Corporal David M. Akui was a member of the 298th Infantry of the Hawaii National Guard during World War II.

Biography

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Akui became an instant hero in Hawaii after capturing the first prisoner of war taken by American forces in World War II. (see below for more information) Akui served throughout the war; his service included being a member of the famed "Merrill's Marauders", who fought the Japanese in Burma. Returning to the Hawaii Guard after the war, he eventually retired as a master sergeant.

Japanese P.O.W. Incident

Along with Lt. Paul S. Plybon, Akui made history by capturing the first prisoner of war that was taken by American forces during World War II. In the early morning hours on December 8, less than a day after the Japanese attacks on the army and naval bases at Pearl Harbor, Akui found a man laying unconscious on the beach; the man woke up to find Akui over him, brandishing a pistol.

The stranger was quickly taken into custody and he turned out to be Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, the commander of one of the five two-man "midget" Japanese submarines that were used in the Pearl Harbor attacks. Sakamaki's sub had been hit and damaged by American depth charges outside the harbor entrance, later forcing it to surface. It was found in the morning grounded on a reef close to Bellows Field, where he was captured. The other crewman was found washed up on shore, dead.

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