Eugene Wright's first encounter with Japanese Americans was during his years at Broadway High School in his hometown of Seattle. It was also at this school that he and his siblings all were greatly influenced by a journalism teacher, so much that Wright decided to study journalism at the University of Washington. Though he changed his subject of study to political science later on, his enthusiasm for the printed word never waned in his academic and personal endeavors.
<br><br>By the time he entered his senior year, Wright had earned the rank of  Cadet Colonel in the ROTC. The ROTC experience gave him a solid background in leadership and responsibility.
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It was an eye-opener in that we learned that there's more to learning about the Army than just marching and drilling. We learned about mapmaking...and we had to study histories of Civil War, World War I...We learned how to take care of ourselves and of our soldiers in the field.
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<br><br>Also during his last year, he enrolled in a Japanese language course. Wright remembers that his decision to study the language stemmed partly from watching his Japanese-American friends go to Japanese school after regular high school.
<br><br>Wright attributes his success in working with people of different race and ethnicity to his experience working at a multitude of jobs while he attended high school and college.
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In this background of mine I had many menial jobs, cleaning up after people, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, painting the floors on the ships where I was serving. It's kind of interesting to say that I draw on that background, that experience because as a judge...I had all kinds of cases with men and women of varied backgrounds and cultures, and I found that I had a better understanding of those people because of my own background and my own experience with multiple cultures.
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<br><br>The U.S. Army had begun drafting thousands of young men, and Wright foresaw the need for people in leadership roles. Thus, in June 1941, he left his law practice and volunteered for active duty. On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, Wright was back home spending time with his family. He recalls how he and other officers and soldiers immediately reported back to their base.
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It's miraculous because all up and down the coast this was happening. Officers and soldiers as far north as the Canadian border down into Oregon were ordered to return to their base at Fort Lewis, and we thought it was necessary that we get there quickly. And no lives were lost and none of us got speeding tickets...I arrived at Fort Lewis later that day. All was dark that night and that experience in itself was an eye-opener because we did not know what was waiting for us. There were scare stories, of course, about the Japanese being right off the coast and how they might be here any minute...
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<br><br>Upon arriving in California, Wright learned of his assignment with the 4th Army Headquarters to attend the newly installed intelligence school at the Presidio in San Francisco. He was one of six officers in a special class.
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We studied in our barrack rooms at night, again with poor lighting, and every day was, what I call, hardship duty because we'd go from one instructor to another translating, learning vocabulary, and finally learning <i>kanji</i>, Japanese and Chinese characters. They heaped on us a load of those every day. As is typical in Japanese language instruction, we made little cards and put the character on one of those and then on the back the sound and the meaning until we were massing hundreds of these cards...
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<br><br>By this time, Wright had become close friends with John Aiso, director of academic training at the school. Their friendship helped create a relaxed and convivial atmosphere during their cross-country trip to move the school to Camp Savage, Minnesota. Wright was put in charge of taking care of Aiso and another instructor and their families during the long ride across the United States.
<br><br>Japanese language study continued at the new site, and "the pressure doubled, and the <i>sensei</i> [teachers] and other people in the administration were after us to learn more and faster, focusing again primarily on the written language." After a few months, Wright and his family returned to Seattle to wait for his next assignment. Soon enough, he learned that he and an assistant officer would be in charge of 10 enlisted Nisei soldiers and heading for New Caledonia.
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They [U.S. Army] had no idea what we were there for and what our capabilities were....we were not equipped with anything with which to train, not knowing what was in store for us or where we might go. There were prisoners....There wasn't much that they could tell us. So Colonel Gibson and I were somewhat in the dark. How best to use this team of 10 linguist experts?
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<br><br>Soon afterward, they received orders to proceed to Guadalcanal, then the Russell Islands, and finally to join in the Battle of New Georgia in which the main objective was to capture a Japanese-occupied airfield. In the Russell Islands, the team worked on translating Japanese manuals and other items that were picked up in Guadalcanal. Wright also began short training sessions for the combat soldiers on the needs and services of the MIS men.
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Periodically, I would take one or two of my Nisei sergeants and we would go to visit a battalion of infantry at a time out in the jungle or out in the coconut plantations...And there we would put on a demonstration, short talk, and I would distribute to them a mimeographed sheet with some Japanese words and English equivalent that might be useful in getting Japanese prisoners to surrender safely.
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<br><br>The linguists also explained to the soldiers the importance of collecting information that might be found in the battlefield and of capturing live prisoners for interrogation. They conducted these sessions from island to island, talking to as many American soldiers as they could.
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I pointed out that our fellows could read and translate anything with Japanese writing on it. So we began to get bits and pieces of armament, weapons....identification tags in the Japanese Army were unlike our own....So we began to collect these little brass tags, and we encouraged our soldiers to save them for us. They brought us useful information.
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<br><br>As the battle for Munda Airfield wore on, Wright's team began receiving prisoners. Having secured a typewriter, the linguists worked on transcribing the interrogations. As Wright explains, "That's how we fought the Battle of Munda, with a typewriter and Japanese prisoners." Later, Ted Kihara, one of Wright's soldiers, utilized his artistic talent to refute misinformation about the enemy. This type of initiative highlighted the importance of the MIS Nisei in bridging communications among groups of people with disparate backgrounds.
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He [Kihara] did one [cartoon] of a tiny Japanese soldier trying to get into a GI uniform three times too large, and across the top it said, "Sam, you made the pants too long." Then they went on a description written by Lieutenant Mitchell that told the stories being told by the press and by other stragglers that said that the Japanese were using our uniforms. We wanted to debunk that.
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<br><br>Such drawings and accompanying text proved useful in disseminating information about the Japanese soldiers, so much so that an editor of an infantry journal commented, "Give me more, because this is hot stuff."
<br><br>Seeing the need for his legal and linguistic background after the war, Wright asked to join the Occupation forces and to work for the military government of Japan. The Army denied the request and instead sent him to Camp Ritchie to take charge of the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Section (PACMIRS) in January 1945. At PACMIRS, Wright and his staff analyzed and translated documents and photographs coming in from the Philippines. The work lasted less than a year, as the war came to an abrupt halt in August. By this time, Wright had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and he had to decide whether to stay on in active service or return home to his law practice. He opted for the latter, and in February 1946 he separated from military service.
<br><br>Wright credits the linguists for their superior ability to extricate useful information from even the most obstinate POW. He also praises them for their prowess in knowing "how to soldier."
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As time passed my soldiers became very well thought of throughout that outfit. Wherever they went they were welcomed and it was no problem at all in being integrated to a fighting machine. I had no disciplinary problems...Not one time did a man desert, act up inappropriately, become a nuisance, ill-dressed or anything! They wore the uniform with pride and they conducted themselves as good soldiers....They knew how to soldier. Never once did I have to remonstrate with any of them or tell them a second time what our marching orders were. They were reliable and dependable. And they deserve to be rewarded....
<br><br>I was responsible for the welfare, safety, health of these 10 young men who worked for me. I knew that most of them had parents, sisters and brothers in relocation centers...I was supposed to censor the mail of my soldiers who wrote home in Japanese. I found that I didn't need to spend any time at it because these were loyal fellows...
<br><br>Morale problems, of course, arise in any military organization. It could have been a lot more difficult, but these were fine, upstanding fellows of high moral, ethical character....and I think it had an influence also among others in the headquarters because the other enlisted men, even the officers, came to respect this team of young Japanese-American fellows for what they were and the qualities of character that they exhibited.
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