California Story Fund
Pacific War and Peace
National Japanese American Historical Society
San Francisco
Project Director: Rosalyn Tonai
Shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army opened a language school in an old airplane hangar in the Presidio of San Francisco to train Americans to be Japanese linguists. Most of the students were of Japanese ancestry and the graduates of the school translated documents, intercepted intelligence, impersonated the enemy in battle, gathered key intelligence from prisoners, and ultimately helped American and Allied forces win the war in the Pacific.
This project will develop a multi-media exhibit and two public presentations on the experiences of these linguist soldiers.
The general public only learned of the existence of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Language School in 1971 with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. But in recent years, MIS veterans have been accorded a measure of recognition by the U.S. government. Despite this, Rosalyn Tonai, executive director of the Japanese American Historical Society and director of the project said that there is a strong need for more inquiry into the story. “In these times of war, the experiences drawn from the Japanese American World War II episode continue to be relevant today,” she said.
Stories will be gathered from four prominent MISers as well as from the archives of the Japanese Historical Society. The interviews will be developed into digital stories for use in a video kiosk and on the Historical Society’s.
The exhibit “Pacific War and Peace” will be presented at the Historical Society’s gallery in San Francisco and at a venue in the Presidio. The exhibit will also travel to other sites in the city.
Tonai said that the MIS soldiers’ intimate knowledge of Japanese language and culture helped the United States gain a tactical and strategic advantage over their opponents and was a critical factor in the peaceful transition of Japan to a democratic nation. “As such this story is a clear example of the powerful role of the humanities in shaping events of lasting global significance,” she said.