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 (239)
Military service (3285)
Military Intelligence Service (1177)

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1177 items

doc Letter from Ayame and Masao Okine to Mr. and Mrs. Okine, October 18, 1946 [in Japanese] (ddr-csujad-5-172)

A letter from Masao and Ayame Okine to their parents, Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine. Masao reports to his parents about his arrival to Chicago after his discharge from the U.S. Army, serving as a Nisei solder in Japan. He describes his life in Chicago, such as buying a car and driving to New York to see …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-172/

doc Letter from Masao Okine to Dottie [Dorothy] Okine, May 10, 1946 (ddr-csujad-5-181)

A letter from Masao Okine to his sister, Dorothy Okine. He writes from Tokyo, Japan, where he is stationed as a U.S. Army soldier. He asks Dorothy to send him cigarettes, candies, and gum. He sent the letter to her on April 23, 1946, however, it returned to Masao. He adds the notes, explaining why the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-181/

doc Letter from Masao Okine to Mr. and Mrs. Okine, October 22, 1945 [in Japanese] (ddr-csujad-5-96)

Masao Okine writes from the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to his parents, Seiichi and Tomeyo Okine in the Rohwer incarceration camp. The letter describes the school situation in which the US Army demands that the students need to complete the study and training in a shorter period of time. He also …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-96/

doc Card from Masao Okine to Mrs. S. Okine, March 5, 1946 (ddr-csujad-5-136)

A card for Mother's Day from Masao Okine to his mother, Tomeyo Okine in Hawthorne, California. He probably writes from Japan where he is deployed as a U.S. Army soldier. The card is mailed via San Francisco by the U.S. Army Postal Service. The handwritten notes on the backside of the envelope read: Arrived on March …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-136/

Christmas card from the commandant, staff, and faculty at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Fort Snelling (ddr-csujad-49-109)

doc Christmas card from the commandant, staff, and faculty at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Fort Snelling (ddr-csujad-49-109)

Christmas card from the commandant, staff, and faculty at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Fort Snelling, Minneapolis on behalf of Colonel Kai Rasmussen. An item from: pages 76-77 of the Sue Kato scrapbook (gfb_skc_001). See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2019_002_001_052_03

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-49-109/

img [Masao Okine] (ddr-csujad-5-340)

A photograph of Masao Okine in the U.S. military uniform standing in front of the tank monument to the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. A photograph from "Dorothy Ai Aoki photo album" (csudh_oki_0300), page 11. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: oki_08_011_002

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-340/

doc Western Union telegraph from Masao Okine to S. Okine. September 26, 1946 (ddr-csujad-5-162)

A Western Union telegram from Masao Okine to his father Seiichi Okine in Whittier, California. It notifies of Masao's arrival at San Francisco from Japan where he has been stationed as a Nisei soldier and his next destination, Chicago, where his wife, Ayame, resides. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-162/

doc Letter from Makoto Okine to Mr. Okine, June 28, 1945 (ddr-csujad-5-82)

A letter from Makoto Okine in Lecce, Italy to his father, Seiichi Okine, in the Rohwer incarceration camp in Arkansas. It is mailed via New York by the US Army Postal Service. In the letter, Makoto assumes that not many people participate in the bonodori event in the camp this time because many of the young …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-5-82/

doc PACMIRS (ddr-csujad-49-135)

Newsletter from PACMIRS (Pacific Military Research Section at Camp Ritchie, Maryland). An item from: pages 84-85 of the Sue Kato scrapbook (gfb_skc_001). See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2019_002_001_056_02

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-49-135/

doc Gilbert Tanji interview (ddr-csujad-6-33)

Oral history interview with Gilbert Tanji. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_TANJI_GILBERT

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-33/

doc George Kiyomoto interview (ddr-csujad-6-14)

Oral history interview with George Kiyomoto. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_KIYOMOTO_GEORGE

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-14/

doc Toshiye Hirose interview (ddr-csujad-6-7)

Oral history interview with Toshiye Hirose. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_HIROSE_TOSHIYE

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-7/

doc Johnny and Yo Niizawa interview (ddr-csujad-6-25)

Oral history interview with Johnny and Yo Niizawa. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_NIIZAWA_JOHNNY_AND_YO

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-25/

doc Anne Moore interview (ddr-csujad-6-23)

Oral history interview with Anne Moore. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_MOORE_ANNE

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-23/

doc Kiichi Tange interview (ddr-csujad-6-30)

Oral history interview with Kiichi Tange. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_TANGE_KIICHI

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-30/

doc Dr. Frank Nishio interview (ddr-csujad-6-26)

Oral history interview with Dr. Frank Nishio. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_NISHIO_FRANK

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-26/

doc Frank Suzuki interview (ddr-csujad-6-29)

Oral history interview with Frank Suzuki. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_SUZUKI_FRANK

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-29/

doc Sherman Kishi interview (ddr-csujad-6-13)

Oral history interview with Sherman Kishi. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_KISHI_SHERMAN

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-13/

doc Ruth Okuye Ihara interview (ddr-csujad-6-8)

Oral history interview with Ruth Okuye Ihara. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_IHARA_RUTH

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-8/

doc Izumi Taniguchi interview (ddr-csujad-6-31)

Oral history interview with Izumi Taniguchi. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_TANIGUCHI_IZUMI

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-31/

doc Sei Morita (ddr-csujad-8-43)

Oral history interview with Sei Morita. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Morita, Sei

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-8-43/

doc Chester and Akiko Lillian Sasashima (ddr-csujad-8-97)

Oral history interview with Chester and Akiko Lillian Sasashima. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Sasashima, Chester and Lillian

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-8-97/

doc Momoyo Mizuki (ddr-csujad-8-91)

Oral history interview with Momoyo Mizuki. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Mizuki, Momoyo

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-8-91/

img Nisei soldier in foxhole (ddr-densho-114-149)

Original caption: One of the most miraculous escapes from a bomb explosion is pictured here. In this foxhole in the side of the shell crater is S. Sgt. Oye Ogata of Helena, Mont. This is the position he occupied when the bomb landed next to him. He was buried alive by the sand thrown up by …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-149/

img Nisei draftsman preparing maps (ddr-densho-114-157)

Original caption: Tec 5 George Fuyasho of Portland, Oregon, a Nisei Japanese draftsman for the Allied translator and interpreter section, General Headquarters, Allied Forces in the Pacific, prepares sketches and maps necessary for the production of documents, Floor plans and blueprints. Tokyo, Japan. 9-3-46.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-157/