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)

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1145 items

img Man standing outside camp building (ddr-ajah-2-539)

Caption below photo: Tekawa Sensei

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-539/

img Men walking down stairs from plane (ddr-ajah-2-713)

Caption below photo: General Torashiro Kawabe, Imperial Japanese Army envoy

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-713/

img Man working at a drafting table (ddr-ajah-2-795)

Caption: Private Don Hikido, Camp Savage, Minnesota Military Intelligence School (MIS), October 1942-June 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-483 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-795/

img Large building (ddr-ajah-2-697)

Caption below photo: City Hall

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-697/

img Four men and three women posing outside barracks (ddr-ajah-2-557)

Caption below photo: Furlo (sic) to Topaz

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-557/

img Man on skis (ddr-ajah-2-465)

Caption below photo: Yuk

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-465/

img Group standing around tank (ddr-ajah-2-767)

Caption: The public climbs aboard an old tank on Visitors Day at Fort Ord, near Monterey, CA., 1941. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-176 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-767/

img Street and buildings (ddr-ajah-2-696)

Caption below photo: Taft Avenue and the City Hall

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-696/

img Large building (ddr-ajah-2-675)

Caption below photo: City Hall / General Headquarters - Our office

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-675/

img Four men looking at map (ddr-ajah-2-822)

Caption: Military intelligence Service (MIS) veterans are seen after returning from the China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre, with Col. Kai Rasmussen, the man who was the commandant of the MIS at Camp Savage, Minnesota. The boys are on their way to Fort Benning, Georgie. photo Fort Snelling, January 1945. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-731 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-822/

doc Camp Savage graduation ceremony and Baccalaureate service programs (ddr-ajah-2-21)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-21/

img Joe Iwataki standing in snow (ddr-ajah-2-459)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-459/

img Large building and road (ddr-ajah-2-683)

Caption below photo: Main Entrance to City Hall

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-683/

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/