Frank Hachiya was born and raised in Odell, Oregon. Because of an inherited farm in Japan the family returned to the homeland of his parents. In 1940, after four years in Japan, Frank and his father returned to Oregon while his mother and younger brother remained in Japan. Hachiya finished high school and was attending a local college when he was drafted for military service in 1941. After the attack at Pearl Harbor his father was sent to the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho.

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Hachiya served as a Japanese interpreter for the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and after training was sent to the Kwajalein Islands and then to the Battle of Leyte in the Philippines. When forward units of Hachiya’s regiment detained an enemy Japanese soldier, Hachiya volunteered to cross a valley to question him. When returning to his headquarters, Hachiya was shot under confusing circumstances, either by a Japanese sniper or by friendly fire. Bleeding profusely and in severe pain he made it back to his unit. While being treated for his wound he gave his report from the important interrogation.

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Hachiya died a few days later on January 3, 1945 and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Hachiya Hall at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, was named after Frank Hachiya.