After George Shigeo Matsui entered the 7th grade, his parents took him to Japan for five years. He returned to the United States by himself in 1934, completed high school, and began to attend the local junior college. His brother Frank, who also lived in the United States, convinced him that they needed money first, and Matsui quit school to work at a local produce stand.

In February 1941, the Army drafted him, and while in line to receive his physical he saw James Stewart standing in line in front of him. Matsui trained in an Asian and Caucasian unit, but after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor the Army reclassified him as an enlisted reserve--the Army could recall him at any time--and discharged him. Following Executive Order 9066, he moved with his married brother and sister to the Santa Anita Assembly Center in March 1942. The rest of his family--his parents, brothers, and a sister--were still in Japan:

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So you could understand why I had mixed emotions. What am I going to do? My brothers and folks back there and my older brother and my sister here and I'm an American in the American Army. [Oral History]
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In the assembly center Matsui worked in the personnel unit and processed all of the other internees before he left for Tule Lake Detention Camp. Around Thanksgiving, the Army asked him to reenlist and he left for Camp Savage, Minn., to start language training at the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS). His five years in Japan had sharpened his speaking ability, but he still had difficulty with the kanji.

With a team of 10 other linguists, Matsui left for the Central Pacific campaign in the summer of 1943. First his unit went to Honolulu, Hawaii, and then left for an operation on Marshall Island, Kwajelien. His team deciphered hydrographic maps that helped the Salt Lake City Heavy Cruiser navigate the shallow waters around the island and its harbors. When the captain of the ship found out that the Nisei team of linguists had deciphered the map, he wrote them a letter of commendation.

For his next operation Matsui accompanied Allied troops on the invasion of Saipan and the Mariana Islands. After the main battle had ended, troops found Japanese soldiers and civilians lodged deep in coral caves:

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So, right away, they called us, Sergeant Honda and me, to the front line there. And, like I said, we had this guy come up from the cave and we talked to him about American soldiers never torturing or killing anybody yet. We would never do that.... I said there's no sense to committing suicide. [Oral History]
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After talking to the soldier for 30 or 40 minutes, the civilians came out of the cave and he convinced the soldiers to surrender. Both Honda and Matsui received Bronze Stars for their work on Saipan. 

After some rest and recuperation in Hawaii, Matsui received his next assignment in the summer of 1945. The United States was preparing for the invasion of Japan and Matsui shipped out to Manila, Philippines, where the Army had brought Japanese linguists from all parts of the Pacific War. 

Once the war ended, he accompanied Occupation forces to General Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The Army assigned him to the Natural Resources Section, and with a lieutenant colonel he took a train to Fukuoka, Kyushu. When they arrived, the colonel let Matsui take a jeep and a driver to visit his family who lived in the city. His mother was happy to see him, but his older brothers had not yet returned from the war:

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Then I said, oh, my gosh. This is something like the American Civil War--brothers against brothers. That's me. And you can't do anything about it except fight for what you believe in. [Oral History]
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His youngest brother did not understand why he fought for the United States and said, "You're Japanese." But George replied, "Yes, but I believe and trust America. That's why I'm an American G.I." 

After his work in the resource section, Matsui returned to Tokyo and the Army made him take a military aptitude test. He passed the test and Army Military Intelligence offered him a direct commission, but he refused and returned to the United States in December 1945:

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After I got discharged at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.... Several months later, the War Department sent me another letter, come back in. We'll give you a direct commission. I turned that down again. A year later they still wanted me. I said, by god, they're persistent. I saw enough dead bodies around on battlefields and in the hospital. [Oral History]
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After starting a small produce market, Matsui worked for the post office in Minneapolis, Minn., eventually becoming a supervisor.

