Richard Oguro

Baker Company, 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) and Military Intelligence Service (MIS)

 

Early Life

Richard Shigeo “Dick” Oguro was born on October 27, 1919, in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He grew up during a period when Japanese language schools were an established part of life in the islands’ Japanese American communities. As children, many Nisei (second generation) Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJA) attended Japanese language school daily after English classes. It was also common to have Japanese classes on Saturdays and Sundays, under the strict expectations of their Issei (first generation) immigrant parents.

Oguro recalled that these schools taught language and culture as well as activities such as judo, kendo, and sumo, with island tournaments held regularly. The environment emphasized discipline, duty, and the “samurai spirit,” reflecting Japanese cultural influence in their households. At the time, many Nisei born in Hawaiʻi to Issei fathers also held dual nationality at birth in both the United States and Japan, reflecting the complex identity and legal circumstances of the era.

Just prior to the war, Oguro was attending the University of Hawaiʻi, having returned to his studies in September 1941 after working various jobs, including as a truck driver, clerk, and cannery warehouse worker. He had transferred into the College of Arts and Sciences from Teachers College and hoped to become an anthropologist.

His life took an unexpected turn when he was called for induction into the U.S. Army during the fourth draft call in October 1941, just before his 22nd birthday. He was forced to leave college once again for military service. It would ultimately take him ten years, from 1937 to 1947, to earn his degree.

Oguro passed his pre-induction physical examination at the Honolulu Armory with no issues. He then attended numerous farewell parties, which was typical in his AJA community, before reporting to Schofield Barracks.

In early October, he and other inductees reported to Schofield’s induction center. He noted that some recruits carried traditional Japanese good-luck charms (omamori) or “thousand-stitch belts” (senninbari) believed to offer protection in war. During the final medical screening, Oguro nearly failed the Army physical due to elevated sugar levels in his urine and was instructed to return for a second test the following morning. He recalled thinking, “it would be a crying shame to be rejected now, after all the send-off and gifts.” He drank large amounts of water in preparation for the retest and ultimately passed. He then proceeded to “Boom Town,” where he began basic training.

Start of the War

On Saturday, December 6, 1941, most soldiers stationed at Schofield Barracks were granted weekend passes. Oguro, not assigned to duty, returned home.

On the morning of December 7, he awoke around 11 a.m. and walked from his home near Pacific Heights down Fort Street to his mother’s barber shop, which was open on Sundays. There, he was quietly informed by his mother that he needed to return to Schofield Barracks immediately, as Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor at dawn and war had been declared. She also said his older brother had been injured by a bomb fragment and was being treated at Queen’s Hospital, though the wound was not serious.

Oguro turned on the radio and heard orders for all military personnel to return to their bases. The last bus to Schofield was leaving at 1 p.m. from the Army and Navy YMCA. He quickly said goodbye and caught the bus.

As the bus approached Pearl Harbor, Oguro saw smoke rising heavily over the area. Near what is now Makalapa Gate, he observed several ships still burning, some lying on their sides and others partially submerged with their sterns above water and bows down. The scene was a fiery one with widespread destruction.

Upon arrival at “Boom Town” at Schofield Barracks, Oguro and his unit were assembled for roll call and given instructions for the night. That night, he recalled that the alert sounded three times as aircraft flew overhead, with no immediate way to distinguish friend from foe. Gas masks were issued, and uncertainty spread over the possibility of further attacks or an enemy landing.

Oguro recalled that following this first night, there were orders for the rifles and bayonets to be taken away from the Nisei draftees at Schofield as a “precautionary measure,” but they were later returned when they were assigned to sentry duty at the fire stations and other strategic posts around Schofield Barracks. Oguro suspected that there had been discussions at higher levels at the time, regarding the allegiance and loyalty of the sons of Japanese immigrants.

Although raised with strong Japanese values of filial piety, obedience, and respect for Japan, Oguro consistently affirmed that his loyalty was to the United States, the country of his birth. He noted that there was never any doubt in his mind, nor any conflicting message from his parents after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His parents told him, “kuni no tame” (“for your country”), and prior to his induction, his father formally expatriated his children from Japanese citizenship.

