Richard Hayashi and his family lived in a close-knit, Japanese-American community near Stockton, California. Hayashi graduated from Stockton High School in June 1937 and entered Stockton Junior College the same year. Along with his regular schooling, he took courses in Japanese language, history, geography, and calligraphy at the Stockton Japanese School, with his education in the Japanese language lasting for more than 11 years. He also finished a correspondence course in commerce from Waseda University (Japan).
<br><br>Ironically, Hayashi received a notice of conscription into the Japanese military before his draft notice from the United States. Hayashi and others who were born before February 16, 1924, automatically had dual citizenship if they were listed in the Japanese Association registry. His family acted quickly to renounce his Japanese citizenship, and in June of 1941, Hayashi reported to the U.S. military induction station in Sacramento. At one point during his early days in the military, he and other Nisei felt extreme frustration and vexation at the fact that they were constantly told to do demeaning work such as kitchen duties and garbage cleanup. Also, while they did the same work as their white counterparts, the Nisei did not receive any promotions while the white officers were being promoted with ease. When Hayashi and the others spoke up, they were finally given promotions.
<br><br><BLOCKQUOTE><I>
We had a showdown....We worked the same job as our counterpart, our White counterpart, we don't get promotion....We had other kind of grievances, we told him....less than two weeks later, all of us got promoted, just out of a clear blue sky. I got jumped from Private First Class right to Sergeant. I skipped Corporal, never got my Corporal stripe.
</I></BLOCKQUOTE>
<br><br>Hayashi was stationed at Fort Ord when recruiters from the army language school arrived to interview prospective students. He passed the exams and was told to report to Camp Savage, Minnesota, to attend the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS). He graduated in November 1942.  While his family was being evacuated to Rohwer Detention Camp in Arkansas, Hayashi learned that his first assignment would be with the Army Air Corps language team in the Pacific. He returned to the United States soon after to attend the Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Fort Benning, Georgia. In March 1944, he received commission as a Second Lieutenant.
<br><br>Hayashi became the first Nisei to have served in both the war in Europe and in the Pacific. Having joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Hayashi went to Italy as a platoon leader with Company I and later with Company K. He served in Italy and France until just before the war ended in Italy in May of 1945. During the rescue of the "Lost Battalion" in October 1944, Hayashi led the 2nd platoon of Company I. Originally, he went in with 40 men--by the time the rescue mission was over, the troop had been reduced to two men. Subsequently, he was assigned to a parachute unit destined for invasion of Kyushu, Japan. In the end, however, he did not join the unit and instead went to Fort Snelling as a staff officer in the Research and Liaison Section. He also taught at the language school there and later at the Presidio of Monterey, California. When he returned to the United States, his family was still incarcerated at the Rohwer camp. At the end of 1946, the family returned to their hometown of Stockton, only to find that there were only a few people of Japanese ancestry living in their old community. 
<br><br>In May 1947, Hayashi received orders to report to Japan, as part of the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS). With assistance from Maj. George Spence, Hayashi was assigned to the 441st Counter Intelligence Detachment in Tokyo. He later received his first assignment as commanding officer of a CIC unit in Hokkaido and stayed in Japan for a few years. Upon returning to the United States, he became a public information officer with the North Dakota Military District, then with the San Francisco Military District. He retired from the Army in January 1963.
<br><br>After being discharged, Hayashi worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Stockton, California. He retired as Postmaster in 1977.
