Akira Buster Chikami

Chic or “Buster” as he was known to friends and family was born March 19, 1927, in La Junta Colorado. His parents were Hatsutaro and Tori Chikami, who both emigrated from Japan.

Buster grew up in Reno, Nevada, one of seven children. He was a Golden Gloves boxing champion in Reno at 17and won a lightweight boxing championship in Berlin, Germany in 1946.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1950 and was sent to Korea. There he was wounded on August 27, 1951, and spent 2 years in a Korean prisoner of war camp. His time in the camp is one of the stories in the book Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul. It is also the subject of an interview in the book Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs.

In 1960, he took a discharge from the U.S. Army and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as Master Sergeant. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1970, as Chief Master Sergeant, E-9. After receiving a four-year business degree from Florida Southern College in 1973, he started his own business, Century Careers, Inc., and helped young professionals land all levels of sales careers, mostly in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. In 1987, he closed the business. In retirement, Chic enjoyed Korean War POW reunions, gardening, and traveling with friends and family. He made beautiful stained-glass lamps, windows, and jewelry boxes.

Chic is survived by his wife, Lydia Chikami, Pogo the family cat, his daughters Teri Chikami and Mari Soroka, stepdaughter Louise Mills, stepson Michael Young, and grandchildren Emiko and Daniel Soroka. At his request, there will be no formal service even though he could receive a full funeral service with military honors from the Veteran’s Administration. He always said he was a soldier, not a hero.