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| Members of the Military Intelligence
Service (MIS) |
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (MIS)
The MIS story is one of numerous small units of Nisei soldiers
who operated confidentially, individually or in small groups (ten
to twenty men), attached to combat units in the war against Japan.
They were also loaned to other allied combat units i.e. Australia,
New Zealand, England, and China. It is also the story of much
larger groups who served at intelligence centers at the Army and
Theater Headquarters level. Three main intelligence centers were
at MacArthur’s headquarters, also known as ATIS (Allied
Translator Interpreter Section) in Brisbane, Australia, JICPOA
(Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Ocean Area) in Hawaii, and
SATIC (Southeast Asia Translation and Interrogation Center) in
New Delhi. From these centers, MISers were assigned to combat
units and missions.
Through it all, from the early crucial campaigns of Attu and
Guadalcanal to the decisive victories at Saipan, Iwo Jima, and
Okinawa, the Nisei served with distinction and were indispensable
and superbly effective as translators of captured enemy documents,
interrogators of enemy POWs and persuaders of enemy surrender.
They also worked laboriously over enemy documents - maps, battle
plans, orders, diaries, postcards, publications, records, manuals
- at area headquarters producing voluminous intelligence invaluable
to Allied strategy and operations.
Following the conclusion of the war, the MIS also proved crucial
to the United States's postwar occupation of Japan. The MIS linguist's
skills in the Japanese language, combined with their knowledge
of local customs, made for a smooth transition between United
States occupation forces and the Japanese people. The Nisei servicemen’s
assistance proved indispensable in all areas of translating and
administration, including during the Japanese war crime trials,
in the repatriation of Japanese prisoners of war (POWs), and in
establishing a positive relationship with the Japanese people.
Additionally, through the formation of such organizations as the
Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) and the Civil Censorship Detachment
(CCD), MIS linguists played an important role in gathering intelligence
information on subversive activities for occupation authorities.
Finally, many MIS linguists and administrative personnel helped
in the drafting of the new Japanese Constitution as well. Through
their assistance, the MIS linguists provided essential assistance
to the occupation authorities in Japan that cleared the way for
a smooth transition from United States post-war occupation back
to eventual Japanese civilian control in 1952.
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