March 7, 2013
Gordon Yamada served with the Military Intelligence Service during and after World War II and in Japan during the U.S. occupation. In this clip, he talks about his early days of training in which he and other Japanese American inductees were asked to dress in Japanese military uniforms to show fellow U.S. servicemen how to recognize Japanese soldiers. Gordon Yamada’s full interview is available in the Densho Digital Archive. This interview is one of a collection of interviews done by filmmaker gayle k. yamada for her 2003 documentary, Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties. She has given Densho permission to make the unedited interviews available in the Densho Digital Archive.
View the Archive Spotlight interview excerpt
Read the Densho Encyclopedia article on the Military Intelligence Service