On December 31, 1941, Oguro arrived at Waimānalo, where Company G of the 298th Infantry Regiment was stationed with the mission of defending the coastline from Bellows Field to Makapuʻu Lighthouse. Upon arrival, he was assigned to a machine gun position at Bellows Field, relieving a soldier who had not been granted leave since December 7.

Life in the coastal defense position was relatively relaxed. Soldiers supplemented Army rations with fish caught by Hawaiian comrades, and leisure time included movie outings. On occasion, they engaged in target practice using the reflection of the full moon on the ocean.

In early May 1942, Oguro’s unit was relieved from coastal defense duty and returned to Schofield Barracks for garrison service. Shortly afterward, all AJA soldiers in the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments were assembled and informed they were being reorganized into a separate unit — the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion, later redesignated the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate).

The soldiers were ordered to keep their departure secret. Oguro received a pass on June 3, 1942, and followed instructions not to discuss the movement. He later recalled that many soldiers did not return until the morning of June 5, while some used the opportunity to get married before departure.

Service in the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

On the afternoon of June 5, 1942, the battalion assembled and traveled by rail to Kapālama Basin via the Oʻahu Railway & Land Company, where they boarded the U.S. Army transport ship “Maui.”

After much waiting aboard ship, the men departed Hawaiʻi under cover of darkness without a Hawaii-style send-off of confetti and lei. The ship zigzagged across the Pacific before docking in Oakland on June 12. The soldiers remained confined aboard and were not permitted to disembark until nightfall.

That evening, the men were finally moved off the ship after several days of crowded conditions below deck, and boarded trains. Oguro noted that they did not know until later that they had been divided into three sections, each taking different rail routes before eventually arriving at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.

Oguro noted that during the journey, rumors circulated among the soldiers. Some believed they were being sent to guard German prisoners of war, while others speculated they were being kept out of the Pacific theater because they might be mistaken for Japanese soldiers, or that they were being trained further for eventual service in Europe.

Oguro was assigned to Company B of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). Training at Camp McCoy continued through the summer and early fall of 1942, including forced marches, field exercises, and overnight bivouacs. The unit received high marks on Army evaluations.

During training at Camp McCoy, Oguro and his fellow soldiers took advantage of limited free time to explore surrounding towns and experience life away from military routines. In Wisconsin Dells, they visited a local Native American reservation, where they took photographs with tribal chiefs and spent time engaging with the community. Oguro later reflected that, at the time, there was a sense of living “on borrowed time,” as many believed they might not survive the war.

The first snowfall arrived on September 26, 1942, marking a memorable moment for most of the soldiers who had never previously seen snow. They went outside in excitement, building snowmen, making snowballs, and engaging in playful snowball fights. Photographs were taken to commemorate the experience. The autumn season that followed was described as beautiful, with vivid changes in foliage and alternating periods of cold mornings, warm afternoons, and cool evenings.

Transfer to the Military Intelligence Service Language School

While at Camp McCoy, the 100th Infantry Battalion was visited by a U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service Language Section team from the Presidio in San Francisco. Nearly all members of Company B were interviewed, including Oguro. The visiting officer, a major fluent in Japanese, conducted assessments as part of ongoing intelligence training and selection efforts.

Oguro recalled that in late November 1942, approximately 60 soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion were transferred to Camp Savage, Minnesota, to train at the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) as translators and interpreters. He was relieved not to have been selected at the time.

He was soon promoted to corporal and assigned as a judo instructor for his company. About 10 days later, however, he received orders transferring him to Camp Savage with a second contingent. Additional personnel were needed from the 100th because the quota had not been filled by volunteers from the incarceration camps. Before departing, Oguro was promoted again to sergeant through an existing vacancy arranged by senior noncommissioned officers, allowing him to transfer at a higher rank.

Together with the first group, this second contingent became part of what Oguro called the “senpai-gumi,” or senior cohort — the forerunners of later MISLS trainees. Oguro believed this group was the vanguard that formed the foundation for later MISLS-trained soldiers.

