A Newfound Friendship Ends in Tragedy
On a mission to locate the heroic 442nd vets who saved their father during WWII, the Hardwick sisters found a friend in veteran Jim Tazoi. Sadly he died in a tragic car accident less than a week later.
The three-page handwritten note along with the pamphlet-sized book Susan Hardwick found in her mailbox one recent Saturday morning was the saddest of ironies. The package was from 442nd veteran Jim Tazoi, an 87-year-old Nisei from Utah she had recently befriended. Earlier that same morning Susan had learned of Jim's tragic death in a car accident.
Just one week before Jim's package had arrived, Susan, 61, and her sister Janet Hardwick Brown, 64, had begun a friendship with the World War II veteran. For the past several months, the Hardwick sisters have been trying to locate members of the 442nd to thank them for rescuing their father Sgt. Bill Hardwick, a member of the "Lost Battalion." Jim was one of the dozen vets they have managed to find so far.
"It crushes me. I would have loved to have met him," said Susan from her home in Indiana a few days after learning of Jim's passing. "He sounded so wonderful, his contributions to our family and the great contributions to his community."
After a recent story appeared in the Pacific Citizen about the Hardwicks' efforts to locate the 442nd, Jim and his younger brother Taichi Tazoi decided to try to get in touch with Janet and Susan. Taichi, who lives in Anaheim, Calif. began exchanging e-mails with the Hardwick sisters Feb. 25 and would relate all the messages by phone to his older brother.
Jim had even sent an autographed book about his life to the sisters with the hope that they could continue corresponding and eventually meet. Tragically, Jim was killed March 2 while parking his car at a restaurant to meet his son. His wife Kimiko suffered serious injuries but is currently recovering from the accident.
"He was my best friend ... it really hurt me," said Taichi, 81. "My older brother was so nice, he had class."
In late February, Taichi contacted the Hardwick sisters via e-mail. "Janet was the second person I had ever e-mailed," he said. In one phone call to Jim, Taichi mentioned that Janet and Susan had found an oral interview on the Internet Jim had done a few years back.
"I told my brother, 'Now the sisters know how ugly you are,'" Taichi said with a sad chuckle. We were like that, he said, always joking around with each other.
Unfortunately, Jim never got to meet the Hardwick sisters.
"He wanted to meet them so bad ... the feeling was so mutual too," said Taichi. "Now the meeting will have to be in another place."
Janet, who lives in North Carolina, felt a profound sadness in learning of Jim's death. "We feel [the family's] loss so deeply. We loved Jim dearly even though we only knew him for a short time."
In Jim's last letter to the Hardwick sisters dated Feb. 28 he talks about his experiences fighting in the 442nd and of being on that same mountain where their father Sgt. Hardwick was eventually rescued.
"It was like finding a needle in a haystack," Jim writes, and indicates his interest in speaking with the sisters further. "I would love to hear from you and Janet. Maybe a phone call."
Jim had been in the National Guard prior to WWII and decided to volunteer for the famed 442nd Regiment soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On Oct. 27, 1944, Jim set out to the Vosges Mountains along with his fellow Japanese American soldiers to rescue the men of the "Lost Battalion."
On Oct. 29 Jim was shot twice, once in his left chest just above the heart, and would have to be hospitalized for eight months. Although the doctors were able to save him they were unable to take out all of the shrapnel that had entered his body.
In an interview with KUED Jim recalled: "I've still got a couple of pieces of shrapnel lodged in my hip and one piece of shrapnel about the size of a quarter and another about the size of a dime ... It's been 60 years now and I think I still carry those two pieces of shrapnel."
For his heroics, Jim was honored with the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Cross of Valor from the Italian government.
"Jim was certainly, absolutely a hero," said Janet. "He was humble, brave, he almost doesn't believe he has done anything extraordinary, but he did."
After Jim was discharged from the Army, he met and married his longtime sweetheart Kimiko and had three boys.
"We at JACL express our deepest sympathy for the loss of a model husband and father," said Floyd Mori, JACL national director. "It is the courage that he displayed that allows the Japanese American community to hold their head high and participate as fully as we do in the democratic process. His legacy is a part of all of us and will remain for future generations."
Taichi hopes to keep in touch with the Hardwick sisters, especially because it meant so much to his older brother.
"I'm sure I'll stay in contact," he said.
For Susan and Janet, the short time they spent getting to know Jim has meant a lot.
"Anytime we actually contact someone who helped rescue our father, the feeling is indescribable. How do you say thank you?" said Janet.
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