, but President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2000.
Western Washington University will award James an honorary bachelors degree at spring commencement on June 15th.