As one of the 14 Nisei members of Merrill's Marauders, Akiji Yoshimura found himself involved in what was considered a "dangerous and hazardous mission." Even before their mission began, the U.S. War Department had estimated an outcome of 85 percent casualties.
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Someone once asked me, "Why did you volunteer?" I would be the first to admit that it wasn't heroics. In fact, there were times in Burma when, if it were physically possible, I could have kicked myself for having been such an impetuous fool. Nor was I on a great crusade "to make America a better place for Japanese Americans to live in," because I never regarded my stint in uniform anything more or less than a right and a duty.
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<br><br>The Marauders, led by Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, were in charge of clearing the Burma Road of enemy troops and capturing the Myitkyina Airfield so that a land-based supply route to China could be established.
<br><br>While aboard the <i>USS Lurline</i> on route to India, the Nisei linguists lectured to the troops about the enemy, including their weapons, tactics, and physical and spiritual training. Yoshimura recalls that at the point of embarkment, "We had convinced the uniformed and even the skeptics that we were American in thought, speech, and action." Once they arrived, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) men engaged in heavy combat training that involved long marches, river crossings, and weapon and range work. In addition to this training, the linguists studied maps and intelligence reports about North Burma to prepare for their roles as both linguists and riflemen.
<br><br>Because the Marauders were expected to operate in secrecy, there were times when they went days without food and fresh water--all in the hot, humid Burmese climate. Supplies were airdropped to a very limited number of "drop areas," for which the Marauders had to clear acres of jungle undergrowth to prepare for the arrival of cargo. The Nisei linguists' main objective was to listen in on conversations among the Japanese to pick up information of valuable for the Americans. They would stay by their listening posts to eavesdrop on telephone communications; at times, they crawled their way over to the enemy line to listen in on what the Japanese soldiers were saying. Indeed, lying prostate and low on the ground became so common for the Nisei that one of the Marauders was aptly nicknamed "Horizontal Hank."
<br><br>On May 17, 1944, the Myitkyina Airfield was captured. By then only 200 Marauders remained. The MIS Nisei continued to serve as interrogators and translators for new replacement troops that had arrived to replenish the dwindling supply of combat soldiers. In August 1944, Yoshimura and a few other Marauders were relieved of their duties with the special unit. Soon after, Yoshimura left for China to join the Sino Translation and Interrogation Center (SINTIC).
<br><br>In Yoshimura's eyes, the MIS Nisei came together as strangers, yet there existed a common thread underlying all of their own values and goals: "We shared...a common commitment to what we perceived to be a 'right and a duty.' Perhaps most important, each of us in our way looked beyond the 'barbed wires' to a better America."
