Subscribe
  • News
    • Local
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events
Menu
  • News
    • Local
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events

Bud Lilly to honor Japanese-Americans who fought in WWII

in News
Megan Paulsonby Megan Paulson
August 4, 2011

During his boyhood in the Gallatin Valley, Bud
Lilly knew many Japanese-American families
who came to Montana to work on the railroads.
Many of them stayed in his mother’s hotel in
Three Forks. And Lilly, who attended high
school in Manhattan, played against many of
these kids in football and basketball.

“They were very good athletes,” Lilly remembers.
In fact, “in 1940 and ‘41 they were the all
state football champs.”

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, all
Japanese-Americans who didn’t enlist were put
in work camps. Lilly himself was deployed to
Italy.

Article Inline Ad Article Inline Ad Article Inline Ad
ADVERTISEMENT

“Battalion 442 was the most famous battalion
in WWII, and they were all from Japanese-
American backgrounds.” Some of Lilly’s friends
from Montana were in that battalion in Italy,
where they “fought their way in the Battle of
the Bulge.”

On Aug. 5 Lilly will host a presentation in the
backyard of the old railroad hotel to dedicate a
permanent memorial honoring six of those warriors.
The memorial will be a several hundred
sq. foot plot with “trees and plants and a rock
monument by [sculptor] Ott Jones.”

Lilly has invited Governor Schweitzer, and
three generals from Virginia, one of whom
grew up in Montana. 91-year-old Yokichi Itoh,
one of the veterans from Battalion 442 and a
retired surgeon from Livingston, will also be
there.

The hour-long dedication starts at 11 a.m. and
is across the street from the Sacagawea Hotel
in downtown Three Forks, at 16 West Birch St.
(the old railroad hotel with white columns).
Lunch will follow, and then Bud plans to take the
governor, the generals and their wives fishing.

ADVERTISEMENT
Outlaw Realty Outlaw Realty
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Listen

Hoary Marmot Podcast

Joe Borden & Michele Veale Borden

Lastest Episode
See More Episodes
outlaw realty montana outlaw realty montana
ADVERTISEMENT
Outlaw Realty Big Sky Bozeman
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Jul 16
11:00 am - 5:00 pm Event Series

June Show at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery

Jul 16
12:15 pm - 1:30 pm Event Series

Community Yoga

Jul 16
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Event Series

Post 99 Honey sales

Jul 16
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Event Series

Pickup Ultimate Frisbee

Jul 17
11:00 am - 5:00 pm Event Series

June Show at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery

View Calendar
Event Calendar

Related Posts

David Yarrow photograph heads to Wildlands auction through Courtney Collins Fine Art
Arts & Entertainment

David Yarrow photograph heads to Wildlands auction through Courtney Collins Fine Art

July 9, 2025
Gallatin Whitewater Fest celebrates community, competition and crowns river royalty
Featured

Gallatin Whitewater Fest celebrates community, competition and crowns river royalty

July 1, 2025
Uncle Dan’s Cookies moves forward with new owner, same sweet legacy
Business

Uncle Dan’s Cookies moves forward with new owner, same sweet legacy

June 30, 2025
To the Tune of Hope
Featured

To the Tune of Hope

June 27, 2025

An Outlaw Partners Publication

Facebook-f Instagram X-twitter Youtube

Explore Big Sky

  • About/Contact
  • Advertise
  • Publications
  • Subscriptions
  • Podcast
  • Submissions

Outlaw Brands

  • Mountain Outlaw
  • Plan Yellowstone
  • Big Sky PBR
  • Wildlands Music
  • Outlaw Partners
  • Outlaw Realty
  • Hey Bear

Copyright © 2025 Explore Big Sky | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Choices

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Yellowstone
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Real Estate
  • Events

©2024 Outlaw Partners, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Explore Big Sky Logo
  • News
    • Local
    • Regional
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Outlaw Partners
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Yellowstone
  • Events
Subscribe
Facebook X-twitter Instagram Youtube