Yonehiro Family & the Nisei War
Three brothers from Gold Hill, Placer County — Horace in the MIS at Fort Snelling, George with the 442nd in Italy and France, Earl with the 100th Infantry Battalion — each serving after their family was interned at Tule Lake under Executive Order 9066. Their story runs alongside that of Richard Sakakida, the Nisei spy in the Philippines whose classified service helped defeat Japan from within.
A Unique Story
Sergeant Richard Sakakida is an unknown hero whose bravery had been turned back in the classified world for 50 years. He joined the Army in 1941 and, due to his humble and unassuming nature, Sakakida never talked about it — not even to his wife. Almost no one knew of his accomplishments until 1991, when his story was finally declassified.
Sakakida was recruited in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor to spy on the Japanese. Claiming the confidence of Japanese businessmen, Sakakida had deep access to virtually intelligence on Japanese military reserve officers. When hostilities broke out in the Philippines, Sakakida wore the uniform of a U.S. Army intelligence officer and impersonated a Japanese leader, arranging information that a large convoy was being sent to intercept the Japanese forces. In order to get this information to U.S. intelligence, he organized a network of runners.
Japanese interrogators questioned Sakakida and subjected him to unthinkable torture but were unable to break him. Because of his bilingual abilities, they later put him to work in their headquarters where he could see documents related to Japanese intelligence movements and supply lines. In late 1942, Sakakida engineered a prison break that freed approximately 500 Philippine nationals — many of them guerrilla fighters. He remained in captivity himself, continuing to pass intelligence.
On May 1, 1944, U.S. intelligence agents and informants staged a prison break for Sakakida, and he made his way to U.S. lines in September 1945 after surviving four months in the jungle enduring isolation, privation, disease, and severe shrapnel wounds.
Sakakida stayed in the Philippines after the war and participated in the War Crimes Investigation. He then served with the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) in Japan as a commissioned officer, retiring in 1975. He passed away in 1996 after an illness complicated by his war wounds.
In 1994, the Government of the Philippines awarded him the Philippine Legion of Honor. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1998 and inducted into the MIS and AFOSI Hall of Fame.
The MIS operated confidentially in every major Pacific campaign. Agents served as interpreters, linguists, and interrogators — particularly effective as trained persuaders of enemy surrender and analysts of captured enemy documents, including battle plans, personal names, and records.
General MacArthur stated: "Never in military history did an army know so much about the enemy prior to actual engagement."
The MIS translation of Japanese codes led to the successful ambush of Admiral Yamamoto's aircraft over the Solomon Islands. Their work is credited with shortening the Battle of Okinawa and accelerating Japan's surrender. Immediately after the war, MIS agents worked to locate imprisoned Americans, repatriate civilians, and interpret at war crimes trials.
Several hundred female Nisei voluntarily joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and contributed significantly to the war effort as translators and researchers for war crime trials, though they did not serve on the front lines.
The MIS was recently awarded the Presidential Unit Citation — the delay a consequence of the decades-long secrecy surrounding its operations.
The Yonehiro Family
Gold Hill, Placer County, California — three brothers, three branches of Nisei service. After Pearl Harbor the family was forcibly relocated to Tule Lake internment camp. All three sons enlisted.
Oldest of the three brothers. Attended the MIS Language School at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and served as a military interpreter in the Pacific Theater. Discharged December 1945. After the war he settled in Los Angeles, where he spent the rest of his life. He died in Los Angeles and is buried alongside his wife, Shigemi (Belle Anne) Matsuda (Mirikitani) Yonehiro, in Petaluma, California.
Middle brother. Fought in Italy and France with the 442nd RCT. Earned the Bronze Star. After the war, returned to Placer County, earned a law degree, and was elected Colfax Justice Court judge in 1964 — later Placer County Superior Court judge. His oral history is archived by the California Supreme Court Historical Society.
Youngest of the three. Served in the 100th Infantry Battalion — the unit formed from Hawaii National Guard Nisei soldiers and regarded as the advance vanguard before the 442nd RCT arrived. Awarded the Silver Star for valor.
