Yukio 'Yuki' Okutsu, 81, awarded Medal of Honor

Associated Press

Yukio "Yuki" Okutsu, a World War II veteran whose Distinguished Service Cross award was later upgraded to a Medal of Honor, has died. He was 81.

Okutsu died Aug. 24 at the Hilo Medical Center on the Big Island, about a month after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, said his son, Wayne Okutsu.

Born and raised in Koloa, Kaua'i, Okutsu was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Wayne Okutsu said. He spent 18 months in Italy, where he used grenades and a submachine gun to neutralize three German machine-gun positions on Mount Belvedere during an April 7, 1945, battle.

Okutsu was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and returned to Kaua'i in December 1945. He donated the medal to the Kaua'i Museum.

In 2000, Okutsu's Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to a Medal of Honor after Congress ordered the Army to review its records to see if anti-Japanese sentiment during the war prevented the soldiers from getting full recognition.

President Clinton presented the nation's highest recognition for valor in combat to Okutsu at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C.