This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star

and the American people.

Major General James Mukayama rose from his blue-collar Chicago neighborhood to become the

first Asian American to command a U.S. Army Division. General Mook, as he is well known,

is the author of Faith, Family, and Flag,

memoirs of an unlikely American samurai crusader.

Mukayama volunteered and served in Korea and Vietnam.

In 1986, he became the youngest general in the Army.

Soon after, he was promoted to Major General,

commanding the 70th training division

during Desert Storm. Retired now, he spends his time serving our veterans.

When I was in the Macong Delta with the Hardcore Battalion, an incident occurred where

we had just overrun an enemy position and we had killed

numerous enemy, and in fact there were three dead bodies at my feet. Now, the time of unit is

most vulnerable is right after a victory. It's just human nature to kind of let your guard down

and breathe a sigh of relief.

Well, I'm the guy in charge,

so I'm on my radio barking out orders to my platoon leaders.

And then suddenly I stopped.

And I looked at the three dead bodies at my feet.

I realized that something had happened to me, something had hardened my heart. Only moments earlier,

...