In late August, an elderly Asian man in a wheelchair visited a U.S. military museum in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to view the displayed helmets and other equipment used by U.S. soldiers during World War II. 

The temporary exhibition, set up at the National Museum of the United States Army, titled the “Nisei Soldier Experience,” describes what second-generation Japanese-Americans endured on the battlefield.

Much has been written about and tributes made to the two highly decorated Japanese-American military units that fought in the European theater during World War II.

But other Nikkei soldiers, such as Charles Moriyama, 96, of Hawaii, the veteran in the wheelchair, also made contributions both during and after the war working for the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

Moriyama and other Nikkei members in the MIS used their Japanese language skills to question prisoners of war as well as gather intelligence.

Moriyama volunteered for the MIS while studying at the University of Hawaii. He received Japanese language training in Minnesota as well as counter-intelligence training in Maryland.

About that training, Moriyama said, “We were getting ready for the invasion of Japan.”

He eventually worked in Japan during the Allied occupation and monitored movie theaters to ensure that anti-American movies were not being shown.

But in the intervening years, the situation has changed dramatically.

“I think that the relationship between the U.S. and Japan is really on solid ground now,” Moriyama said.

DUTY AS AMERICANS TO SERVE

Another Nikkei MIS member who also visited the Virginia museum with Moriyama was Ralph Matsumoto, 100, of California.

Matsumoto said, “I thought it was my duty” to join the MIS.

All Japanese-Americans had their lives turned upside down after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

The following year, Japanese-Americans living on the U.S. West Coast were relocated to internment camps in the interior, most located in desert areas in the West. In the end, about 120,000 Japanese-Americans were interned in those camps.

Even though the majority were U.S. citizens, they were labeled “enemy aliens.”

Paul Morando, the chief curator at the U.S. Army museum, said, “After Pearl Harbor, there was real fear of an attack on the mainland U.S. Misguided obviously, but a genuine fear that was directed toward Japanese-Americans who lived in the United States.”

Bill Takakoshi, a former special assistant to the under secretary of the Army who is knowledgeable about the Nikkei units, said, “A bunch of folks from the concentration camps volunteered.”

He added, “They did that out of two things I think: loyalty to the country and loyalty to their families who were being persecuted in the camps.”

Morando also explained that some of the Japanese-American volunteers likely felt that if they fought at the warfront, doubts would arise among Americans back home about why the Japanese-Americans continued to be kept in the internment camps.

In addition to the MIS, young Japanese-Americans joined the all-Nikkei 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which would become among the most decorated units in World War II for their actions in the European theater.

Probably one of the most well-known actions was the search for the “Lost Battalion” of Texas that was surrounded by German troops in a mountainous area of France in October 1944.

Members of the 442nd bravely fought the Germans and saved the Lost Battalion, but not without a huge sacrifice. More than 800 442nd members were killed or wounded in saving the 211 members of the Texas battalion.

During World War II, about 33,000 Japanese-Americans served in the U.S. military and about 800 died.

When asked about those Nikkei soldiers, Moriyama said, “I think that is the spirit of the Japanese.”

He added, “When I say the Japanese spirit, it means to give it all you have. When they enlisted in the Army, they would do whatever they could for their country, and I think we felt that way.”

When asked what he meant by their country, Moriyama responded immediately, “For the U.S.”

BELATED RECOGNITION OF BRAVERY

But despite the many sacrifices made by the Japanese-American soldiers, it would take many years for them to gain true recognition of their efforts.

At the end of World War II, only one Japanese-American had received the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration.

After reviewing military records during World War II, the Medal of Honor was awarded in 2000 to 20 Japanese-American soldiers who belonged to the 100th battalion and the 442nd RCT.

In a speech at the White House to honor those receiving the medal, then U.S. President Bill Clinton said, “They risked their lives, above and beyond the call of duty. And in so doing, they did more than defend America; in the face of painful prejudice, they helped to define America at its best.”

Ironically, the various hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans that have arisen with the novel coronavirus pandemic have again focused attention on what the Nikkei soldiers experienced on the warfront and at home.

“This kind of discrimination has happened in our past,” Takakoshi said. “We can try to make it right, but it’s going to happen. You persevere and you make things better for, again, your kids and grandkids.”

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This story is the second of a four-part series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.