Thanks for posting this sis!
Campaign(s): Central Pacific Command, Southwest Pacific Command, Occupied Japan
Years Served: December, 1942 – July, 1970
NJAHS Resources: Oral History, Questionnaire
Honors: Silver Star , Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Both of Frank Masuoka’s parents were prominent members of the city of Sebastopol. While his mother taught Japanese in Sebastopol as well as in the surrounding cities, Masuoka’s father gained fame among the farming circles for his apple orchards. Because of his status in the close-knit Nikkei community, the elder Masuoka was visited by FBI agents soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
With two brothers in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Masuoka felt it a duty to volunteer for the Army and he did so while interned at the Amache Detention Camp. Leaving behind his parents and sister in the Colorado camp, Masuoka completed language training at the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) school at Camp Savage and headed to Saipan with the 7th Infantry Division in June 1944. Subsequently, he was assigned to the 27th Infantry Division and shipped to the Philippines and later to Okinawa.
” My mother gave me a quasi-religious talisman called a “thousand stitches.” A thousand people had each sewn a stitch to a cloth and this cloth was to protect me from harm. I carried it through all those campaigns, Saipan, the Marianas, the Philippines, Okinawa…I had it with me all the time.”
During the landing in Leyte, Masuoka had a near-death experience when a fellow soldier mistook him for the enemy.
“We went in our small landing craft and everyone was raring to go. As soon as our landing craft hit the beach and the landing flap dropped, we rushed ashore and set up our position in a protected area. In a lull, a GI came over and told me that I had almost “got” it. If he hadn’t stopped him, another GI would have shot me, for the other GI had yelled, “We’ve got a Jap soldier in the crowd.”
From that experience onward, the regimental commander made sure that Masuoka was accompanied by two bodyguards. It was also in Leyte that while nursing his wound from a mortar shell, Masuoka learned of his brother’s death in France during the rescue operation of the “Lost Battalion.”
” As to underscore the finality of it all, mail that I had sent to my brother were returned, stamped “KIA.” That was quite a blow. I was wounded but I had survived. My brother had not. ”
On the island of Okinawa on August 16, 1945, Masuoka and a fellow MIS soldier volunteered to enter an enemy area to convince Japanese soldiers to surrender. They left their bodyguards behind and began walking toward the enemy, completely unarmed and carrying only their canteens and a few cigarettes. Soon enough they were surrounded by rifled soldiers from all sides. The two were able to convince them that they were American soldiers and that because Japan had surrendered, it was their duty to have the Japanese soldiers give up their weapons. Later the entire enemy camp, numbering approximately 600, assembled themselves for surrender. Masuoka and Tatsuo Yamamoto were awarded Silver Star medals for their service in Okinawa.
After the war, Masuoka participated in other assignments: working in the interrogation center at the NYK Building in Tokyo, serving as an interrogator for Chinese and Korean prisoners of war, and numerous duties with intelligence units in the United States and abroad. By retirement, he had served more than 45 years with the U.S. government.
—This information was put together by the Military Intelligence Service Research Center
Just dropping a note. I am Tatsuo Yamamoto’s son. He passed away on December 23, 2009. No one in my extended family knew of the events in Okinawa until it was described at his funeral. Only his immediate family and a few of his friends from the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) knew of it – and even then, only vaguely.
As an FYI, there is a shrine that my father erected in Okinawa commemorating the battle. For many years, they tried to track the person who erected the memorial, but when his friends from the MIS got wind of their efforts, he told them not to let the media know it was he who did it.
They eventually figured out it was his doing and invited him for the 50th anniversary ceremonies; however, he did not attend. He was always very private about his WWII experience as it always affected him deeply.
Your story was a good read. Thank you.
Hello Dawn,
I just met your grandpa in Washington DC at the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremonies. I took a great photo of him that I have posted on FB. I wanted to send him (and you if you like) a copy of it. The reason I took it was because he was in his Class A uniform with his Captain bars and many decorations. I was in the Army as a Captain during peacetime and my Class A uniform looked pretty dull compared to his. I have read about your father in some of the many books i have regarding the MIS. He is a pretty famous guy and the CGM that these guys received was well deserved and long overdue. I wish it had been given years ago because my dad (MIS), 2 uncles (MIS), one uncle (442nd), and 3 of my uncles brothers (100th/442nd) might have been able to attend.
If you want you can send his address to my email if that would work for you.
Sincerely,
Brian Yamamoto
PS. I’m not related to Wayne above but I do have a brother with the same name.
Dear Brian,
I loved looking through the photos my Aunt took and I’d love a copy of yours that I can pass to the family. My email address is dawnmasuoka@gmail.com, I don’t see your e-mail posted but I can make sure he gets it.
It definitely was a ceremony that took far too long to take place.
They definitely make it a world of true heroes.