Clearing the Trench: SSG Edward N. Kaneshiro

Welcome to the Medal of Honor podcast, brought to you in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Museum. I’m Ken Harbaugh. In each episode, we’ll learn about a different service member who has distinguished him or herself through an act of valor.

Edward N. Kaneshiro was born on July 22nd, 1928 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents were Japanese immigrants and had a total of 16 children. Kaneshiro grew up working on his family’s farm, and after graduating high school, he worked a number of civilian jobs. On April 2nd, 1959, at 30 years old, Kaneshiro enlisted in the Army.

Kaneshiro was first stationed in Oahu, before serving non-combat tours in Japan and South Korea. During this time, he married his wife, Mitsuko, and had five children. He was eventually reassigned to 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, and deployed to Vietnam in July 1966 at the age of 38.

On December 1st, 1966, then Staff Sergeant Kaneshiro was leading a squadron as a part of a search-and-destroy mission near Phu Huu 2 in the Kim Son Valley. As they approached a seemingly peaceful village, two of their squads headed for its center, while Kaneshiro’s squad patrolled the open terrain to the east. As Kaneshiro and his squad scouted the area, the sound of gunfire erupted from the village. Their comrades had been ambushed by an overwhelming North Vietnamese force who were fortified by bunkers, an underground tunnel system, and a large concealed trench that spanned the width of the village. Hit with machine gun and small arms fire, the platoon leader and point man were immediately killed. Four others were wounded, and the rest of the squads were pinned down. Kaneshiro’s squad moved towards the fighting to aid their allies. As they approached, Kaneshiro ordered his men to take cover. He knew the fire from the enemy trench posed the greatest threat, and in order to help the other squads, it had to be dealt with. Alone he crawled up to the trench, armed with only six grenades and his M-16. When he reached the trench wall, he stayed flat on his stomach and threw a grenade into an opening in the wall, killing the enemy manning the machine gun. Kaneshiro then jumped into the trench, out of sight of his allies. A flurry of grenade and small arms fire erupted from the trench. When the dust settled, Kaneshiro emerged victorious, having taken out two groups of enemies with grenades, and one group with his rifle. No longer pinned down, the Americans were able to reorganize and successfully withdraw from the village.

Kaneshiro was initially awarded the Silver Star for his heroism, though he was being considered for higher awards. Unfortunately, he would not live to receive this recognition. Kaneshiro was shot and killed during an ambush just a few months later as he tried to help a wounded comrade. His Silver Star was upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross in October of 1967, after his passing.

For decades, the DSC was Kaneshiro’s highest award. However, in the past few years, the US military has been reviewing the archives to see if anyone was passed up for higher awards as a result of racial bias or bigotry. Kaneshiro’s file was revisited, and in June 2022, it was announced that he’d receive the Medal of Honor. Sadly, Kaneshiro’s wife passed away just weeks before the news came. Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on July 5th, 2022 for single handedly averting disaster for his whole platoon. The award was received by his youngest son, who was five months old when Kaneshiro deployed to Vietnam.

The Medal of Honor podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.

Nathan Corson is our executive producer and mixing engineer, Declan Rohrs is our associate producer, scriptwriter, and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.

We are proud to support the National Medal of Honor Museum. To learn more, and to support their mission, go to mohmuseum.org. Thanks for listening.