Military Intelligence Service

The first Japanese Americans to serve in the military during World War II were linguists involved in the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS). The MISLS was charged with training soldiers in the Japanese language for intelligence purposes. Japanese Americans served as both instructors and students at the school, which opened on November 1, 1941. The Language School began recruiting instructors and later students directly from concentration camps as early as July 1942. MISLS graduates were assigned in small teams to units fighting in the Pacific and to intelligence centers throughout the Allied command. They translated captured documents, interrogated prisoners of war, wrote propaganda, encouraged Japanese soldiers and civilians to surrender, and monitored radio broadcasts. After the war, they acted as interpreters at the war crime trials and for the occupation government in Japan.

World War II (231)
Military service (2806)
Military Intelligence Service (1145)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
John Aiso, Fort Snelling, Masaji Marumoto, Jack Matsuoka, Military Intelligence Service, Military Intelligence Service Language School, Walter Tsukamoto, Karl Yoneda

Facilities
Format
Genre
Usage

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

1145 items
Calligraphy done by a Japanese prisoner of war (ddr-densho-179-191)
doc Calligraphy done by a Japanese prisoner of war (ddr-densho-179-191)
Given to a Nisei soldier with the U.S. Military Intelligence Service who was interrogating Japanese prisoners in Okinawa.
Civilian internment camp (ddr-densho-179-151)
img Civilian internment camp (ddr-densho-179-151)
Noon hour assembly for daily news and briefing of civilian internment camp.
Volunteers for the Military Intelligence Service (ddr-densho-22-77)
img Volunteers for the Military Intelligence Service (ddr-densho-22-77)
Caption in album: "Volunteers please / Just prior to V-J day came a survey of Volunteers was made for the Camp Savage (later Fort Snelling) language school for men to ship to go to school and on to Japan to fight. Here the two above photos show as the volunteers were made ready to leave for …
View down a street in Germany (ddr-densho-22-78)
img View down a street in Germany (ddr-densho-22-78)
Caption in album: "Volunteers please / Just prior to V-J day came a survey of Volunteers was made for the Camp Savage (later Fort Snelling) language school for men to ship to go to school and on to Japan to fight. Here the two above photos show as the volunteers were made ready to leave for …
API