A panel of Japanese-American Military Intelligence Service (MIS) veterans who fought in WWII and Korea talked about the contributions they made for the intelligence service. Because of the classified nature of their work, their full contribution to the war effort as translators, interrogators and decipherers, including gathering crucial intelligence from captured enemy maps, battle plans, and orders, has been overshadowed. Their skills were also needed for war crimes trials and essential to the occupation government in Japan.
Bruce Kaji, the museum’s founding president, interrogated POWs in the Philippines. Hitoshi Sameshima was a translator for the war crimes trials. Roy Shiraga worked as a translator in Sapporo and fought in the Korean War. Tohoru Isobe and Robert Shuji Miyasaki also served as translators during the Korean War. Patricia Wakida moderated the panel. The panelists talked about their experiences and also responded to questions from members of the audience.
“The History of the Japanese American Military Intelligence Service” was a program of the Art, Culture, & Identity series held Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. PT at the Japanese American National Museum in collaboration with JA Living Legacy.