Wartime Timeline · 1941–1946
Arthur Komei, Richard Sakakida, and Clarence Yamagata are recruited by the Army Corps of Intelligence to serve as U.S. Army undercover agents spying on the Japanese community in the Philippines.
First Military Intelligence Service (MIS) students — 58 Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) and four Nisei instructors — enroll at a secret language school in San Francisco to learn Japanese.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Within 48 hours, over 1,000 Issei leaders of Japanese American communities are placed in custody. The new federalized Hawaii Territorial Guard (HTG), made up of ROTC cadets and volunteers from Honolulu high schools, is placed under direct Army command.
The 317 Nisei members of the HTG are discharged without explanation and classified as 4-C, "enemy alien."
Japanese Americans in the military on the mainland are segregated out of their units.
President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, which leads to the forced removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast.
The all-Nisei Varsity Victory Volunteers (Triple V) is formed in Hawaii as part of the 34th Combat Engineers Regiment.
War Department discontinues the induction of Japanese Americans in the armed forces on the West Coast.
Arthur Komei and Clarence Yamagata leave the Philippines to join General MacArthur's staff in Australia. Richard Sakakida volunteers to stay behind to help the remaining U.S. military forces defend the Philippines. Sakakida becomes prisoner-of-war when Corregidor falls to the invading Imperial Japanese Army. He is kept in Corregidor because of his bilingual capability and survives brutal torture, continuing to plot to defeat the enemy.
Graduates of the first class of the MIS Language School are sent to the South Pacific and the Aleutians. Field commanders clamor for more Nisei linguists.
MIS Language School is moved from San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota because of the exclusion order restricting all people of Japanese ancestry from military zones along the Pacific Coast.
General George C. Marshall issues an order establishing the Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion, made up of Japanese Americans from the Hawaii National Guard.
Over a thousand members of the Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion are moved to the mainland and form the 100th Infantry Battalion on the Oakland docks.
The War Department announces that it will not "accept for service with the armed forces, Japanese or persons of Japanese extractions, regardless of citizenship status or other factors."
Office of War Information recommends to President Roosevelt that Japanese Americans be allowed to enlist for military service, providing the initiative for the concept of an all-Japanese American military unit.
Richard Sakakida engineers a prison break. About 500 Philippine nationals, many of whom were guerrilla fighters, escape. He remains in captivity.
The 100th Infantry Battalion leaves for Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) is activated. At the request of the men of the Triple V, the unit is deactivated so that its members can enlist in the 442nd RCT.
The Honolulu Chamber of Commerce sponsors a farewell ceremony at the Iolani Palace for 1,686 Nisei volunteers for the 442nd RCT.
Nisei MIS linguist Harold Fudenna interprets an intercepted radio message revealing the travel plan of Admiral Yamamoto — the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack. Based on this information, U.S. forces successfully ambush his aircraft, killing the admiral and his entire staff.
The 100th Infantry Battalion completes training and sails from New York.
The 100th Infantry Battalion lands in Oran, North Africa and is assigned to guard supply. Commander refuses and the 100th is subsequently assigned to the Infantry Division for combat duties.
The 100th Infantry Battalion lands on the beach of Salerno in Italy and soon enters combat.
Baseball star Shigeo Takata becomes the first to be killed-in-action. He is posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Japanese American women are accepted into the Women's Army Corps (WAC).
The 100th Infantry Battalion participates in an offensive against the Germans along the Volturno River, south of Naples.
Nisei eligibility for the draft is restored.
The 100th Infantry Battalion engages in the Battle of Cassino.
Fourteen MIS soldiers operate behind enemy lines in Burma with Merrill's Marauders.
The MIS linguists' translation of the Japanese Imperial Navy's defense plan enables Allied successes at many critical South Pacific locations.
The 100th Infantry Battalion attacks Anzio and moves onto Rome. MIS joins the intelligence staff of Admiral Nimitz and a State Department staff in the China-Burma-India theater.
