"Go for broke"

Sgt. Tanimoto enlisted in March 1943, and trained at Camp Shelby with the 442nd. He served in Italy and France. Landing at Anzio and fighting up through Italy. He was part of the invasion group of Southern France. He was a Weapons Platoon Leader, machine gun section, in Company I, 3d Battalion, 442d Regimental Combat Team, attached to the 36th Infantry Division in France.

He participated in the Battle of Bruyeres, and was killed in action in the near Biffontain, in the Vosges Mountains, France. He'd been part of the unit that rescued the "Lost Battalion" of the 36th.

He was interred in the National Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Distinguished Service Cross
Awarded posthumously for actions during the World War II

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Sergeant Larry Tadayuki Tanimoto, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as an acting Platoon Leader in Company I, 3d Battalion, 442d Regimental Combat Team, attached to the 36th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 29 and 31 October 1944 and 3 November 1944, in the Vosges Mountains, France.

Sergeant Tanimoto, while participating in an attack on "Suicide Hill", forced the surrender of two enemy gunners while making himself the sole target for another machine gun fifty yards away. He successfully led a heavily armed patrol in dispersing a numerically superior enemy mine-laying detail. While leading another patrol, an enemy machine gun wounded the scout and pinned the remaining men to the ground. Sergeant Tanimoto rose to his feet and killed two of the gun crew, giving his men an opportunity to outflank the nest.

The heroic courage and loyalty displayed by Sergeant Tanimoto in the face of great danger, at the cost of his own life, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 36th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

General Orders: Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 56 (1945)
Action Date: October 29 & 31 & November 3, 1944
Service: Army
Rank: Sergeant
Company: Company I
Battalion: 3d Battalion
Regiment: 442d Regimental Combat Team
Division: 36th Infantry Division

Tanimoto, Larry Tadayuki, SGT