{"id":558,"date":"2025-04-01T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=558"},"modified":"2025-10-28T20:45:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T03:45:55","slug":"mis-in-okinawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/mis-in-okinawa\/","title":{"rendered":"MIS in Okinawa"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Many back then would\u2019ve sworn it was an April Fool\u2019s joke if they heard Japanese Americans were fighting the Japanese in Japan.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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April 1, 1945: MIS Joins U.S. Forces in the Battle of Okinawa\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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It wasn\u2019t a joke. Although it was a secret.<\/p>\n

Among the Americans landing on the blood-soaked beaches were Nisei soldiers \u2014 second-generation Japanese Americans \u2014 serving in the Military Intelligence Service<\/a> (MIS). These young men weren\u2019t holding rifles. They were holding dictionaries, maps, notepads, and loudspeakers.<\/p>\n

Their job?\u00a0Intercept enemy radio transmissions.\u00a0<\/span>Translate captured documents.\u00a0<\/span>And most impossibly, convince Japanese soldiers and civilians to surrender.<\/span><\/p>\n

In some cases, they stepped into caves, bunkers, or trenches with only a megaphone and their voice. Some civilians were so terrified of American propaganda that they considered suicide before capture. Others had been trained to fight to the death.<\/p>\n

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A formidable task force carves out a beachhead on Okinawa, April 13, 1945<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A Japanese POW calls for his comrades to surrender, June 1945, Mabuni, Okinawa<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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T Sergeant Akiji Yoshimura with Brigadier General Frank Aerrill's Infantry troops, 1944<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Soldiers controlling Wana Ridge in Naha during the Battle of Okinawa, 1945<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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The Nisei spoke to them in their own language. Not just linguistically, but culturally. They saved lives, both American and Japanese, by using words instead of bullets.<\/p>\n

But the danger was real.<\/p>\n

One MIS soldier, separated from his unit, found himself trapped in a bomb crater between American and Japanese lines: \u201cEvery time I stuck my head up,\u201d he said, \u201cboth sides would shoot at me. I had a Japanese face and an American uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Battle of Okinawa became the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific and one of the bloodiest of the war. Over 12,000 American servicemen were killed. Japanese casualties, both military and civilian, numbered in the hundreds of thousands.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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And through it all, the MIS worked in the shadows.<\/p>\n

Their contributions were extraordinary. Their actions, courageous. But their service? Classified.<\/p>\n

For decades after the war, most MIS veterans said nothing. Not to the press. Not to historians. Not even to their families. When asked what they did in the war, they answered simply: \u201cI served in the army.\u201d<\/p>\n

The irony was impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n

Many of these men had been labeled enemy aliens by their own government. Some had been removed from their homes. Others incarcerated behind barbed wire in America\u2019s own concentration camps.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Warren Higa, left, questions a prisoner about Japanese positions, Okinawa, 1945<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Lietenant Wally Amioka and a Japanese POW lead an American patrol, July 1945<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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MISLS (Military Intelligence Service Language School) 4th Class, Fall 1944<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Credit The National WWII Museum Digital Collections, Gift of Ted Yeanri<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Yet when the same government came asking for help, they answered.<\/p>\n

Quietly. Bravely. Brilliantly.<\/p>\n

The Military Intelligence Service went on to serve in every major battle in the Pacific. General Charles Willoughby, intelligence chief for General MacArthur, later said the MIS \u201csaved countless lives and shortened the war by two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what patriotism looked like for those the U.S. had doubted. The government may have questioned their loyalty.<\/p>\n

History can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many back then would\u2019ve sworn it was an April Fool\u2019s joke if they heard Japanese Americans were fighting the Japanese in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,28,6,250,27,26,29,32,15],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aapi-history","tag-battle-of-okinawa","tag-japanese-american-history","tag-military-war","tag-military-intelligence-service","tag-mis","tag-nisei-soldiers","tag-quiet-americans","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4866,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/4866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}