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Yankee Samurai: The Secret Role of Nisei in America's Pacific Victory

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Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the efforts of the author, Joseph Harrington, the accomplishments of the over 5,000 Nisei to the American victory of Japan are now documented. Virtually unknown before the publication of this book, these loyal Americans volunteered from the concentration camps their families had been condemned to by Executive order 9066 in 1942. By using their knowledge of the Japanese language, U.S. intelligence knew the order of battle of Japanese forces in the Pacific almost down to the level of sergeants and corporals. This book recounts the many personal experiences of the men who so gallantly served the United States in the Pacific war, and who were commended by General MacArthur's staff for shortening the war by two years and saving a million American casualties. They have even been honored by the Japanese government! It has been my honor to know many of these fine men personally through the MIS Service Club of Southern California. All Americans, especially those who still think of Nisei as "Japanese" need to read this book, and find out what the color of honor is all about.

Joseph Harrington's YANKEE SAMUARI is an important book that has been neglected. Yet, this book is a necessary tribute to Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs)who served in the U.S. military during World War II. These men served in combat in North Africa, Europe, and the South Pacific. Mr. Harrington's book is an antidote to those who refuse to recognize such valor or too cowardly to report it.

Harrington makes clear that when World War II erupted, the American military authorities lacked intelligence officers who could translate Japanese intercepts. Their desparation was so great that U.S. milirary officials had to enter American concentration camps where AJAs were confined due to Pres. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which ordered all U.S. citizens to these camps for no reason whatsoever. Even the FBI Director, J. Edgar Hooever, was clear that AJAs were not a threat to American security. The Munson Report which was issued on November 7, 1941 clearly indicated that AJAs were remarkably loyal to the United States. Yet, these unfortunate men, women, and children were forced into these camps. When U.S. military authroties asked these men to volunteer for very dangerous intelligence duty, they did so in spite of their most unfair circumstances.

Harrington gives anecdotes of the heroism and effectiveness of the men who volunteered for both dangerous combat duty and intelligence work. These men infiltrated Japanese units, gathered intelligence, and helped American POWs escape. These AJAs did so at great personal risk. They knew that if they were detected and captured, they would be tortured to death.

The effectiveness of the AJA intelligence operatives is amazing. These operatives knew when members of the Japanese officer corps visited their girlfriends and exactly where. Such intelligence information enabled American pilots to attack the appartments and houses and destroying the Japanese officer corps. When the Americans wanted to attack part of the Aleutian Islands that the Japanese had previously captured, the AJAs' intelligence was so accurate, that they knew that less than ten Japanese soliders were there.

General MacArthur openly admitted that the AJAs intelligence officers saved over a million American lives. When some members of the Marine Corps and Navy refused to permit the AJAs on naval vessels, General MacArthur stopped this nonsense because he knew just how important the AJAs were.

The AJAs not only distingusshed themselves in the Pacific, they also distingushed themselves in North Africa. Some of the AJAs were among the first to see combat in North Africa in 1942. The AJA Unit known as the 442nd. rescued a unit from Texas in France or Italy. The Germans had these Texans trapped, and the Army asked for volunteers to rescue these men. Harrington gives a good description of the AJAs of the 442nd. successfully rescuing these troops from Texas. Readers should note that the AJAs in the 442nd. had more casualties than men they rescued.

Readers should also that proportionally the AJAs were the most highly decorated American units during World War II. These men took great risks while their wives, children, parents, and other relatives were in concentration camps in the U.S. Readers may know that some of these men were given The Congressinal Medal of Honor (some posthumously)as their courage was fully recognized due to anti-Japanese nonsense.

Joseph Harrington wrote a solid book on a neglected part of U.S. History. Much of the heroism of the AJAs has been neglected or dismissed by "mainstream" historians. Yet, Mr. Harrington cites documents and shows that the AJAs were vital for U.S. military intelligence during World War II. There is little record of such historical work, and Mr. Harrington's book is a good place to start.

