A Company
Charles Jitsumi Okimoto was born in 1918 in Honolulu and grew up farming with his father in the upper Manoa Valley. He volunteered and was inducted into the army in November 1941. Okimoto was an original 100th of E Company and later was transferred to A Company. Badly wounded in France, he spent nine years in hospitals having reconstructive surgeries. In a veterans hospital in San Francisco, he met a nurse whom he eventually married.
In 1953 Okimoto founded Nalo Farms on 10 acres in Waimanalo on the island of Oahu. Succeeded by his son Dean, Nalo Farms is a thriving enterprise that specializes in farm fresh local produce.
![Charles Okimoto at the Brookfiled Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1942. [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]](https://www.100thbattalion.org/wp-content/gallery/charlie-okimoto/okimoto_charlie_01.jpg "Charles Okimoto at the Brookfiled Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1942. [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]")
![Charles Okimoto in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1942. [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]](https://www.100thbattalion.org/wp-content/gallery/charlie-okimoto/okimoto_charlie_02.jpg "Charles Okimoto in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1942. [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]")
![Charles Okimoto at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, 1942 [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]](https://www.100thbattalion.org/wp-content/gallery/charlie-okimoto/okimoto_charlie_03.jpg "Charles Okimoto at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, 1942 [Courtesy of Dean Okimoto]")