Leslie Nakashima

Journalist Leslie Nakashima reported Hiroshima had vanished. The New York Times censored his account before Americans ever saw it.

Indiana cyclotron with Larry Langer and Franz N.D. Kurie April 20, 1940, photo by Donald Cooksey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project began August 13, 1942, out of fear Germany would build the bomb first. The real threat came from inside Los Alamos.

Code talkers at work, Australia, July 1943 (7973459540), Courtesy of Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

Navajo Code Talkers

Navajo children were punished for speaking their language. Years later, that same language became an unbreakable WWII military code.

Karl Bendetsen with Joint Chief of Staff, 1950, Courtesy of the Karl R. Bendetsen Papers, Hoover Institution Archives

Karl Bendetsen conceived, drafted, and processed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the mass removal of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Decades later, he denied responsibility while lying about his own identity.

GI Bill

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, the GI Bill helped thousands of Japanese American veterans attend college, build careers, and rebuild their lives after incarceration and World War II.

A member of a Marine patrol on Saipan found this family of Japanese civilians hiding in a hillside cave. June 21, 1944 - NARA - 532380

MIS in the Battle of Saipan

The Battle of Saipan was fought with more than rifles and artillery. Japanese American MIS soldiers used their understanding of Japanese language and culture to save lives and gather vital intelligence.

Soldiers of the Hawaii National Guard march, Honolulu, 1942, courtesy of the 100th Clubhouse

Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion

The Army wasn’t sure they could be trusted. A year later, commanders were calling them some of the finest soldiers they had ever seen. On June 6, 1942, 1,432 Nisei soldiers left Hawaii as the Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion. One week later, they became the 100th Infantry Battalion.

A member of the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section during World War II, U.S. Army Photo

Z Plan

In May 1944, Japanese American Military Intelligence Service linguists began translating the Japanese Navy’s secret “Z Plan” after critical documents were recovered from a plane crash in the Philippines. The intelligence would help shape one of the most decisive American victories of the Pacific War.

Richard Sakakida

Before Pearl Harbor, Richard Sakakida was one of only two Japanese American spies the U.S. government ever publicly identified — both created by the government itself.

Quiet Americans

Military & War