For his actions in October 1944, Okubo was awarded the Army's third-highest decoration, the Silver Star. In the 1990s, there was a review of service records of Asian Americans who received the Silver Star during World War II. Okubo's award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. In a ceremony at the White House on June 21, 2000, he was presented with his medal by President Bill Clinton. Twenty-one other Asian Americans also received the medal during the ceremony, but only seven of them were still alive.