Nisei Role as America’s “Eyes and Ears” Against Japan During War II and as a “Bridge” Between the Two Nations During the Occupation - Part 2

Japanese American Veterans Association

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Nisei Role as America’s “Eyes and Ears” Against Japan During War II and as a “Bridge” Between the Two Nations During the Occupation - Part 1

Japanese American Veterans Association

Washington, D.C.—When World War II began, the U.S. government and many Americans viewed all ethnic Japanese as potentially disloyal and collaborators of Imperial Japan. The War Department stopped enlisting Nisei and forcibly placed 110,000 ethnic Japanese residing along the Pacific Coast in internment camps guarded by sentries on the ground …

Caucasian Officers’ Role as leaders of MIS Teams assigned to the Asia Pacific Theater During WW II

Japanese American Veterans Association

Washington, DC. “What are those two goddam Japs doing here? Shoot ‘em.”

Nikkei Serve their Nation in all Wars since the Spanish American War; Filipinos and Chinese Preceded Japanese

Japanese American Veterans Association

Washington, DC. Nobuteru Harry Sumida, a Nisei, and eight Japanese nationals who enlisted in the US Navy as seamen were the first Nikkei to serve in the US armed forces. The men all served in the Spanish American War of 1898, when the US declared war on Spain, resulting in …

Twelve Nisei Sank with USS Royal T. Frank Torpedoed by Japanese Submarine — Eight Nisei Survivors Also Survived Combat with 100th

Japanese American Veterans Association

Eight Nisei were saved and 12 were killed when a Japanese submarine torpedoed a US Army transport near Maui, Hawaii, on January 28, 1942, just seven months after the Pearl Harbor attack. A few months later the eight Nisei joined the 100th Infantry Battalion and miraculously survived nearly two years …

The Origin of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

Japanese American Veterans Association

Five thousand Japanese Americans were in the US Army when WW II began on December 7, 1941. LTG John DeWitt, Military Governor of America’s Pacific coast, who questioned the loyalty of all ethnic Japanese, unilaterally discharged the Nisei in his zone and many went to internment camps with their families.

Over 800 Immigrant Japanese and Nisei Served in US Army during World War I. Road to Gain Citizenship was Long and Arduous

Japanese American Veterans Association

Washington, DC. The military record of Japanese Americans who served during and since World War II is well documented and known. However, the role of ethnic Japanese in the military prior to the Second World War and their quest for naturalization has received scant publicity. Nine Japanese immigrants served in …

MIS Members with Brothers Serving in Japanese Imperial Forces during WW II

Japanese American Veterans Association

Nisei soldiers in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) served in the Asia Pacific war zone as interrogators of Japanese prisoners of war, they entered caves to persuade Japanese soldiers to surrender, they were in the Special Forces working behind enemy lines, and they were in the first or second wave …

Nisei Heroism in the Korean War - Gene Takahashi

Japanese American Veterans Association

Bob Hoichi Kubo, Recipient of DSC, Profile of a Hero

Japanese American Veterans Association

Japanese Americans helped to win the War in Europe and the Asia Pacific and to prove their loyalty, which our nation had questioned. Also, timely tactical intelligence provided by Nisei linguists in the Pacific to infantry and marine commanders during combat saved countless American lives. Many combat medals were awarded …