Retired U.S. Army Capt. Wade Ishimoto has been inducted as a “Distinguished Member” of the Special Forces Regiment. Ishimoto, a vice president of the Japanese American Veterans Association, is the sole living inductee into the Special Forces Regiment.
His affiliation with the Special Forces Regiment began in 1968, when he conducted classified human intelligence cross-border operations in Vietnam. He continued service with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) while leading a civic action and humanitarian relief mission to the Miyako Islands in Okinawa. Ishimoto was also the intelligence officer and roadblock security team leader on the ill-fated 1980 mission to rescue 53 American hostages in Tehran, Iran.
Ishimoto continues to assist the Special Forces community in various ways even in his retirement.
