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 (240)
Military service (3289)
Military Intelligence Service (1180)

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

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1180 items
Garden and building (ddr-ajah-2-680)
img Garden and building (ddr-ajah-2-680)
Caption below photo: the garden of the Malacanan Presidential Palace
Men walking in hallway (ddr-ajah-2-709)
img Men walking in hallway (ddr-ajah-2-709)
Caption below photo: Second Floor corridor City Hall
Men seated at registration table, woman signing in (ddr-ajah-2-18)
img Men seated at registration table, woman signing in (ddr-ajah-2-18)
Written on back: 25th Anniv. MIS Reunion, Jack Tar Hotel S.F. / Nov. 11-13, 1966
Men standing in line outside building (ddr-ajah-2-787)
img Men standing in line outside building (ddr-ajah-2-787)
Caption: Chow Line, Camp Savage, Minnesota / October 1942-June 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-476 with additional notes
Two men in uniform standing with two women (ddr-ajah-2-810)
img Two men in uniform standing with two women (ddr-ajah-2-810)
Caption: Joe Iwataki, of Alameda, CA., explores Chicago, IL., with friends while on a three day pass. Iwataki was a member of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), February 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-492 with additional notes
API