In honor of National Women’s History Month, three Japanese American Cadet Nurse Corps members—Alice Noguchi Kanagaki, Kiyo Sato, and Mary Tamura—share their stories of service and loyalty during WWII. Their oral histories were captured through the “Unsung Service” project funded by the National Park Service.

Mary Tamura

"I chose nursing as a profession because I love people and I like to help them."

Birthday: June 22, 1924
Hometown: Terminal Island, CA
Incarcerated at: Gila River, AZ
Nursing school: Saint Mary's School of Nursing (Rochester, MN)
Age of enlistment: 17–18 years old
Unit: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps

Mary explains why she chose to go into nursing.

"I was a nurse's aide in Gila River and I met lots of nice people there. There were RNs, and orderlies and doctors, as usual you know. But they infuenced me to take up nursing and I sort of liked this idea of helping people get well or just talking to them. And that was my main reason that I went not nursing because I had originally intended myself to become a piano teacher, but you know, we didn't have anything like a piano or anything musical, so I had to change my mind."

Kiyo Sato

"I was the only non-white in my class [at nursing school]. That tells you something."

Birthday: May 8, 1923
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Incarcerated at: Poston, AZ
Nursing school: Case Wester Reserve University (Cleveland, OH)
Age of enlistment: 28 years old
Unit: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps and Air Force Nurse Corps

Kiyo discusses the difficulty she faced when applying to nursing schools.

"I zigzagged a lot. Zigzagged, and finally got there, but the doors weren't opening for me. I wanted to get into nursing and applied to Yale School of Nursing. All these three schools had to have a bachelor's to get in, and that was John Hopkins and Case Western and Yale. They all turned me down because of my color—'we have this policy that ...' you know."

Alice Kanagaki

"Even though you're an American, when you're Japanese American suddenly you feel like 'I'm the enemy and they're gonna kill me!'"

Birthday: October 9, 1926
Hometown: Vacaville, CA
Incarcerated at: Gila River, AZ
Nursing school: School of Nursing (Madison, WI)
Age of enlistment: 18 years old
Unit: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps

Alice recalls her time at nursing school.

"Well, it's an interesting subject, nursing, number one, and you meet all kinds of people. And your classmates, you know, you all live in the same dormitory and you're going through the same struggles and complaints, and you share all your gripes and griefs and joys. And so, you know, your classmates kind of lift you up and take you along and that's how you survive."

Heroes Among Us: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps

Japanese American Cadet Nurse Corps members Alice Noguchi Kanagaki, Kiyo Sato, and Mary Tamura share their stories of service and loyalty during WWII.

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Unsung Heroes

Mary Tamura

Kiyo Sato

Alice Kanagaki

Heroes Among Us: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps