Patrick Nagano would never forget the day FBI agents came to the family farm and took his father into custody purportedly for his connection with the Nihonjin Kai (Japanese Club). The elder Nagano was detained for six months at a camp in Tutunga Canyon, North Dakota, while the rest of the family prepared for evacuation to Poston Detention Camp.
<br><br>While interned in the Poston camp, Nagano volunteered for the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and reported for language training at Camp Savage in December 1942.
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As a citizen of this country, I felt it was what I should do. My father initially objected. He thought one member of the family in the army was enough--my older brother was drafted in February 1941. He [father] acquiesced and gave me his blessing when I explained to him I had to answer to my own sense of duty and conscience....We Niseis must demonstrate that we are worthy of being Americans.
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<br><br>Language training at the MIS school proved extremely demanding, especially for those like Nagano whose only exposure to Japanese was informal afterschool and weekend classes. Still, they worked feverishly to learn the language, including military forms of the language, cursive writing, and the geography of Japan. Much to his disappointment, Nagano was ordered to remain as an instructor while his peers continued on to work overseas after graduation: "Not only was I being left behind by all my buddies. I had not been trained to do what they were now asking me to do. In my most honest assessment, the Army was not utilizing me correctly, not using what capabilities I had to the fullest."
<br><br>For Nagano, the most satisfying wartime experience finally came when he joined the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section (PACMIRS) at Camp Ritchie. Working under Lt. Col. Gronich, Nagano realized the extent to which the commander placed value and trust in the MIS members: "He appreciated the exigency of winning the war and tried to make full use of the Niseis' abilities by training them to extract intelligence from documents rather than translating page by page the entire document." With Gronich's encouragement and support, Nagano says, "Our morale was given a much needed boost." 
<br><br>Members of PACMIRS examined all information gathered from the Pacific to prepare the Allied troops for the invasion of Japan. In one incident, Nagano remembers how he and the other PACMIRS members came across a lengthy document that had been screened by Naval Intelligence as having no intelligence value. The document turned out to be highly important as it contained the proceedings of a high-level ordinance conference, including participant names and a list of all their ordinance with commentary about issues and problems surrounding Japanese artillery. The finding gave the group a chance to prove its worth as members translated and delivered the document in a matter of weeks.
<br><br>Gronich had Nagano and two other Nisei engage in a special assignment at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces, in Versailles, France. Initially, the MIS men did not know what they were sent to accomplish. Most documents that arrived at headquarters were in French or German, leaving them with little to do. From October 1944 on, Nagano along with a few other MIS men waited to parachute into Berlin and seize documents that would help expedite the end of the Pacific War. They never got the chance as the war in Europe ended before this mission took place. Nagano noticed that by this time, everyone was glad that the war in Europe had come to an end.
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It was a wild night. The Limmies, loose with booze, whooped it up with back slapping and hollering, "We won the war...we won the war!" How long the celebrating went on, I don't know. It was still going strong when I passed off to dreamland.
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<br><br>For Nagano, the way home included one last assignment--to escort a group of captured Japanese that included 33 officers and one civilian to the United States. Nagano recalls all but one officer treated the Japanese Americans coldly.
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The generals were arrogant and would merely grunt their responses to us. The admiral was the only civil individual among them. He would at least talk with us, but the conversation was invariably casual in nature. The worst aspect of this hour was taunting of the GIs lining the decks above us with all manner of snide remarks. Some were directed at Urabe and me, "Hey look, a couple of Japs are even wearing our uniform!" This soon ceased as word got around about who we were and what our roles were.
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<br><br>Upon arriving on American soil, these Japanese officers--who had been enjoying immunity aboard the ship--were now facing the fact that they were prisoners.
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For the first time they would be told that our government regarded them as prisoners of war. Accordingly, they were ordered to strip themselves totally of all their clothes. They seemed to be in a state of disbelief and shock at the abrupt change in their status and the commensurate reversal in attitude and treatment accorded them by our authorities....Our amusement turned to surprise as each one of them was found to be wearing money belts bulging with money. In total well over $50,000 was confiscated from them.
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<br><br>After this assignment, Nagano rejoined PACMIRS and remained with the group until his discharge from the military in December 1945.
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