Fort Irwin Exchange Honors 97-year-old Veteran of Three Wars on National Vietnam War Veterans Day

The Fort Irwin Exchange looked forward to honoring Vietnam Veterans on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

But there was one Veteran the team hoped to see. A Veteran not just of the Vietnam War, but of the Korean War and World War II.

“We all know about him,” said Store Manager Lorraine Davis. “We were all saying, ‘I hope he shows up.’ ”

Robert Izumi, 97, served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The Fort Irwin PX honored Izumi, a longtime store regular, on National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

And Robert Izumi, a 97-year-old PX regular, did come in.

When Izumi and his wife came into the Fort Irwin Military Clothing store March 29, Visual Merchandiser Ricardo Orfin recognized Izumi and reminded him of the National Vietnam War Veterans Day commemoration at the Main Store. Izumi came in with his wife, and received a lapel pin from the Vietnam War Commemoration.

Davis met Izumi a couple of years ago under unusual circumstances – he had been using one of the store’s electric wheelchairs when he ran it into a fixture. When she joked with him about it, he said, “I do what I want” and asked why the fixture was in the way. Thus began a special manager-customer relationship.

“Every time I’ve seen him since then, he’s just joked with me,” Davis said. “Every time he would come into the store, I would tell him, ‘You’re my favorite customer’ and he would tell me, ‘You don’t miss me.’ He’s ornery … but oh my God, I just love him.”

Izumi served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, and received a Bronze Star and the South Vietnamese Armed Forces Honor Medal for saving a downed American pilot. But Izumi’s history in the U.S. military dates back more than 75 years.

According to the Victorville, California, Daily Press, Izumi was born in Pomona, California, to Japanese florists and grew up in west Los Angeles. One of his classmates in high school was Norma Jean Baker, who became Marilyn Monroe. After the United States went to war with Japan in 1941, Izumi, 17 at the time, was sent to the Manzanar internment camp.

Robert Izumi with Lorraine Davis, Fort Irwin store manager. During a store visit a week after National Vietnam Veterans Day, Izumi showed Davis a coin that was made especially for him and told her he wanted her to have it. “I give this to special people like you,” he told her. “I am so honored,” she told the Exchange Post.

Two years later, he was able to leave the camp to finish his education in Iowa. In June 1944, he joined the Army and the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted of American-born sons of Japanese immigrants who fought the Germans in Europe.

After a few months, he was transferred to the 101^st Airborne Division. He served in the Parachute Infantry Regiment, making 318 jumps into Italy, France and Austria. He even went into Adolf Hitler’s hideout in Austria, according to the Daily Press.

Izumi told the paper that he had five brothers who also served in World War II. His oldest brother, who had passed away before the paper’s report, also served in Vietnam.

After World War II, Izumi transferred to the Air Force. He served in the Korean War, during which he rescued unwanted babies and moved them to an orphanage

Davis said that when she met Izumi, who lives about 35 miles away in Barstow, he typically used a cane to get around the store. But more recently, he has had to use one of the store’s wheelchairs to get around. “He’d tell people, ‘Guess how old I am, and I’ll buy you lunch’,” she says. “They’d say ’90?’ and he’d say ‘higher’.”

In 2011, Izumi and other members of the 442^nd received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award. Izumi had also stood special guard for Gens. Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton during World War II, according to multiple sources.

For Davis and the Fort Irwin Exchange associates, however, Izumi is a celebrity in his own right.

“He’s something else,” Davis said. “He’s such a doll. I just love him.”