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Japanese American Military Intelligence Servicemen
and the War in the Pacific
Japanese American Military Intelligence Service (MIS) servicemen
made vital contributions to both the Allied victory in the
Pacific War and the peaceful Occupation of Japan. This select
group of soldier-linguists used their understanding of Japanese
language and culture to translate captured documents, monitor
enemy transmissions, and interrogate prisoners of war.
Called the “eyes” and “ears” of every
combat command, the MIS linguists’ much needed language
skills were vital, but their ethnic ancestry and cultural
awareness gave them a better understanding of Japanese people
and culture. These sensibilities allowed them to approach
the Japanese with humanity, even in wartime, which helped
them when they communicated with POWs and made them cultural
ambassadors during the transition from war to peacetime occupation.
The secret nature of their work, classified for decades after
the war, has kept them out of history’s spotlight. As
a result, many of their deeds have gone unrecorded and their
heroic deeds unrecognized.
Col. Sidney Forrester Mashbir, Commandant, Allied Translator
and Interpreter Section, pronounced: “The United States
of America owes a debt to these men [Nisei linguists] and
to their families which it can never fully repay.” This
web site is a tribute to the sacrifices they made for their
country and community, and chance for them to receive their
due recognition.
Beginnings
Prior to WWII, Japanese Americans primarily lived in small
ethnic ghettos in Hawaii, California, and other West Coast
states. Issei (first generation) parents strove to provide
a strong community for their Nisei children, the first generation
of American citizens. They established schools, clubs, and
other groups that kept the Nisei connected to Japanese culture
and community while they slowly integrated into American schools
and society. Their immigrant parents did not want their children
to lose the language, and most Nisei, no matter what social
class, went to Japanese school. Issei also brought Japanese
cultural values of bushido (the way of the warrior) and oyakoko
(filial piety) across the Pacific and instilled them in their
children. Nisei linguists later took these values and applied
them to their notions of citizenship in the United States,
which gave them a deep sense of obligation to serve their
country.
In June 1942, months before the United States entered World
War II (WWII), Japanese aggression increased in Asia and anti-Japanese
rhetoric and sentiments intensified on the West Coast. The
potential for armed conflict between the two countries grew,
and top U.S. Army officials realized they needed to find soldiers
fluent in written and spoken Japanese. Two officers who had
trained in Japan, Colonel John Weckerling and Captain Kai
Rasmussen, began testing the language ability of Nisei who
were already serving in the armed forces. Contrary to their
expectations, they realized that only a few Nisei soldiers
could speak and write fluently, and only a slightly larger
group could become fluent after extensive training. On their
recommendation, the Army decided to build a secret school
to train mostly Japanese Americans as linguists. And so, on
November 1, 1941, the Military Intelligence Service Language
School (MISLS) opened in an old airplane hangar in Crissy
Field in the Presidio of San Francisco.
The director and lead instructor of MISLS was John Aiso,
a remarkable Nisei who was fluent in Japanese and had a law
degree from Harvard. The First Class of MISLS consisted of
sixty students—fifty eight Nisei and two Caucasians.
Many of the students in the first class were Kibei –
Nisei who had been sent to Japan to live and study. Due to
this experience, the Kibei were fluent in Japanese and had
the clearest insight into Japanese culture.
On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and
launched the United States into World War II. At MISLS, the
pace of their studies increased as they realized that the
students soon would play a crucial role in the war.
By February of 1942, anti-Japanese sentiments and war hysteria
in the U.S. had increased to a fever pitch, prompting President
Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066.
The order evicted all persons of Japanese ancestry living
on the West Coast and incarcerated them in detention camps
throughout deserted areas in Midwestern states. Hawaii, which
had the largest Japanese community in the U.S., did not incarcerate
Japanese Americans, though they were treated with a great
sense of suspicion. On the mainland, several hundred community
leaders were arrested by the FBI and sent to detention camps
on the mainland.
The government’s decision confused and angered many
Nisei students. While they prepared to fight as U.S. soldiers,
the Army rounded up their families and friends into temporary
assembly centers.
