Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. The United States was mad at the Japanese so they made many Japanese-Americans leave their homes. They were put in camps with barbed wire around the outside of the camps.

Many Japanese-American young men were called into the army. Some of them joined the U.S. Military Intelligence Service or MIS. The MIS was a secret group that fought the Japanese soldiers. This secret group translated important maps and papers. They questioned Japanese prisoners. Another task they did was to translate diaries written in Japanese.

Sometimes Japanese soldiers hid in caves to hide from the Americans. The MIS would try to get the scared soldiers to leave the caves. This was known as "cave flushing." Some of the soldiers would give up and leave the caves.

Other Japanese would jump to their deaths.

The MIS never got awards for their efforts until the year 2000. Then they were rewarded for their brave acts in World War II. It took almost sixty years for them to be honored.

Gayle Yamada has made a film about the brave Japanese-American MIS. The film is called "Uncommon Courage" and is a true story. Hopefully, Yamada’s film and the movie, "Pearl Harbor," will not cause people to hate Japanese-Americans or any other race.

Related Websites:

Japanese-American interment during WW II and other sites.

• Japanese-American interment : Race, Racism and the Law web site
• The Conflict Behind the Battle Lines: The San Francisco Chronicle article
• Relocation of Japanese Americans: The Museum of the City of San Francisco web site
• Japanese Americans: Texas Forces Military Museum web site
• Bittersweet memorial honors Japanese-Americans in WWII: CNN.com

Sites related to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 12/07/41.

• Ships at Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941
• Naval Historical Center: Images of the Attack
• Casualties
• FATE of ships that attacked Pearl Harbor
• Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Speech 12/08/41
• USS Arizona Memorial
• Pearl Harbor Remembered
• Pearl Harbor at the History Channel

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