Min Hara and his family were living in Wakayama, Japan, when the Japanese consulate notified Hara of his upcoming conscription into the Japanese Army. To avoid being drafted, Hara returned to Los Angeles. Hara was beginning to settle into a career, having attended classes at the RCA Institute's Engraving and Watchmaking School, when Executive Order 9066 forced him and his brother to evacuate Terminal Island and relocate to Poston Camp I in Arizona.
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The Marines came one morning, cocked a .45-caliber pistol and pointed it at me and says, "We're giving you Japanese people 48 hours to get out of this island"....And it dawned upon me, I'm a prisoner of war in my own country...
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<br><br>It was from the camp that Hara decided to volunteer for the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Prior to MIS language training, Hara had attended school in Japan for a little more than half a year; he also had learned Japanese informally at home.
<br><br>After graduating from MISLS in June 1943, he was sent to join the 6th Infantry Division in British New Guinea. From there he was transferred to Luzon, Philippines, where he remained until the end of the war. Comprising members from three infantry regiments, the 6th division men had to alternate going to the frontlines for combat duty. One of these combat experiences in the Philippines remains with him to this day. With only 28 men on its side, the division faced a Japanese infantry company fully armed with fixed bayonets. Hara credits the M-1 rifles they were carrying for saving their lives that day. In the end, his division captured more than 1,700 prisoners of war. Most POWs never guessed that those interrogating them were of Japanese ancestry. Typically, the MIS linguists were thought to be Chinese, Korean--anything but Japanese. One prisoner, however, knew Hara's roots because of his distinct Kansai dialect--the prisoner came from Kyoto, a city in central Japan.
<br><br>During the Occupation years, Hara was assigned to the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) headquarters in Tokyo. Most of his work involved translating documents, including personal diaries of famous war figures such as Prince Saionji, Tojo, Hata, Terauchi, and other Japanese army generals. His parents had remained in Japan during the war, and while he was assigned to ATIS Hara had occasions to visit them in Wakayama.
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When I got to Japan my mother cooked me some rice that was brown and it was cornstalk you know, that stalk portion where they have seed...and about one-tenth is rice....I told my mother I can't eat this stuff....That was the rice ration for this town, at that month.
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<br><br>The aftermath of war left a deep impression on him and other Americans stationed in Japan.
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When I saw the devastation of war in Japan, I thought mankind was the lowest form of animal life.
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<br><br>He continues,
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I didn't want to see a whole race disappear. I wanted to see the [Japanese] military government [to] go down and in my small way, I helped set up a new democratic government, help the Japanese people....as far as Nisei were concerned every Nisei would say "This is the only country we have cuz we don't know Japan."
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