Young-Oak Kim

Colonel Young-Oak Kim (Korean: 김영옥; Hanja: 金永玉; RR: Gim Yeong-ok, M-R: Kim Yŏng-ok, 1919 – December 29, 2005), a highly-decorated U.S. Army combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He was a member of the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and a combat leader in Italy and France during World War II. He was awarded 19 medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Medal of Military Valor, a Légion d'honneur, a Croix de guerre, and (posthumously) the Korean Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit. He died of cancer at the age of 86.