After finishing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Joe Yoshiwara found a job in San Francisco's Chinatown. During this period, Japanese-American graduates faced difficulty in securing employment. While some sought work for major corporations in Japan, others searched for jobs in California but found few possibilities. He did not stay in San Francisco for long, however, as his draft notice arrived in April 1941. Yoshiwara joined the one-year training program under the Selective Service Act.
<br><br>Immediately after December 7, 1941, he and his company were put in charge of patrolling the beaches along central California. One day, their captain gathered all of the Nisei soldiers and informed them of the order to evacuate all Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Soon, Yoshiwara found himself a member of a labor unit.
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We were sent to Texas...in the beginning some part of us were, the stronger, bigger, huskier Niseis were put on a big truck, Army truck, trucks that were hauling garbages from various camp mess halls....I was a tiny, small guy so we were assigned to back of an officers' club that were making, cutting the chip, big rocks into small pieces to make pathway for the officers' club and so forth.
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<br><br>In mid-1942, an opportunity to join the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) arose, and Yoshiwara became part of the first Japanese language class at Camp Savage. One month before graduation, he and another five students were pulled out of school and ordered to go overseas for their first assignment. Consequently, Yoshiwara became one of the first MIS men to serve in the Guadalcanal campaign. Unlike the MIS linguists who worked under Gen. Douglas MacArthur's command, Yoshiwara and his partner Maxie Sakamoto reported to the U.S. Navy.
<br><br>Yoshiwara became involved in a near-death incident on the way to Guadalcanal. He and Sakamoto boarded a small two-propeller plane that was already fully loaded with cargo. Each of them had to lie stomach down on top of the aircraft engine as they waited for take-off.
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There were no portholes, no lights, and no space even to stretch ourselves in the compartment. As the pace of the engine noise became louder and faster and as the airplane began to move faster and faster--the whole airplane began to shake and vibrate violently. As I was wondering whether the plane was going to make it or not--in a matter of seconds the engine noise stopped, abruptly and completely--but the airplane kept moving forward--still bouncing and vibrating heavily. I didn't know what to make of it.
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<br><br>As it turned out, the plane was "way out in the middle of nowhere" and the pilot was in too much shock to take action. Fortunately, Army trucks arrived in time and were able to save the overloaded plane from flipping over and exploding. In the end, the two MIS men made it to Guadalcanal safely.
<br><br>In Guadalcanal, Yoshiwara recalls how he would sleep in a hammock that was hung right over his foxhole. He remained on constant alert for the enemy, which meant "we slept with our fatigues and shoes on." As early as the first night, he became an experienced "combat veteran."
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I was awakened by a wailing siren sound from the nearby airbase, "zipped" open the hammock's side netting and slid into my private coral foxhole. Then I heard the drones of airplanes...way up in the sky, coming closer and closer. Immediately the sky over the airbase was completely lit up with "hundreds" of search lights and then a formation of about a dozen Mitsubishi bombers...appeared. Then all hell broke loose! Everything from anti-aircraft guns, "ack-ack" guns, "pom-pom" guns to machine guns, rifles, etc., were thrown up at the coming "Washing Machine Charlies" but they kept on coming without even wavering.
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<br><br>Soon after arrival, Yoshiwara and Sakamoto began working on some Japanese tactical and strategic military documents and other miscellaneous papers. The first document they picked up turned out to be one of the most valuable--it contained information about the establishment of defense lines from the Central Pacific to New Guinea as well as capture and occupation plans for such places as New Britain, Bougainville, and New Georgia. Some other papers revealed the Japanese forces' attack plans in detail, including information on assembly areas, movement plans, attack locations, and all pertinent dates, times, and coordinates. 
<br><br>In December 1943 Yoshiwara's 173rd Language Detachment prepared to participate in the campaign on Bougainville. They were attached to the 37th Infantry Division, which was commended by Maj. Gen. Robert Beightler as "first league, ready and able to accept anything the enemy can bring against it." Members of the language team recall doing language work in "16- to 17-hour days" as "commonplace" during this campaign. Not only did they do the typical work of MIS linguists, they also took the time to offer orientation lectures to frontline troops to familiarize them with MIS work and to emphasize the importance of captured documents and humane treatment of prisoners. Quickly enough, Yoshiwara received commission for Warrant Officer, then First Lieutenant. Later Yoshiwara headed for the Philippines to join the invasion of Luzon.
<br><br>Though he could have remained in the Army, Yoshiwara decided to ask for discharge and seek a civil service position. He landed an accounting job under the Economic Planning Section in Occupied Japan. Using his academic background in economics, he helped the Japanese government produce economic indexes and guide the country on its way to recovery. Later his office was transferred to Honolulu, and Yoshiwara, now with a family, left Japan after a stay of more than 10 years.