The 442nd RCT completes training and ships out of Virginia.
The 442nd RCT arrives at Naples, Italy. The 100th Infantry Battalion participates in the breakout to Rome by capturing Lanuvio. Rome falls on June 5. The 442nd RCT links up with the 100th Infantry Battalion near Civitavecchia, northwest of Rome.
The 442nd RCT takes Hill 140 in Italy after a bitter battle.
Five MIS agents are sent to Chinese Communists' wartime headquarters at Yenan to gather intelligence on a "Dixie Mission."
General Mark Clark presents the Distinguished Presidential Unit Citation to the 100th Infantry Battalion at Vada, Italy, for action at Belvedere.
Merrill's Marauders capture Myitkyina, the vital junction for opening the Burma Road into China. MIS linguist Kenny Yasui impersonates a Japanese colonel and orders 15 Japanese soldiers to follow him into capture. MIS school moves to Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
The 100th Infantry Battalion is formally made an integral part of the 442nd RCT.
The 442nd RCT reaches the Arno River near Florence, Italy. The 100th Infantry Battalion spearheads the crossing of the Arno River and the capture of Pisa.
The 442nd RCT deploys to France and is attached to the 36th "Texas" Division. MIS participates in the Philippine invasion.
The 442nd RCT enters the battle in Bruyeres in the Vosges Mountains. After 3 days of fierce fighting, the 100th Infantry Battalion takes Hill A — the key to Bruyeres — while the 2nd Battalion takes Hill B and enters the town. The 100th then captures Hill C.
The 100th Battalion takes heavy casualties in taking Biffontaine.
The 100th/442nd RCT rescues the "Lost Battalion" of 211 soldiers from Texas at the cost of 800 casualties.
More than 50 MIS soldiers land with the U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima after participating in "island-hopping" campaigns throughout the Pacific.
The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the 442nd RCT is sent to assist the 4th Infantry Division's assault on the Siegfried Line between Eastern France and Germany.
The 442nd RCT makes a surprise attack on formidable German mountainside positions in Italy, breaking through in one day the Nazi Gothic Line — held for months. The First Medal of Honor (the only one awarded until 2000) is awarded posthumously to Sadao Munemori.
The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the 442nd RCT is among the first Allied troops to liberate the infamous Dachau Nazi extermination camp, freeing 32,000 remaining prisoners.
Germany surrenders, ending the war in Europe. MIS soldiers are sent to Germany to examine Japanese Embassy documents.
Richard Sakakida escapes into the Philippine jungle and evades capture for several months before reaching safety of U.S. forces.
MIS participates in the surrender and occupation of Japan, including war crimes prosecution, repatriation of Japanese soldiers and civilians from overseas, civil censorship, government reorganization, and the rewriting of Japan's Constitution.
Nisei MIS linguists serve aboard the U.S.S. Missouri for the signing of the Instrument of Surrender by the Japanese delegation.
The 100th/442nd RCT sails into New York harbor.
The 100th/442nd RCT is received on the White House lawn by President Truman.
MIS agents play a critical role in helping General MacArthur with the reconstruction of Japan. Many MIS agents continue to serve with the U.S. armed forces in various roles during Japan's recovery and growth. Richard Sakakida stays in the Philippines, then Japan, participating in War Crimes investigations as a commissioned officer. He retires in 1975.
"Those who claimed that Japanese Americans would never fight 'their own people' had never heard about the MISers, as they called themselves. Japan never guessed they existed, and they remained an American weapon of utmost secrecy."
— Lyn Crost, War Correspondent and reporter for Associated Press, "Honor by Fire"
View Family Tree → · Sources: Museum exhibit panels — MIS & Japanese Americans in WWII · Richard Sakakida, MIS National Archives · Ian Sayer & Douglas Botting, America's Secret Army · Lyn Crost, Honor by Fire (1994) · NJAHS · Placer County JACL Roster · George Yonehiro Oral History (CSCHS) · ← Payphones · Home →