William Takaezu

B Company

Billy Takaezu was born in Pepeekeo on the island of Hawaii in 1918. He had been drafted into the Army before the attack on Pearl Harbor and was in the original contingent of the Hawaiian Provisional Battalion which later became the100th Infantry Battalion after landing in Oakland, California In June 1942. Takaezu was assigned to B Company and was among the men from the 3rd Platoon who were sent from Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in November 1942 on a secret mission to Cat Island in the Gulf of Mexico where they acted as dog bait in an experiment to train dogs to attack Japanese soldiers.

Takaezu’s widow remembers that he had a “small” camera that he used to take photos during his time in the service. The first page of this album, put together by Takaezu, contains a tribute to eight of his friends who were killed in action, including the first 100th soldier killed, Shigeo “Joe” Takata.