Training at MISLS was rigorous and academically demanding. Soldiers were organized into sections and received daily instruction in Japanese language, grammar, geography, history, customs, military terminology, and tactics. From December to June, Oguro trained with the others in his class for eight hours a day, six days a week, with Saturdays reserved for examinations before weekend passes.

Life at Camp Savage was not entirely devoted to study and training. The winter months were severe, with temperatures dropping as low as 32 degrees below zero. Despite the harsh conditions, some soldiers found time for recreation, including ice skating and attempts at skiing.

The cold lingered well into spring, and when Oguro departed Fort Snelling in June, ice still remained on the ground. For the Hawaiʻi-born soldiers, the Midwestern climate was a dramatic contrast to island life.

After graduating and receiving a promotion to staff sergeant, Oguro took a 14-day furlough in June 1943. During this time, he visited the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho, where his friend’s parents were incarcerated. He also traveled briefly to Walla Walla, Washington.

While visiting Minidoka, Oguro was invited to speak in Japanese before a group of Issei internees. Although he initially believed the task would be simple because of his MISLS training, he found himself delivering the speech in a mixture of Japanese and English, relying on gestures to communicate effectively. The visit left a lasting impression on him, giving him a direct view of the mass incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry on the mainland, on a scale far greater than what had occurred in Hawaiʻi.

Military Service Overseas

Following graduation, he waited at Fort Snelling while awaiting orders, having vacated Camp Savage for the next training class. Oguro spent his final stateside passes in St. Paul, Minnesota, before receiving deployment orders in early August. Three teams were assigned to overseas duty, with their destination initially undisclosed, though embarkation was scheduled from San Francisco.

After several days of travel, Oguro and group arrived at Fort McArthur in San Francisco. Shortly thereafter, they boarded a troopship. Conditions aboard were simple and crowded, with soldiers sleeping on upper decks. During the voyage, the ship conducted multiple course changes during the night. The vessel traveled without escort.

During the Pacific crossing, Oguro spent much of his time learning card games such as bridge from fellow soldiers, many of whom were mainland AJAs. After approximately 18 days at sea, the passengers finally sighted land, revealing a lush green coastline. They soon learned they had arrived in Wellington, where Australians and New Zealanders aboard the ship were returning from Europe to help defend the region against possible threats. While the Australians were granted shore leave, the American soldiers were not permitted to disembark, and Oguro viewed Wellington only from the ship’s deck.

The vessel later continued to Australia, arriving at Brisbane. From there, Oguro and the other soldiers were transported by truck to Indooroopilly, site of the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) headquarters under General MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific command (APO 500), which served as a major intelligence and translation center for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.

After administrative processing, Oguro and the other soldiers were assigned to work in a quonset hut near the tent encampment. Their primary duties involved translating captured Japanese documents under a priority-based intelligence system. Although the most critical materials had already been processed by forward units, especially in New Guinea, they occasionally encountered documents of significant intelligence value.

Oguro later noted that Japanese military personnel of all ranks often produced extensive written records, including diaries, technical manuals, and personal accounts. Intelligence personnel in the section played an important role in identifying patterns in Japanese military terminology and contributing to broader codebreaking efforts.

A prisoner-of-war compound was located near their work area. Oguro recalled that where he was stationed, personnel assigned as translators remained in those duties and did not rotate into interpreter assignments, preventing them from observing operations in the interpreter section.

After several months, Oguro and a few others were temporarily sent to relieve personnel serving closer to operational areas with Australian forces. During this period, he continued corresponding with friends in the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), learning of their transfer to Camp Shelby, the arrival of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and their eventual deployment to Italy. Oguro later recalled writing that he wished he were fighting alongside the 100th in Europe, only to receive strong responses from his friends telling him he was foolish to think that way and should instead appreciate being stationed in Australia.

Throughout this period, Oguro and his comrades followed casualty reports from the European theater closely, particularly through updates published in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) bulletins. He noted that mainland AJAs received these bulletins, which carried news about AJA soldiers fighting in combat zones, while the Hawaiʻi soldiers instead received the “Star-Bulletin” for wartime news from home.

