MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
“M.I.S.”
During World War II, over 6,000 “Nisei” (Japanese-Americans) served the Allied Forces, performing secret military intelligence work against the Japanese military and dispelling any doubt that they as Americans would be willing to fight against an enemy of the same ancestry.
On November 1, 1941 the U.S. Army opened a secret military language school at the Presidio, San Francisco to teach and train military intelligence in the event of war against Japan. For the duration, Japanese-Americans with language capacity were recruited from the 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, from the war camps and from Hawaii, producing over 6,000 graduates from military intelligence service language schools (MISLS) at the Presidio, Camp Savage and Fort Snelling, Minnesota to fight the intelligence war against Japan.
MIS graduates were sent out to every combat theater and participated in every major battle and invasion against the Japanese military. They were assigned to the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force and “loaned out” to British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Chinese, and Indian combat units in every phase of the Asia-Pacific War until Japan was defeated.
From May 1942, MIS “Nisei” participated in the Aleutian and Solomon Islands invasions, in General MacArthur’s drive through New Guinea and the Philippines, and in the Central Pacific invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Majuro, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Guam, leading to the final assault on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Operating out of New Delhi, India they helped drive the Japanese Army from Burma and reopen the Burma Road to China.
“Nisei” linguists translated enemy documents, including orders, battle plans, maps, diaries, and letters; interrogated Japanese POWs; served as order of battle specialists; intercepted and deciphered enemy communications; composed and broadcast surrender appeals and other psychological warfare tactics; and flushed caves for enemy soldiers and civilians. Voluminous intelligences were gathered and converted into successful Allied strategy and operations against the Japanese.
Little is known of the invaluable services of MIS “Nisei,” because they worked in strict confidentiality. They were America’s “secret weapon” in the war against Japan. General Charles Willoughby, G-2 Chief in the Pacific War stated: “The Nisei saved a million lives and shortened the war against Japan by two years!”
The "Brothers in Valor" memorial commemorates the heroic lives of thousands of Japanese-Americans who served in the U.S. Military in World War II. Judy Weightman conceived this memorial after interviewing Japanese-American soldiers who had liberated the Dachau concentration camp. The sculpture was created by Bumpei Akaji, a veteran of the 442nd, and dedicated on July 4, 1998. It is situated on a 5,100 square foot site on Ft. DeRussy along Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki.
The bronze sculpture consists of four metal prongs reaching skyward, intertwined at the base, each about ten feet tall. The base is polished black marble about six-feet tall, and on each of four faces is a bronze plaque with the history of each group honored - the :442nd Regimental Combat Team, 100th Infantry Battalion, Military Intelligence Service, and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion
The monument is centered in a circle of paving stones and at the outer edge of each quadrant are individual bronze plaques mounted on granite stones identifying each of these groups. Within the base of the monument is a time capsule with scrolls containing the names of those killed in action, all members of the groups honored here, and of contributors to the creation of the memorial.
THE "BROTHERS IN VALOR" MEMORIAL WAS CONCEIVED BY
JUDY M. WEIGHTMAN
MAY 22, 1941 - MARCH 4, 1998
HER EFFORTS AND PASSION WILL ALWAYS BE
REMEMBERED
OAHU AJA VETERANS COUNCIL
UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTION, INC.