On May 26, 2014 well over 5,000 attended the Memorial Day program at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. 48 hours prior, approximately 6,000 Boy and Girl Scouts from troops across Southern California placed American flags on 88,000 graves.
Although this special Memorial Day event occurred almost four months ago, it is worth noting, as I’m sure you will agree after reading the following narrative by 96-year-old Lt. Yoshito Fujimoto regarding his occupational duties in Japan, which has been reprinted with permission:
“I want to thank the Los Angeles National Cemetery Support Foundation, General Wong, and all the special guests for being here today.
“I am very proud and fortunate to be invited to today’s memorial ceremony.
“At the young age of 23 years I was inducted into the United States Army on July 18, 1941.
“Two years later in August, 1943, because of my knowledge of the Japanese language, I was assigned to the MIS or Military Intelligence Service Unit.
“This decision became a defining moment in my life.
“In August of 1945 while serving with the Filipino Guerilla unit, I received the Army’s restricted order under the title ‘Accomplishment of an Emergency Mission’ to Japan. This order was directed to 42 of us officers and men headed by the Allied Supreme Commander, General Douglas MacArthur. The other high-ranking officers included the Chief of Staff, General Richard Sutherland, and Deputy Chief of Staff, General Richard J. Marshall, to whom I had been assigned as personal interpreter.
”We left Manila on 27 August 1945 in two planes – one of which was General MacArthur’s personal plane, the Bataan, arriving at Yokohama the next day.
“We immediately began the task of the preparations for the Terms Of Surrender to be signed on our ship, the USS Missouri. At that time, there were four of us Nisei officers to do all the necessary translations and interpreting work. We worked day and night for four days and it was a great relief for us when the historical signing of the Terms Of Surrender was completed on September 2, 1945.
“After the signing of the above treaty, we marched on to Tokyo and established our Allied Supreme Headquarters at the Dai Ichi Building situated directly across from the Imperial Palace. This area is also known as the Marunouchi District, which was purposefully left undamaged by our air attacks.
“Because I was assigned to the top officials of the Allied General Headquarters, I did not have many opportunities to mingle with the general public in Tokyo. Many times I was looked over twice by the Japanese people because of my having a Japanese face and wearing the U.S. Army uniform. The Japanese citizens had thought that Nisei never served in the U.S. Army, and they were impressed by the U.S. Army’s democratic system or policy in dealing with its own soldiers.
“I left Japan on Christmas Eve, 1945, with the thought that I had accomplished something worthwhile. Having spent my early years in Japan, I was able to use my knowledge of the Japanese language, culture and behaviors in assisting in the translation of the most important document of the war, the one that ended the war: the terms of surrender.
“ There were not many in a position such as mine and it was an honor to have been a part of this event. Truly, I was one of the luckiest, most fortunate individuals who was given the opportunity to serve under the most brilliant General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur.”
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