Having spent his teenage years in Los Angeles, Benjamin Hazard's interest in the Japanese language was largely due to his friends in the local Japanese-American community. When he entered University of California, Los Angeles in 1940, he foresaw the possibility of war with Japan and began formal studies in the Japanese language. He then volunteered for the Military Intelligence School at the University of Michigan on December 15, 1942, continuing on to the language school at Camp Savage for additional language training. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in February 1944, he was assigned to take command of the language detachment of the 27th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.
<br><br>From their conversation with a Japanese national employed by the Japanese Navy, Hazard and another team member learned of a <i>gyokusai</i> (final suicide) attack that was being planned on Saipan. As more prisoners arrived, he and the other linguists continued interrogations to keep abreast of the attack plans. Also on Saipan, Hazard and his team found documents at the captured Aslito Airfield that described aircraft engine ball bearings--information that proved to be strategically valuable for the U.S. forces. 
<br><br>During the Battle of Okinawa, Hazard commanded the combined 306th and the 307th Headquarters Intelligence Detachments of the XXIV Corps. One evening in April 1945, Hazard's team was presented with a Japanese artillery forward observer's chart. The chart disclosed the artillery and heavy mortar position for an important Japanese defense line that ran across most of Okinawa. While some prepared an overlay in English using U.S. Army symbols to facilitate reading, others worked all night to translate the chart data and handwritten notes. As soon as morning arrived, Hazard swiftly delivered it to the corps headquarters. Unfortunately, the officer who accepted the chart did not see the need to expedite its delivery to the commanding general. The delay cost the corps heavy casualties. Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, angry over the late arrival of the chart, claimed that had it been delivered in advance of the attack, he would have been able to replan the assault, thereby avoiding the loss in men.
<br><br>In addition to translation and interrogation work, the team made statistical studies of Japanese civilian opinions about subjects such as the fall of Saipan and the retention or removal of the Japanese Emperor, and Japanese attitudes toward their own army as well as toward U.S. forces. 
<br><br>After the surrender of Japan, Hazard led the detachment during the initial stages of the occupation of Korea. In addition to arranging for the safe return of Allied prisoners of war, Hazard also taught the first class of the Officer Candidate School of the Korean Constabulary, which later became the nucleus of the Korean National Army.
<br><br>Soon after being discharged in 1946, Hazard returned to school at the University of California, Berkeley, eventually earning a doctorate in Asian languages (Japanese, Chinese, and Korean) and history. He was recalled to active duty in 1948 and sent to the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) in Tokyo to work as an interrogator for repatriates arriving home to Japan. 
<br><br>He retired from the inactive reserve in 1979 with the rank of Colonel. His awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, ROK Presidential Unit Citation, and the Philippine Liberation Medal.
<br><br>In post-military career, Hazard served as professor of Asian history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at San Jose State University.
