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 (2824)
Military Intelligence Service (1146)

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1146 items

img Group of men by Red Cross canteen truck (ddr-ajah-2-475)

Caption below photo: St. Paul Red Cross Canteen feeds up after Wednesday hikes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-475/

img Road through palm trees (ddr-ajah-2-652)

Caption below photo: G.I. built road

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-652/

img Man sitting on boat (ddr-ajah-2-727)

Caption below photo: Tak

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-727/

img View of sky with small place (ddr-ajah-2-590)

Caption below photo: Australian skies

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-590/

img View of military parade from above (ddr-ajah-2-612)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-612/

img Six men outside tents on dirt road (ddr-ajah-2-823)

Caption: Joe Iwataki poses with members of the Order of Battle Section (OBS) in Leyte, Philippines in 1945. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-657 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-823/

img Joe Iwataki in yard outside barracks (ddr-ajah-2-798)

Caption: Joe Iwataki, of Alameda, CA., He was there as a member of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). October 1942-June 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-438 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-798/

img Group standing in snow, man in center looking at camera (ddr-ajah-2-453)

Caption below photo: Ben Moriwaki

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-453/

img Man standing by trees (ddr-ajah-2-548)

Caption below photo: Yukio

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-548/

img Couple standing under tree (ddr-ajah-2-761)

Inscribed on back: Me and Hisako Yokoyama. Cute ain't she? San Quentin quail MAYBE. Sister's swell too. Can't afford to rent that pix. Beautiful Ogden, with women with snow white complexion. Sociable? YES. Caption: Tsutomu "Tsunch" Inouye, of Alameda, CA., and a young woman he apparently fancied in Ogden, Utah. August 1941. Supplemental scan, front and …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-761/

img Group of mortars (ddr-ajah-2-763)

Caption: joe Iwataki and Company A trains of the 61mm mortar at Fort Ord, near Monterey, CA., 1941. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-97 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-763/

img Line of women in costume (ddr-ajah-2-521)

Caption below photo: Majorettes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-521/

img Large building and temple (ddr-ajah-2-593)

Caption below photo: Anzac Memorial (Central Station in Background)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-593/

img Man sitting at table reading (ddr-ajah-2-799)

Caption: Iwao Shimamoto studies at Camp Savage, Minnesota, as a member of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). October 1942 - June 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-499 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-799/