Nisei and Pacific: Difference between revisions

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== Mobile Intelligence Training Units (MITU), 1945 ==

In mid-1945 the War Department also used Camp Ritchie to form '''Mobile Intelligence Training Units''' for Army Ground Forces '''redeployment''' training (troops being prepared for the Pacific). July 1945 G-2 memoranda (MID 908) state that '''29''' MITUs were being organized, trained, and equipped at the Military Intelligence Training Center. Each unit was described as two Caucasian officers, two Caucasian enlisted men, and about '''thirteen''' enlisted Americans of Japanese ancestry (an earlier draft of the same memo said fifteen).

MITU demonstrations presented Japanese squad tactics (Nisei in Japanese uniforms with Japanese weapons) and an orientation play (''A Scrap of Paper'') in which Nisei played Japanese roles and an American Nisei interrogator—explicitly framed as showing that Nisei in the U.S. Army were Americans like soldiers of any other ancestry. As of late July 1945, '''six''' units were already in the field and '''ten''' more were expected to finish training by '''15 August 1945'''. Some former members of the '''442nd Combat Team''' were among those training with the teams. Camp Ritchie Section IX policy (Maj. Robert B. Noack, 23 July 1945) stressed that Nisei were not kept on a team against their wishes; of the then-current ten teams, two Nisei enlisted men had been released for refusing to wear a Japanese uniform.

War Relocation Authority director D. S. Myer had forwarded concerns from 442nd circles that using Nisei as “enemy” stand-ins could increase racial antagonism; G-2 replied that the MITU “Japanese squad” was a '''demonstration team''', not the opposing force in maneuvers. Japan’s surrender ended the need to deploy the full MITU program. Site course counts list '''18''' MITU courses (1 September 1944 – 15 August 1945) with '''306''' graduates—see [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]]—a different tally from the “29 units being organized” language in the July memos.

== Sources ==

* [[:File:MID_908_1945-07-24_Bissell_Weckerling_JA_soldiers_in_training.pdf|MID 908 file, 24 July 1945 (Bissell / Weckerling) and related Camp Ritchie / WRA papers]] — MITU organization, Section IX policy, WRA concerns (NARA RG 107; JAVA packet)

* [[:File:MID_908_1945-07-21_Bissell_JA_soldiers_in_training.pdf|MID 908 memorandum, 21 July 1945 (Bissell)]] — earlier draft wording on MITU / Nisei demonstration teams (NARA RG 165; JAVA packet)

* [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]] — MITU course/graduate counts from the Camp Ritchie student-numbers spreadsheet

== See also ==

* [[Themes]]

* [[Camp Ritchie]]

* [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]]

* [[Introduction]]

* [[The Stories]]

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+== Mobile Intelligence Training Units (MITU), 1945 ==
+In mid-1945 the War Department also used Camp Ritchie to form '''Mobile Intelligence Training Units''' for Army Ground Forces '''redeployment''' training (troops being prepared for the Pacific). July 1945 G-2 memoranda (MID 908) state that '''29''' MITUs were being organized, trained, and equipped at the Military Intelligence Training Center. Each unit was described as two Caucasian officers, two Caucasian enlisted men, and about '''thirteen''' enlisted Americans of Japanese ancestry (an earlier draft of the same memo said fifteen).
+MITU demonstrations presented Japanese squad tactics (Nisei in Japanese uniforms with Japanese weapons) and an orientation play (''A Scrap of Paper'') in which Nisei played Japanese roles and an American Nisei interrogator—explicitly framed as showing that Nisei in the U.S. Army were Americans like soldiers of any other ancestry. As of late July 1945, '''six''' units were already in the field and '''ten''' more were expected to finish training by '''15 August 1945'''. Some former members of the '''442nd Combat Team''' were among those training with the teams. Camp Ritchie Section IX policy (Maj. Robert B. Noack, 23 July 1945) stressed that Nisei were not kept on a team against their wishes; of the then-current ten teams, two Nisei enlisted men had been released for refusing to wear a Japanese uniform.
+War Relocation Authority director D. S. Myer had forwarded concerns from 442nd circles that using Nisei as “enemy” stand-ins could increase racial antagonism; G-2 replied that the MITU “Japanese squad” was a '''demonstration team''', not the opposing force in maneuvers. Japan’s surrender ended the need to deploy the full MITU program. Site course counts list '''18''' MITU courses (1 September 1944 – 15 August 1945) with '''306''' graduates—see [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]]—a different tally from the “29 units being organized” language in the July memos.
+== Sources ==
+* [[:File:MID_908_1945-07-24_Bissell_Weckerling_JA_soldiers_in_training.pdf|MID 908 file, 24 July 1945 (Bissell / Weckerling) and related Camp Ritchie / WRA papers]] — MITU organization, Section IX policy, WRA concerns (NARA RG 107; JAVA packet)
+* [[:File:MID_908_1945-07-21_Bissell_JA_soldiers_in_training.pdf|MID 908 memorandum, 21 July 1945 (Bissell)]] — earlier draft wording on MITU / Nisei demonstration teams (NARA RG 165; JAVA packet)
+* [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]] — MITU course/graduate counts from the Camp Ritchie student-numbers spreadsheet
 == See also ==
 * [[Themes]]
 * [[Camp Ritchie]]
+* [[By The Numbers/Student Numbers - All Classes]]
 * [[Introduction]]
 * [[The Stories]]