With classes cut short, from one-year to six months, the
First Class of MISLS graduated in June 1942. Of the first
sixty students 45 graduated and most quickly left California
to participate in campaigns in Alaska, Hawaii, and Australia.
MISLS was not immune to Executive Order 9066. After graduation,
the school moved from San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota,
where the governor and the state welcomed the Nisei linguists.
As the war expanded to various fronts in the Pacific and the
demand for linguists grew, the school expanded. A few of the
graduates from the First Class stayed in the U.S. to teach
at Camp Savage, and a new class of soldiers began studying
in June 1942. By 1944, increased enrollment and the need for
larger facilities force the MISLS to move to Fort Snelling,
Minnesota. Eventually, over 6,000 soldiers are trained at
MISLS for the war effort.
The Pacific War
By the time the first class of MIS linguists had graduated,
the Japanese military had captured the Philippines, New Guinea,
and other islands in the Pacific. On the Asian mainland, China
and South East Asia had come under Japanese control.
The first 35 members of the First Class arrived at their
destinations in time to participate in battles in the Aleutian
Islands, on Guadalcanal, and on New Guinea. Initially, the
Nisei linguists were treated with skepticism, but once commanders
realized their value, the MIS linguists began to work behind
the front lines and at command posts. By translating captured
documents, interrogating prisoners, and intercepting radio
transmissions, they immediately proved to be strategically
vital to the war effort. In fact, the success of the first
class of MIS soldiers convinced the War Department to create
the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one
of the most decorated units in the European theater.
But compared with the Nisei of the 100th and 442nd who fought
in Europe against Germans and Italians, the Nisei of the MIS
faced the risks of being mistaken as the enemy by their own
troops. Further, for many of the MIS Nisei soldiers, the thought
of being taken prisoner by the Japanese Military was of greater
concern than being wounded or killed, as they would be branded
traitors and suffer horrible punishment. During the early
phase of the war in the Pacific and China-Burma-India (CBI)
Theaters, MIS linguist soldiers were assigned body guards
to protect them from being mistaken by fellow American soldiers.
Campaigns
MIS linguists participated in almost every battle throughout
the Pacific War. As their importance increased among the Allied
commanders they were under great demand and deployed with
other Allied country forces such as the British, Australians,
Canadians, Dutch, and Chinese. The small numbers of linguists
made each one a valuable member on the battlefield, and they
received orders in small teams that moved them from unit to
unit depending on where they were needed. The nature of their
deployment and movement without any commanding officers also
made it difficult for their work to be recognized.
The U.S. Navy did not accept Nisei during WWII, therefore
the linguists were attached from the army service to all Navy
and Marine unites and participated in all of the their campaigns.
Also, MIS linguits were attached to the Army Air Force and
to the strategic bombing campaigns that bombed Japan.
Once stationed in the Pacific War they worked on a few primary
tasks:
Translation – Allied
soldiers captured documents and diaries, many off dead soldiers.
Many Japanese soldiers also had a habit of maintaining their
own diaries. On the battlefields up in the front, the linguists,
at times obtained important and timely tactical information
from the translated documents, such as when the next attact
would occur or about the morale of the enemy troops. In many
cases, this timely tactical information resulted in Allied
victories. These captured documents were then sent to the
higher echelon headquarters where larger groups of linguists
further translated and prepared briefings of more strategic
information for the commander. The information could include
technical information on new equipment and weapons, identify
troop strengths, movements or planned military strategy.
One of the most significant translations of tactical importance
happened when a Philippine guerilla discovered the Japanse
plan "Operation Z" for an all-out counter attach
in the Central Pacific Theater. After the MIS linguists deciphered
and found what the enemy planned, the Allied Forces prepared
for the attack and were able to shoot down hundred of enemy
planes, crippling Japan's naval air attack in the battle dubbed
by the Allied Forces as "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".
An example of more strategic information was when MIS linguists
assigned at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, near Washington D.C. uncovered
among many documents a large book that documented Japanese
artillery warehouses and installagtions. This strategic information
was then used for targeted bombing missions during the war.
It was also used early in the Occupation of Japane to easily
located and destroy store weapons without conflict.
