R.T. Kikugawa

"Military Intelligence Service: WWII & The Occupation of Japan (1945-1946)"

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To whom it may concern:

What a pleasure it is for me to have this opportunity to jot down in writing some of my experience in the Military Intelligence Service during WW II and my experience as part of the U. S. Army occupation troop in Japan after the unconditional surrender of Japan in August of 1945. This short dissertation is part of my legacy that I want to pass on to my children and especially to my grandchildren.

I would like to preface my remarks by explaining that my father immigrated to Hawaii from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Island of Kyushu,' Japan. He arrived in Hawaii at the turn of the last century, in approximately 1898. My mother was from the same prefecture as my dad, and she immigrated to Hawaii to marry my dad in 1918. She was one of the last "picture brides" to come to Hawaii.

I was born on 25 May 1925 and grew up in a small pineapple community called Wahiawa (The Land of Clean Water). I grew up as a bilingual, English and Japanese, because of my parents' heritage, and because of my knowledge of the Japanese language, I was inducted into the U. S. Army Military Intelligence Service in March 1945.

I took my infantry basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After basic training, I was transferred to the Military Intelligence Service Language School located at Fort Snelling on the outskirts of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was promoted from Buck Private to Corporal (Technician 5th Grade) after leaving Fort McClellan and before entering intelligence school. I skipped being Private First Class. I remember so well thinking that promotion in the Army was easy and that I would soon be promoted to Staff Sgt. or Tech. Sgt.

I graduated from Fort Snelling in September of 1945, and our unit was one of the units scheduled to invade the Japanese homeland under Operation Olympics. The invasion was scheduled to take place during the last week of October or about the first week of November in 1945. The invasion site was the Southernmost Japanese Island of Kyushu. Here I was scheduled to fight our enemy on this island and northward toward the Kumamoto Prefecture. Imagine me having man to man combat with the Japanese military and civilians on this island, and maybe with some of my blood cousins and their relatives. Remember, this is the area where my mom and dad emigrated from.

But we dropped the first atomic bomb over the City of Hiroshima on 6 October 1945, and the second bomb was detonated over the City of Nagasaki on the 9th day of October, 1945. A week later, on the 15th of October, Emperor Hirohito proclaimed the Unconditional Surrender to the United States, thus terminating the Second World War.

He found a place for me in the City of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, where I was responsible for the adequate control of the city's utilities (gas, electricity, and water). When problems arose with utilities in the American barracks, they would call me, and I, in turn, would call the utility company and tell them to go and fix the problem. During these days I was the liaison between Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger and the utility companies. Gen. Eichelberger also called me often to help him and the Mayor of Yokohama whenever the two of them got together. For this service, Gen. Eichelberger personally awarded me the Military Commendation Medal during the Spring of 1946.

During the summer of 1946, I learned that many of my friends from Hawaii were promoted to Staff, Technical or Master Sergeants, and I was still just a Corporal. I complained to my Colonel, and he informed me that as part of the Military Intelligence Service, I was not part of his organization, but rather I was only attached to his organization. People in his organization were promoted, but I was not.

In September of 1946, my Colonel offered me a field commission as a Second Lieutenant if I would serve for another two years, but I graciously declined because I wanted to be discharged as soon as possible to pursue my engineering profession. Soon after this incident, he asked me if I would help him for another 3 months to which I gladly agreed. Because of this additional help, my Colonel [INCOMPLETE]