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@santana post from previous page - sorry, I'm wrong:
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August 9, 1945 Japanese POW 2Lt Minoru Wada using the intercom aboard a USMC PBJ Mitchell bomber to relay instructions to his interpreter about the location of the Japanese 100th Infantry Division headquartersdeep in the jungle on Mindanao, Philippines.
Minoru Wada was an American citizen, educated in Japan and served as a Japanese Army junior officer. He was taken prisoner in the Philippines in 1945. He provided U.S. bomber crews with vital intelligence, and led the aircraft in a highly successful attack on the headquarters of the Japanese 100th Division. He was motivated by a desire to minimize the loss of life through aiding to effect a swift end to the Pacific War.
During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the West Coast because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage. As the war progressed, many of the young Nisei, Japanese immigrants' children who were born with American citizenship, volunteered or were drafted to serve in the United States military. Japanese Americans served in all the branches of the United States Armed Forces, including the United States Merchant Marines.
An estimated 33,000 Japanese Americans served in the U.S. military during World War II, of which 20,000 joined the Army. Approximately 6,000 Japanese Americans served in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Approximately 800 were killed in action.
Japanese Americans were generally forbidden to fight a combat role in the Pacific theatre; although no such limitations were placed on Americans of German or Italian ancestry who fought against the Axis powers. Up to this point, the United States government has only been able to find records of five Japanese Americans who were members of the Army Air Forces during World War II.
The 442nd Infantry Regiment became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. The related 522nd Field Artillery Battalion liberated the infamous Dachau concentration camp. Other Japanese-American units also included the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Varsity Victory Volunteers, and the Military Intelligence Service.
Colour: ColourisedPieceofJake
Photo: David Douglas Duncan