Military service

The story of Japanese Americans in the military during World War II is complex and in many ways ironic. It is a story of mistrust by the very country for which these soldiers placed themselves in harms' way. Many were drafted directly out of the camps and fought for democracy abroad while their parents and families were incarcerated by their own government.

World War II (283)
Military service (4309)

Filters

Facilities

Format

Genre

Usage

Use <Ctrl> or (⌘) keys to select multiple terms

Gallery view
List view

4309 items

doc Program: The Color of Honor (ddr-densho-1007-1808)

Program provides an overview of the documentary, The Color of Honor, by Loni Ding which uses personal testimonies and archival footage to examine the military and civilian wartime of experiences of Japanese Americans.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1808/

img Landing craft carrying Marine assault force in Yokosuka, Japan (ddr-densho-1007-79)

Newspaper clippings/captions on back

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-79/

img Tokyo Army Day parade (ddr-densho-1007-362)

The tanks are units of the 1st Cavalry Division. Caption on back.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-362/

img Serviceman and child on Okinawa (ddr-densho-1007-84)

Caption on back

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-84/

img negative - from Yoshimura folder - print label "Akiji Yoshimura New Dehli, India November 1944" (ddr-densho-1007-445)

Negative. From Yoshimura folder. Labeled "Akiji Yoshimura New Dehli, India November 1944."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-445/

img Pair in helmets (ddr-densho-1007-446)

Negative. Included with object ddr-densho-1007-456.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-446/

img Frank S. Yanagimachi Bronze Star Medal citation (ddr-densho-1007-679)

Slide, created in September 1984. Image date unknown. Case reads "T. Matsui"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-679/

img Men on stoop (ddr-densho-1007-611)

Slide. Picture taken in front of the kitchen of Company A, 57th Battalion.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-611/

img Soldier portrait (ddr-densho-1007-710)

Slide, created in September 1984. Case reads "T. Matsui"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-710/

img Three soldiers and log (ddr-densho-1007-860)

Slide.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-860/

doc History of Mr. Kojima (ddr-densho-1007-909)

Handwritten notes. Mr. Kojima is Kiyofumi Kojima, a former signal officer of the Japanese Imperial Navy on the battleship Yamato.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-909/

av Interview with Yukio Kawamoto, part 2 of 8 (ddr-densho-1007-1546)

Kawamoto discusses working in the army's financial department, the internment of his parents, and joining the MIS. Video starts at 0:53. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 48, II NY #30, 6-85, Kawamoto. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1547/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1546/

av Interview with Paul Minerich, Tim Nomiyama, Masao Kataoka, and Kenjiro Hayakawa, part 2 of 8 (ddr-densho-1007-1799)

From left to right: Minerich, Nomiyama, Kataoka, Hayakawa. Minerich discusses the urgency of the DB Boys case. Nomiyama and Kataoka discuss whether they thought their court martials would ever be reversed. Kataoka discusses growing up in LA, meeting Edmund Zane in high school, how the two became friends, how Zane picked up the legal case of …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1799/

av Interview with Shigeo Yamada, part 2 of 3 (ddr-densho-1007-1708)

Yamada discusses growing up on farms in Hansen and Jerome, ID, his parents' views on education, his first impressions of Japan, the sinking of the cruiser he served on in the Japanese navy and being rescued. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: II JA #47, Shigeo Yamada, Sun. Feb. 2. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1708/

img Servicepeople marching on the edge of a forest (ddr-densho-1007-151)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-151/

av Roger Daniels interviewed by Kent Hori, part 3 of 4 (ddr-densho-1007-1758)

Daniels discusses what may have happened if the Japanese American community resisted evacuation en masse, how Japanese Americans were placed under 4C (enemy alien, undraftable) status and the military's eventual interest in Japanese Americans (particularly Kibei) for intelligence work, the importance of the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the loyalty questionnaire, the persecution …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1758/