By Ed German (Admin) on Sunday, March 12, 2023 - 08:18 pm:  Edit

Theodore “Ted” Shigeru Kanamine



August 29, 1929 - March 2, 2023

Brigadier General (Ret) Theodore “Ted” Shigeru Kanamine – who became the first Japanese American active duty general in the U.S. Army – passed away on March 2, 2023 at home. He was 93. Ted was born in North Hollywood, Calif. in 1929, where he spent his early childhood with his parents Thomas and Lucille and younger sister Joyce.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 in early 1942, they had to board a train to the Jerome, Ark. Internment Camp. He was 12. In 1944, through the War Relocation Authority, his family moved to Omaha, Neb. Omaha gave the family “something of a normal life again.”

Ted graduated from Omaha Tech High School in 1947 and went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He was a varsity swimmer and graduated with a degree in criminal psychology and then a Law degree in 1954. While there, was baptized into the Catholic Church. He remained a devout catholic – and lifelong ‘Huskers fan. He met his wife Mary Stuben while working at the Omaha Field Club pool and on June 26, 1954 they were married in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In 1955, Ted was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Military Police Corps, and assigned to Garmisch, Germany. What followed was a succession of advancements and family moves. The family moved 21 times in his career. Among his career milestones, he was an aide to 4-star General Creighton Abrams during the Vietnam War, Commander of the 716th MP Battalion in Saigon. “That was the highlight of my career, commanding soldiers in war,” Ted said.

He commanded the 716th Military Police Battalion in Vietnam, the 89th Military Police Group at Fort Lewis. In 1976, Ted was promoted to Brigadier General – becoming the U.S. Army’s first active-duty Japanese-American general. He served as Provost Marshal and Commanding General, 15th Military Police Brigade in Germany. He retired in 1981.

In 2012 he was inducted into the Military Police Corps Hall of Fame at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Ted and Mary settled in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in 1981. He immersed in volunteer work–city code enforcement board, The American Red Cross, The Knights of Columbus, and daily helper at Holy Family Catholic Church in Port St. Lucie. He also continued to travel the world visiting friends and family. In 2020, they moved to Naples, Fla. to live with their daughter Laura and her husband Howard Rutizer.

Ted Kanamine passed peacefully at home on Thursday morning March 2 following a brief battle with cancer. He leaves a large and loving legacy in his family including his wife, Mary; their five children Ted and his wife Sara; Mike; David; Laura and her husband Howard Rutizer; and Linda; a nephew Gregg Tamai and his wife Susie; a niece Katie Takahama; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Ted often said: “Life is not always ‘peaches and cream.’ Tough times and big problems arise, but a close family and good friends can solve almost anything.” He will be missed by all.

A viewing at Hodges Funeral Home at Naples Memorial Gardens will be 4pm-6pm Sunday March 12; a funeral mass at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples, Fla., at 11am Monday March 13 followed by a reception; and burial with full military honors at Sarasota Veterans National Cemetery 2pm Tuesday March 14.

The above information includes details online here at the time of this posting. and here