HUBERT YOSHIDA

Hubert Yoshida, was a 1st Lieutenant in charge of a Marine Rifle Platoon during Operation Utah. As a child he was interred in a prison camp for Japanese American citizens during World War II. When his family was released from the internment camp, they returned to Watsonville, California, where they started with nothing, living in a converted garage while they began farming a small acreage of strawberries, which later grew into a sizable farm. He graduated from the University of California with a degree in Mathematics. Disturbed by the political situation at Berkeley and inspired by the words of President Kennedy, he applied for a commission in the US Marine Corps. Although initially rejected for
Officer Candidate School, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, and later learned a commission in time to command a Rifle Platoon which he led to Vietnam in 1965. 

After he returned from Vietnam he joined IBM and began a technical career in International business. Later he joined Hitachi Data Systems where he had the opportunity to visit the area in Vietnam where Operation Utah was fought. After he blogged about his visit, he was contacted by many people asking about relatives who were killed in Operation Utah. This inspired him to research Operation Utah and interview as many veterans as he could find to develop this book.

Hubert lives in Morgan Hill, California with his wife, Laura, and  two children, Elizabeth and Michael. Thanks to his wife who endured the loneliness and uncertainty of being the wife of a combat Marine, he survived the war with no traumatic effects. The support of his family has enabled him to have a successful career in technology and retire as an Emeritus Chief Technology Officer for Hitachi Vantara. Although he is on partial disability from the effects of Agent Orange, he is thankful for the life he enjoys with family and friends and appreciates the sacrifices that were made by his comrades-in-arms.