American Battle Monuments Commission to commemorate 80th anniversary of Liberation of Bruyères
The American Battle Monuments Commission will host a ceremony Oct. 19, 2024, at 3 p.m. CET at Epinal American Cemetery to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Bruyères and honor the U.S. troops who participated in this event, highlighting the deeds of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team and their connection to the site where service members from these units rest for eternity.
U.S. and local representatives, including ABMC Secretary Charles K. Djou and family members of service members of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (Nisei) who took part in the fights in the area will be present at the ceremony. The general public is also welcome to attend this event.
On Oct. 18, 1944, after heavy fighting, the men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team liberated the town of Bruyères. This unit was composed almost entirely of Nisei and is the most highly decorated regiment in U.S. military history for its size and length of service. One of those service members is Staff Sgt. Tomosu Hirahara who was born in Honolulu, July 2, 1923. He was educated at Waialae School, Liliuokalani Intermediate School, McKinley High School on the island of Oahu. Before entering service, he worked for the Hawaiian Flower Exchange.
On March 31, 1943, he was inducted into the U.S. Army at Honolulu. He trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Company B, 100th Infantry Battalion, in the United States, Italy and France. His unit was tasked to attack what was called at that time Hill's A, B, C and D. The hills were heavily guarded, as each was key to taking and securing Bruyères.
Hirahara was killed in action Oct. 15, 1944. near Bruyères, France, during the Battle of Bruyères. He is buried at Epinal American Cemetery in plot A, row 30, grave 50.
The cemetery is located on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of approximately 5,300 U.S. military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine River and beyond into Germany. More than 450 names are also inscribed on the walls of the missing.
The site was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities of the bitter fighting through the Saverne Gap, and in defense of Allied positions in the Vosges region, during the winter of 1944-1945.
Sources:
EPAC Team
Historical Services
ABMC website, brochures and documents.
Microsoft Word - 1B-Hirahara Tomoso.doc (100thbattalion.org)