Japanese American Military Experience Database
Ichiro "Joe" Nishida
45 students graduated in 6 months, 15 washed out. 10 top ranking students selected to be instructors at MISLS established at Camp Savage, MN 1 May '42.
Ichiro Nishida was 1 of the 10 selected to be instructors. The site of Camp Savage was originally an old men's home, and it took a heap of cleaning by the selected instructors to transform it into classrooms for future MISLS students.
John Aiso, Shigeya Kihara, Tetsuo Imagawa were instructors at the Presidio of San Francisco. They were handicapped with a $2000 total budget, which had to cover textbooks, etc.
Ichiro given rank of T/Sgt 1 May '42. M/SGT rank given to Ichiro at CP Savage 5/43.
While with PACMIRS at Ritchie, Ichiro was attached to the Pentagon (PACMIRS at Ritchie was attached to the Pentagon under command of Gen. Bedell Smith). As there were no hospital facilities for dependents, our son was born at Waynesboro, PA in a private hospital. All expenses borne by Ichiro.
Today, Camp Ritchie is known as Fort Ritchie.
When Ichiro opted to be discharged Nov. '45, rather than go to Japan with the occupation, the Air Force did not want to lose his expertise, so he was offered a civil service position at Wright Air Base, which he accepted.
The MIS was a well-kept secret of the U.S. until the 1970's. All Nisei military were assigned to the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and no credit was given to the Nisei for their great service to the US until after the 70's. (Since we were stationed at the Presidio of SF, on 7 Dec '41, we were ordered to wear military uniforns during our waking hours.)
ICHIRO NISHIDA BIOGRAPHY
Ichiro Nishida was born September 12, 1916 at Wiley City, Washington. When he was three years old, and his brother, Kaoru, was one, the family sailed to Japan for a visit with the grandparents. Unfortunately, when only one day from Japan, his mother succumbed to Spanish influenza, and was buried at sea.
After a short visit, his father returned to Washington alone, to care for his farming operation, leaving his two young sons with the grandparents in Wakayama, Japan, where they received their first education. The two returned to Washinton when Ichiro was 16 years of age, and entered high school.
At the age of 18, Ichiro moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he was employed by the Ford Motor Company. It was here that he was drafted into the U.S. Army in June, 1941, and was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washigton with the Rainbow Division.
In the autumn of 1941, while still at Ft. Lewis, Ichiro was recruited for the MIS class which was to begin November 1, 1941 at the Presidio of San Francisco. This MIS class began with 60 students. 6 months later, in April, 1942, 45 graduated, and 10 were selected from this group to be instructors at the MISLS which was established at Camp Savage, Minnesota, in May, 1942. The 10 selected were Arthur Kaneko, Kazuo Kozaki, Joe Masuda, James Matsumura, Ichiro Nishida, Morio Nishita, Tom Sakamoto, Ryuichi Shinoda, James Tanizawa, and Gene Uratsu. Upon being selected as an instructor, Ichiro was given the rank of Tech/Sgt. A year later in May, 1943, he was given the rank of Master/Sgt.
In November, 1942, Ichiro, George Ichikawa, and Lt. Roy Hirano were sent to the various Internment Camps and Farm Labor Camps to recruit students for the MISLS.
In the early part of April, 1943, Col. Joseph Dickey requested that Ichiro be a member of the team that he was leading to the CBI Theater. Ichiro had just been married the week before, so for a split second he hesitated before he said, 'Yes Sir'. Col Dickey interpreted the hesitation as an indication that he was not enthused about the CBI, although of course, he really was.
In May, 1943, Ichiro was put in charge of instruction on Naval Ships, both Allied and the Enemys'. A few weeks later, when he learned that instructor friends of his at MISLS had volunteered for overseas duty, he also volunteered, as he believed strongly that he too, should be 'at risk', only to be told by John Aiso that he was needed at MISLS.
In August, 1944, the MISLS had outgrown the facilities at Camp Savage, and was trasferred in its entirety to Ft. Snelling, Minnesota near St. Paul. At this time, Ichiro was assigned to PACMIRS, Camp Ritchie, MD, with headquarters at the Pentagon. Captured documents from the Pacific front were flown in to PACMIRS, where they were thoroughly 'researched - Top Priority'. He was the one who translated the technical and mechanical terms in the captured material.
When World War II ended, Ichiro was slated to go to Japan with the Occupation Forces, but he opted to end his military service, and was discharged November 12, 1945 from Squadron F 2nd Army Air Force Base Unit, Army of the United States. He was offered, and accepted a civil service position at Wright Air Base, Dayton, Ohio, today known as Wright-Patterson Air Base.
Ichiro had a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but his first love was farming, in which he was engaged at Two Buttes, Colorado, when he suffered a massive coronary and passed away January 4, 1964 at the age of 47. He left to mourn his passing, his wife, Terry, whom he had married at the Ft. Snelling Chapel, March 31, 1943, and his son, Jim who was born at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania February 11, 1945 while Ichiro wass stationed at Camp Ritchie.
(This biography was submitted in February 1997 by Ichiro Nishida's widow, Teruma, Nishida Sato).
The following are Internment Memories submitted by Terry Sato dated 2/20/1994.
INTERNMENT MEMORIES
My life began in the Seattle area - how many years ago?? During my childhood days, racial prejudice was never a problem; we were a part of the community, period. Therefore, the internment of persons of Japanese ancestry during WW II, was a traumatic experience for this young, teen-age Nisei. Never had I seen so many Japanese persons in such huge numbers!!
In retrospect, it may have been a fortunate experience, as I gained exposure to diverse ideas and persons, and learned to adjust to the variations in human beings. There are many who remain angry at the injustice of our government for incarcerating us with no justifiable cause. However, hate destroys; adjustment heals!!
After my first resentment at the unfair treatment accorded those of us on the West Coast by our own government, I was able to adjust and approach each day with an affirmative attitude. I had the opportunity to meet and develop friendships with people from California and Oregon, an opportunity I would never have had, had we stayed in our little 'ghettos'.
Of course, we suffered great and irreplaceable losses, especially our parents who had worked long and hard to raise and support their families, and I do regret the hardships that they endured.
The internment gave me the opportunity to move East, to further my education, and to enter the financial world without fear. It gave me great self assurance, as we were really on our own, with our parents still in the internment cmaps - no help available, only my own determination.
I had never mentioned the internment to my son - why?? It never seemed relevant, but in 1984, we drove to the site of the Tulelake Internment Camp where he got his first glimpse of what remained of the camp. He was shocked and indignant that our country had treated us so shabbily. Today, he has been told the full story of the internment.
In 1984, I learned about the courage of our late Governor Ralph Carr, and ever since, I have tried to show the community's respect for his compassion for the displaced persons of Japanese ancestry that he welcomed to this state of Colorado. Each year, I have held a Memorial Service in September for Gov. Carr at Fairmont Cemetery. And in 1988, upon learning that his late wife, Eleanor Fairall Carr had no headstone to mark her gravesite, I took on the project, and a headstone was erected in time for the September service that year.
These past years have also been filled with many volunteer projects that I have undertaken, benefitting the Japanese community. I have tried, in my small way, to do whatever needed doing.
I look back today, to the indignities that were heaped on us during the '40's. The struggle to overcome the obstacles that were a part of our every day lives has made us stronger and more self reliant as individuals, and I am thankful that we are now able to enjoy our senior years, financially stable, with wonderful families, children, grandchildren, and for most of us, good health!!!
Note: Their only child, Jim also passed away suddenly on May 21, 1994, when he suffered a massive coronary at age 49.
