Former Staff Sgt. Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, who fought waves of enemy soldiers before being captured and held for over two years during the Korean War, is the subject of the latest graphic novel in the Association of the U.S. Army’s series on recipients of the nation’s highest award for valor.

Medal of Honor: Hiroshi Miyamura tells of how Miyamura, deployed to Korea as a machine-gun squad leader, faced wave after wave of Chinese soldiers during a night assault. He ordered his men to fall back while he covered their withdrawal, and he was captured by the enemy and held for more than two years. News that Miyamura was to be awarded the Medal of Honor was kept quiet until his release from a prisoner-of-war camp on Aug. 23, 1953, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

“Hiroshi Miyamura’s medal may have initially been a secret, but we are glad to share his remarkable story with the world,” said Joseph Craig, AUSA’s Book Program director. “The creative team for the graphic novel has made sure that this Korean War hero will be remembered.”

Medal of Honor: Hiroshi Miyamura is available here.

AUSA launched its Medal of Honor graphic novel series in October 2018. This is the 23rd novel in the series. The digital graphic novels are available here.

Miyamura was born in Gallup, New Mexico. During World War II, he was drafted and assigned to the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, but he would not see combat, as the Germans surrendered within days of his arrival in Italy in 1945.

He returned to Gallup, where he worked as a mechanic until he was recalled for service in Korea as part of the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.

Then a corporal, Miyamura was put in charge of a machine-gun squad and assigned to join the defenses guarding the southern banks of the Imjin and Hant’an rivers, the last line of defense between the capital of Seoul and the invading Chinese army.

On the night of April 24, 1951, Miyamura and his soldiers were occupying a defensive position when the enemy “fanatically attacked, threatening to overrun the position,” according to his Medal of Honor citation. Miyamura jumped from his shelter wielding his bayonet in close hand-to-hand combat, killing about 10 enemy fighters, the citation says. He then administered aid to his wounded comrades and directed their evacuation.

When the enemy assaulted again, he delivered “withering fire” with his machine gun until he ran out of ammunition, according to the citation. He ordered the squad to withdraw while he stayed behind. “He then bayoneted his way through infiltrated enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement and assisted in its operation,” the citation says.

When the enemy attack continued, Miyamura ordered his men to fall back while he covered them. He killed more than 50 enemy before he ran out of ammunition and was severely wounded, the citation says. “When last seen he was fighting ferociously against an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers,” the citation says.

Captured by the Chinese, Miyamura spent more than two years as a prisoner of war. He was released in a prisoner exchange three weeks after the Korean Armistice Agreement.

He received the Medal of Honor on Oct. 27, 1953, from President Dwight Eisenhower.

Miyamura returned to Gallup, where he received a hero’s welcome. He died in November 2022. He was 97.

Each AUSA graphic novel is created by a team of professional comic-book veterans. The script for Medal of Honor: Hiroshi Miyamura was written by Chuck Dixon, whose previous work includes Batman, The Punisher and The ‘Nam.

Artwork and the cover are by Andrew Paquette, who has worked on Avengers, Daredevil and Hellraiser; and the lettering is by Troy Peteri, who has worked on Spider-Man, Iron Man and X-Men.