[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1387 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1387

 Recognizing the heroic contributions of Japanese-Americans who served 
  in the Military Intelligence Service during and after World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 2010

 Mr. Farr (for himself, Mr. Honda, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Moran of Virginia, 
 Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Watson, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. 
 Edwards of Maryland, Ms. Chu, Ms. Harman, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Thompson of 
California, Mr. Stark, Mr. Filner, Ms. Giffords, Mr. Carter, Mr. Upton, 
Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Lewis of 
California, Mr. Cole, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Young 
 of Florida, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Tierney, Mr. George Miller 
 of California, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Reyes, Mr. 
   Garamendi, Mr. Costa, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Holt, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. 
 McDermott) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the heroic contributions of Japanese-Americans who served 
  in the Military Intelligence Service during and after World War II.

Whereas the approximately 6,000 troops, mostly second generation Japanese-
        Americans (Nisei), volunteered for the Military Intelligence Service 
        (M.I.S.) to learn the Japanese language and use their knowledge of 
        Japanese culture in order to help the United States win the war in the 
        Pacific;
Whereas the Nisei volunteering for this service became the nucleus of the 
        Military Intelligence School established on November 1, 1941, with 4 
        Nisei as the instructors and 58 Nisei among the 60 students;
Whereas the Military Intelligence School later came to be known as the Defense 
        Language Institute Foreign Language Center, located in Monterey, 
        California;
Whereas in 1969, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center 
        dedicated Nisei Hall and several buildings in honor of the outstanding 
        Japanese-Americans who served in the M.I.S.;
Whereas many of these founding members who volunteered for the M.I.S. had been 
        incarcerated, along with their families, in one of 10 ``camps'';
Whereas this duty was determined so essential to the war effort that the M.I.S. 
        agents served in all units of the United States Army, Navy, and Marines 
        stationed in the Pacific, participated in all theaters of the Pacific 
        War, and were embedded with other Allied Forces fighting in the Pacific;
Whereas members of the M.I.S. served with distinction by translating acquired 
        Japanese plans, personal interpretation, POW interrogation, monitoring 
        Japanese radio broadcasts, intercepting enemy radio messages, and 
        preparing surrender leaflets, while requiring body guards to avoid 
        mistaken identity by their fellow soldiers;
Whereas the greatest contributions of M.I.S. agents, among many, included the 
        discovery of ``Operation Z'', a plan to conduct an all-out counterattack 
        by the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Central Pacific that allowed the 
        United States Navy to defend against and weaken the Japanese military, 
        and the discovery of the plane that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto arrived in 
        to visit front line troops, thereby allowing the Allies to intercept and 
        destroy the leader who orchestrated Pearl Harbor;
Whereas these M.I.S. linguists were instrumental in the occupation and 
        rebuilding of Japan, cultivating cooperation between the occupational 
        forces and the Japanese people as cultural ambassadors, helping to draft 
        the new Japanese Constitution, and building the foundation of current 
        United States relations with Japan; and
Whereas M.I.S. agents were heralded by President Harry S Truman as the ``human 
        secret weapon for the U.S. Armed Forces'' against the Japanese in the 
        Pacific and by Major General Charles A. Willoughby, MacArthur's 
        intelligence chief, who said, ``The Nisei shortened the Pacific War by 
        two years and saved possibly a million American lives and saved probably 
        billions of dollars'', yet, due to the national security implications, 
        they only received recognition for their valor, a Presidential Unit 
        Citation, the highest honor given to a United States military unit, in 
        2000: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses its deepest gratitude to the brave Japanese-
        Americans who constituted the Military Intelligence Service and 
        the invaluable contribution they provided during and after 
        World War II; and
            (2) recognizes and appreciates the hardships that the Nisei 
        experienced while serving the United States with honor and 
        distinction.
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