Nelson T. Akagi photograph collection, 1943-2007

Nelson Takeo Akagi (1923-2020) was born on June 27, 1923, in Lindsay, California to Otoemon and Masano Takehara Akagi. The Akagis owned a farm in Lindsay. Nelson Akagi attended Lindsay High School, where he lettered in football, basketball, track, and tennis. He attended California Polytechnic State University, majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in mechanical engineering. His studies were interrupted in 1942 when the Akagi family was targeted by the United States government as enemy aliens. Forced to sell their farm and stripped of their rights as citizens, the Akagis were given a choice between imprisonment and working on a sugar beet farm in Parker, Idaho; they chose the latter. The family soon moved to Utah, where they worked on a farm in Draper, Utah.

In 1943, the United States government allowed Japanese Americans to enlist in the military. Nelson Akagi enlisted and served as a machine gunner and forward observer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which fought primarily in southern France, which they helped to liberate from Nazi control, and in northern Italy. The 442nd was also among the United States troops who liberated Dachau concentration camp in Poland. Akagi was honorably discharged in 1946. Akagi moved to Utah to rejoin his family, and continued his education at the University of Utah. In 1965, Nelson Akagi converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A member of the Japanese Dai Ichi Branch, he served as ward missionary, executive secretary, and in the High Priests Group leadership. In 1969, he married Atsuko Noda; together, they had three children. In 1974, Akagi married Lois Kilbourn Bennett. Akagi spent his career working as a machinist for Hercules, where he worked on intercontinental ballistic missiles; he retired in 1987. Additionally, Akagi worked on his family fruit farm in Draper until 1995, when the Akagi family decided to develop the land.

Akagi was a member of the American Legion Honor Guard and the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 6 Honor Guard. Throughout his life, he was involved in military organizations, commemorations, and reunions of the 442nd, including events held in Utah and around the world. In 2011, Akagi was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his military service, and in 2020, he received the French Legion of Honor. Nelson Akagi died on September 19, 2020. (Biography adapted from obituary).