Man on the Mountain
by Nicholas Barrows
442nd Regimental Combat Team, 1994, France. After the war, the 442nd would return home as one of the most decorated units in U.S. history. (National Archives and Records Administration)
Harold Horiuchi, a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy during World War II. (Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame)
Harold M Horiuchi
August 29, 1920 – March 29, 2014
There are many things that define a person’s life, whether this is where they live, what they do, or how many children they raise. In Harold M. Horiuchi’s case, his life seems to have been most defined by the mountains that surrounded him. During his service in World War II he took part in the Battle of the Gothic Line that involved steep mountain climbing. After the war, he moved to Littleton, Colorado, an area where he was still surrounded by mountains. Even after retirement he spent a lot of his time enjoying the mountains as a ski legend.
Harold Horiuchi was born in 1920 in Seattle, Washington to parents Eishi and Aya Horiuchi.[1] His father and mother were both born in Horiuchi, Japan and later immigrated to Washington where they would have three children—Harold being the youngest. Like many Japanese immigrants in the western United States, they worked as farmers, only to be removed to an incarceration camp during the Second World War. In spite of the grave circumstances, Horiuchi met and married his wife, Edith, in 1943, while they were both interned at the Minidoka Relocation Center in southern Idaho.[2]
In 1944, Harold enlisted as a private in the U.S., Army, one of many second-generation Japanese, or Nisei, that served in the segregated 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy. The regiment had been organized in March of 1943, more than a year after the U.S. War Department had declared Japanese Americans “enemy aliens.”[3] Receiving seven Distinguished Unit Citations for valor and bravery, 21 Medals of Honor, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts for casualties sustained, the 442nd became the most decorated military in U.S. history for its size and length of service.[4]
Horiuchi’s unit participated in the Battle at the Gothic Line in Italy. This battle was a key victory for the Allies during World War II. The soldiers had to crawl up goat paths so steep that 25 men fell off. According to Sergeant Toshio Endo, one of the men got too scared and froze. He could not move up or down, forcing everybody to leap frog over him due to the narrow paths. These paths were so treacherous that the Nazis thought they would be impossible for anybody to climb. When the 442nd got there, about half of the Nazis were asleep. With their tactical surprise the 442nd and other supporting units took what was thought to be an impregnable defense in just 32 minutes.[5]
After the war, Horiuchi settled with Edith in Colorado to ski and work in the jewelry business in the city of Littleton.[6] The couple had two daughters, and Harold retired in 1971 and became a part owner of Sports International in Denver. All the while, Harold avidly pursued his love of skiing and outdoor sports. He was a Volunteer Ski Patrolman at Winter Park Ski Patrol for almost 50 years; participated in Tyrol Ski Club for 10 years and officiated the 1960 Winter Olympics; worked as a certified teacher for ski racing and wrote a key text on skiing; and served as the President of the Rocky Mountain Ski Association in 1959 and 1960. Horiuchi received several awards for his commitment to skiing including the National Ski Association Citation for Distinguished Service in 1961 and the Rocky Mountain Halstead Memorial Award in 1962. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1988. His family fondly remembers that despite two artificial hips, and lung disease, he remained an avid skier—with an oxygen tank strapped to his back—until he was 89 years old. In fact, his portrait in the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame describes Harold’s love of the mountains, stating, “If there were a few feet of new champagne powder snow…that was Harold calling.”[7]
Footnotes ↓
[1] “Obituary for Harold M. Horiuchi,” Monarch Society, accessed July 26, 2018, http://www.monarchsociety.com/obituary/2469843.
[2] “History & Culture,” National Parks Service, accessed July 26, 2018, https://www.nps.gov/miin/learn/historyculture/index.htm.
[3] Densho Encyclopedia, “442nd Regimental Combat Team,” Densho, accessed on October 2, 2019, http://encyclopedia.densho.org/442nd_Regimental_Combat_Team/.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ronald Oba, “The Hawai'i Nisei Story: Americans of Japanese Ancestry During WWII,” accessed July 26, 2018, http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1160630943437.html.
[6] Henri’s Jewelry, accessed July 26, 2018, https://www.henrisjewelry.com/company/history/.
[7] “Harold Horiuchi,” Colorado Ski Museum, accessed October 2, 2019, http://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Harold_Horiuchi.htm.
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