in the 1990s, there was a review of us military service records of americans of asian descent who received the dsc during world war ii. sakato's award was upgraded to the medal of honor. president bill clinton presented sakato the medal of honor during a ceremony at the white house on june 21, 2000. twenty-one other american servicemen of world war ii of asian descent also were presented the medal of honor during the ceremony, but only seven were living recipients. sakato died in the evening of december 2, 2015 in denver, colorado, at the age of 94.