Harrington may not be a great writer technically, but his "Yankee Samurai" is a fascinating read. Who else has bothered to interview some Nisei soldiers allowed into the Pacific and written up their contributions? Let's not let arguments over Nimitz and Marines vs. MacArthur sidetrack us, since no leaders were perfect. The Pacific stories of the Nisei soldiers themselves are what count, and Harrington's critics should prove them untrue before dismissing his contribution. Many outstanding researchers aren't great writers. Most of us remain massively ignorant of the several important Japanese cultures around the world during the 1930s and 1940s, and Harrington's work helps to fill our voids of knowledge. The Japanese militarists operated a vast spying and intelligence system around the world before and during WWII, but Harrington notes that most of our American Nisei who enlisted in the U.S. military had to take crash courses in Japanese after they joined the American military, since they couldn't speak, read or write the difficult Japanese; and the militarists in Japan didn't trust their allegiance.

This was, I believe, the first published account of the role played by Japanese American soldiers who served in the Pacific during World War II. Although less well known and publicized than their kinsmen who fought in Europe because information on their activities was kept classified by the military for many years, these soldiers played a critical role in America's war efforts in the Pacific. Trained as linguists, they assisted in POW interrogation and document translation, and frequently served as "front men" to try and convince enemy soldiers to surrender; an extremely dangerous task. According to Major General Charles Willoughby, General MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence, these soldiers shortened the war by years and saved countless lives. I am very proud to let everyone know that my father, Technical Sergeant George T. Hayashida, was one of them and his picture appears in this book.

This is a MUST see REFERENCE book on the WW II Military Intelligence Service (MIS) individuals, comprised mostly of Japanese-American citizens, who played an essential secret military role during WWII in the Pacific. It has been estimated that they shortened WW II by TWO YEARS! Families of the MIS'ers were not informed of their missions, and many MIS individuals continued to remain silent for several decades following the end of WW II, and were not given proper recognition by the United States government for their vital military service.

This book is NOT a novel and should not be judged as such. With the assistance of Shigeya Kihara, an instructor of a MIS language school for the American soldiers in the writing of "Yankee Samurai", this book is based on FACTS. The MIS were present everywhere in the Pacific (as were the numerous Pacific battles), and they accompanied various Allied units independently--thus the book documents the events and missions, and does not read in a "storybook" manner. Reading of the many Pacific missions may make it difficult for the reader, especially if you do not have access to a Pacific WW II battle map.

I suggest that this book be viewed as a *REFERENCE* book--because of the extensive listing of names, places, and missions. This helps to fill the void of documentation about the little known WWII Japanese-Americans serving in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS)-- since the U.S. government no longer has WW II records (the building housing the documents burned). The Japanese-American MIS'ers placed their own life in jeopardy while translating intercepted Japanese radio messages, reading captured Japanese documents. They wisely developed a method of interrogating Japanese prisoners and was able to cleverly obtain vital information from them, as well as heroically entering into caves on Saipan and Okinawa unarmed an effort to peacefully talk the Japanese Imperialists to surrender.

This book contains an impressive index listing of the MIS individuals, which is extremely useful for those interested in learning more about their own Japanese-American ancestors who served in the WWII for the United States---the same country which removed Japanese-American citizens from their homes and businesses on the Pacific coast states and forced them into "internment" camps in the desolate, remote areas of the United States---and inside barbed wire fences, with their own government's military forces pointing the bayonnets at those American citizens ---INSIDE the barbed fenced area.

Nothing is all bad. This book provides about 40 photos of Nisei GIs serving during WWII. It also lists the names of many AJA soldiers (Americans of Japanese Ancestry). However, the reader is generally left to speculate about who, what, when, where and why. Harrington hops all over the map and the calendar, even within a single paragraph. This may have been intended to cover "demonic" research.

A promotional quote on the book's dust cover states: "Kenneth Littauer... when asked what kind of researcher Harrington was, responded with `A demon!'" This seems like an odd comment until one reads his book. YANKEE SAMURAI reads more like an incoherent collection of notes from phone interviews than the fruits of exhaustive research. Harrington's attempts to demonize ADM Nimitz, the USN and the USMC are unsupported in his book.

Harrington claims to be a retired CPO (presumably from the USN), although he does not reveal when he served nor in what specialty. Based upon his acerbic opinions of the USN and USMC, one can conclude that his naval service was a bitter experience for him. His effort seems directed more toward demeaning the USN and USMC than to providing a credible history of service by AJAs.

Harrington's rambling sentence construction is frequently so tortured that the meaning is lost. This barely literate author is apparently inclined more toward histrionics than histriography. The AJAs who served their country deserve better, as do those who are drawn in by the hype on the cover.