In March 1935, Kiyoshi Midzuno was sent to Japan by his parents. Despite having had minimal exposure to Japanese, Midzuno finished his middle school years in Japan. In his words, "I must have been the only Nisei that didn't have a relative in Japan," Mizduno resided at the school dormitory. Though classes proved to be difficult, Midzuno got support from upper class students in return for his help with their English lessons.
<br><br>Although his parents urged him to remain in Japan after graduation, Midzuno decided to return to the United States and attend college in San Francisco and at the University of Utah. Under Executive Order 9066, the Midzuno family moved to the camp in Topaz, Utah. After spending almost a year in the camp, Midzuno left to attend an auto mechanic school, but all Nisei were eventually dismissed from the government-run school. In late 1944, he moved to Connecticut to become a Japanese instructor at Yale University's Civil Affairs Training School. Similar programs had sprung up in other prestigious universities across the nation, including Stanford University, University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Columbia University. Midzuno's students were primarily doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. While the Army Specialized Training School taught reading and writing to enlisted men, officers who were under Midzuno's tutelage were given training in oral fluency.
<br><br>Midzuno stayed at Yale until March of 1946 when the War Department offered him a job as a translator and interpreter in Japan. Though he never engaged in military service, Midzuno served as a federal civil service employee for many years, starting with his assignment with the Civil Censorship Detachment, working with the General Headquarters SCAP in Fukuoka as well as in Sapporo. His primary duty was to censor Japanese mail for any information of value to the Occupation forces.
<br><br>Upon his return to the United States, Midzuno continued his civil service, working for the U.S. Postal Service in San Francisco. Ironically, the first position he had was in the Japan Parcel Post section where he utilized his language skills to ensure Japan-bound packages arrived at their correct destinations. After 38 years working for the federal government, Midzuno retired in 1980.