In early January 1945, Oguro was assigned to lead a three-man MIS team attached to the 6th Australian Division for operations against isolated Japanese holdouts in the Aitape region of New Guinea. Although an Australian officer was formally in charge of the detachment and conducted prisoner interrogations, Oguro and the other MIS soldiers handled the translation work.

Fighting in the area largely consisted of scattered engagements against isolated Japanese stragglers. During one assignment, Oguro’s team translated a combat order that identified the date and time an enemy submarine was expected to arrive offshore to evacuate stranded personnel. Allied forces later sighted and sank the submarine near the Aitape coast.

On another occasion, the team was sent deep into the jungle to verify reports that the body of a Japanese general had been discovered in a riverbed. After a 7-mile trek through thick jungle and underbrush in malaria-carrying mosquito-infested conditions, they determined that the remains actually belonged to a lower-ranking noncommissioned officer.

While attached to Australian forces, Oguro also participated in the interrogation and processing of Japanese prisoners of war. He recalled that many of the surrendering soldiers were severely malnourished, suffering from Elephantiasis, and dressed in rags after months in the jungle. Oguro noted that contrary to wartime beliefs that soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army never surrendered, they encountered numerous men who voluntarily gave themselves up rather than being captured as POWs.

After approximately six months with the Australian division in New Guinea, Oguro and team were recalled to Brisbane and was granted leave to visit Sydney. There, he enjoyed sightseeing, social outings, and recreational trips around the city and harbor before returning to duty.

In July 1945, Oguro’s unit relocated from Brisbane to the Philippines following the Allied liberation campaign. After arriving in Manila, the men were quartered near the former Santa Anita racetrack area and occasionally ventured into the city, though Oguro recalled that the looks they received from some Filipinos made the AJAs cautious.

Return to Hawaiʻi and Life after the War

Soon afterward, Oguro and others received notification that their requested temporary duty assignment (TDY) to Hawaiʻi had been granted. Before departure, the warrant officer asked the group to postpone leaving for a few days because field commissions as second lieutenants were being prepared for members of the unit, but Oguro declined to remain behind for the process, choosing instead to return home.

Traveling by military aircraft through Hollandia and Tarawa, he finally arrived back at Hickam Field as twilight settled over Honolulu. Oguro later recalled, “What a beautiful sight home was!”

While home on a 90-day temporary duty assignment, Japan surrendered in August 1945, bringing the war to an end. Oguro married that same month and later applied for discharge based on his accumulated service points. In September 1945, after serving 3 years and 10 months, he was officially discharged without being recalled to the Philippines. Shortly after his discharge, he suffered a bout of malaria that responded to treatment, followed later by one mild relapse that proved to be the only recurrence.

Oguro briefly worked in federal civil service positions and at the Honolulu Post Office before deciding to return to the University of Hawaiʻi under the GI Bill. He transferred back to Teachers College and completed his bachelor’s degree, graduating in 1947 after nearly a decade of interrupted studies. After earning his teaching certification, he began his career in Hawaiʻi’s public school system in 1948 at Waimānalo Elementary School.

In later years, Oguro reflected with pride on the wartime contributions of the “senpai-gumi” MIS soldiers. He was also an active member of the 100th Infantry Battalion veterans’ organization, “Club 100,” serving as its president in 1959.

In 1981, the Steering Committee of Company B compiled the book “The Boys of Company ‘B’,” documenting the history of Baker Company of the 100th Infantry Battalion, with Richard Oguro serving as editor. The book chronicles the unit’s mainland training, including its experiences on Cat Island, its combat service in Italy and France, and the enduring bonds formed among its members after the war.

Concerned that the experiences of the early MIS soldiers might be forgotten beside the more widely publicized combat record of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Oguro wrote and self-published a book titled “Senpai Gumi” in 1982. Recognized as one of the early veteran accounts of the Military Intelligence Service to emerge as wartime secrecy gradually eased, the book documented the history and service of the “senpai-gumi” AJA soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) who served in the MIS, with the hope of preserving their story for future generations.

Read Richard Oguro’s Memoirs

Sempai-Gumi by Richard S. Oguro

The Boys of Company “B” by Richard Oguro and the Baker Chapter’s Steering Committee