POW interrogation – In
Japanese military training, soldiers learned to avoid capture
at all costs, even by suicide. By the time Nisei linguists
met them they felt they could not return to Japan did not
feel obligated to withhold information. Once the Allies provided
medical care, food, cigarettes, and other amenities many POWs
opened up and often provided the Allies with intelligence
about the troops and military strategy.
Radio Intercepts – Throughout
the war, linguists around the Pacific listened to the radio
waves for any information broadcast by the Japanese. Because
the Japanese believed their language was too difficult for
foreigners to master, they did not use codes. In one instance,
linguists in New Guinea, Hawaii, and Alaska, intercepted a
broadcast that indicated the time when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
would arrive at Bougainville to meet front line troops. Yamamoto
had orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Allies anticipated
his arrival and shot down his plane in what General MacArthur
called on of the single most significant actions in the Pacific
War.
Undercover Agents – Before
MISLS opened its doors, two young Hawaiian Nisei, Arthur Komori
and Richard Sakakida were recruited by the U.S. Army to work
undercover in Manila, Philippines. They made contacts with
Japanese businessmen and were the first linguists in the Pacific
War. The Japanese military captured Sakakida in the surrender
of Corregidor and he suffered torture and near death before
finally escaping when the Japanese began retreating from the
Philippines.
The Occupation
In 1945, on August 6th and 9th the United States dropped
atomic bombs on the metropolitan areas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Soon, Japan issued a formal surrender and the war ended. In
battle zones around the Pacific War, MIS linguists interpreted
surrender ceremonies and translated documents. In Tokyo Bay,
three Nisei linguists witnessed the surrender ceremony on
board the U.S.S. Missouri where General Togo and the Emperor
came to officially sign the surrender with General MacArthur.
Many Nisei who had not received promotions during the war,
regarded by some as a prejudiced snub, quickly received commendations
to encourage them to continue their service in Japan. Those
who arrived in the first year after the war witnessed the
devastation in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and other areas. They watched
city dwellers sell their silk kimonos in the countryside for
sweet potatoes and saw women and children waiting by the Army’s
cafeteria for table scraps.
In every aspect of the Occupation and the rebuilding of Japan,
the linguists served vital roles as interpreters and cultural
diplomats. They taught both U.S. troops and Japanese how to
get along with each other—a task they learned growing
up in America. They translated and interpreted the War Crimes
trials, screened POWs returning from Siberia, and worked in
the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) and the Civil Censorship
Detachment (CCD) and many other offices. Their unheralded
yet key contributions towards winning the peace in post-war
Japan were essential in helping make the U.S. Occupation a
success.
Epilogue
In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties
Act into law, which apologized for the unjust incarceration
of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. The loyalty, courage,
and sacrifices made by Nisei soldiers in World War II played
an enormous role in convincing the American public and political
leaders of the injustices suffered by people of Japanese ancestry.
If it were not for the Nisei linguists of the first class,
together with the 442nd Infantry Regiment and the 100th Battalion,
it could be argued that the historic redress bill would not
have passed.
Finally, after living in the shadows of Pacific War history,
the Army awarded MIS linguists the Presidential Unit Citation
in June 2000. The citation states: "The Military Intelligence
Service not only played key roles in battlefield situations,
they also provided United States forces with an unprecedented
amount of intimate, authoritative, detailed, and timely information
on enemy forces to support planning and execution of combat
operations....”
Serving in the U.S. Army during WWII, Nisei soldier served
because they were Americans like any other American boys.
Having been interned themselves or having family in the internment
camps, made it difficult, but their decision to serve their
country during war-time was firm and decisive. The decision
to fight against the country of birth our parents and grandparents
was difficult, but they had to decide. For many MIS linguists
who volunteered from within the confines of internment, it
was also difficult because they had been reclassified by the
Draft Board as 4C "Enemy Alien". To fight in Europe
would have been an easier decision, but to fight Japan and
eventually fight on Japanese soil was not an easy choice to
make. That is why even to this day many Nisei MIS veterans
are reluctant to talk about their role during WWII.
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