Recently I have noticed a number of articles in the press about the lack of foreign language capability in our intelligence personnel Typical of these is one which appeared in the October 6 Washington Post which reads in part: "The intelligence community has not had enough specialists who can speak and translate Arabic and other languages to handle an enormous flow of intercepted messages, a factor some analysts have cited as limiting the intelligence available before the September `11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."

When the attack on Pearl Harbor lunged this country into a war with Japan, there was an immediate need for people knowledgeable about the country and its language. Only a handful of scholars, missionaries and military attaches with tours of duty in Tokyo was available -- hardly enough to meet the immediate needs of the military, let alone the vast requirements of the eventual expansion of our forces in the Asia and Pacific theaters. In the words of the Defense Language Institute historian, we were in a state of "Linguistic Disarmament" as far as our preparation for Japanese language intelligence support was concerned. These recent articles seem to indicate that we may still be in a state of "Linguistic Disarmament" in Middle East Languages.

It would have required at least six months for a neophyte to learn basic Japanese and 12 to 18 months to achieve an adequate knowledge of the language even at an accelerated pace. Our need was immediate. The nisei and kibei were the only sources of linguists readily available in large numbers. The latter were invaluable for their ability to read sosho writing and their knowledge of the country.

Before the war, discrimination and prejudice against Japanese Americans had already existed, especially on the West Coast. The attack on Pearl Harbor intensified this feeling to such an extent that induction of the nisei was stopped and training for the 5,000 already in the service was discontinued. Some wee classified 4-C and released for the good of the service. High-level board of Army officials was convened in mid-1942 to determine the military potential of the approximately 14,000 Japanese Americans of draft age. Its conclusion was that because of the universal distrust of the nisei, they were considered to have no military potential.

The military board had somehow disregarded the words of the then Attorney General, Francis Biddle, who had written to President Roosevelt in February, 1942 that the military authorities and the FBI found no indication of planned sabotage by Japanese Americans. Brigadier General John Weckerling (ACS G-2), who was instrumental in organizing the first Army language school in the Presidio of San Franciscom wrote in one of his articles that there was no single instance of disloyalty of a nisei during the war.

Had it not been fore the efforts of a small group of military attaches with prior assignments in Tokyo who were concerned about the serious deficiency in one of the most difficult and complex languages in the world, our intelligence effort would have been seriously impaired. It is because of these officers, specifically Major Carlisle C. Dusenbury, Colonel M.W. Pettigrew and Lt. Col. Wallace Moore, in the Far East branch of the Military Intelligence Division, that the idea of establishing an Army language school of nisei was first broached to the MID Training Section. Eventually, and almost grudgingly, a school was authorized to be established at the Presidio of San Francisco on November 1, 1941 with the grand initial budget of $2000. Colonel John Weckerling was tasked to organize the school; Colonel Kai Rasmussen became the school Commandant and Major John F. Aiso it's Director of Academic Training. Under the able leadership of these men, the school survived and expanded so that by the end of the war, 6,000 students were graduated and assigned in language detachments to the armies, corps, and divisions of the Army and the toe Marine units as they invaded the islands of the Pacific. In addition, linguists were loaned to the Allied countries such as Australia, Britain, China and India.

Obstacles continued to be placed in the way of the utilization of MIS school graduates. The War Department did not completely trust the nisei to serve overseas and issued orders prohibiting their service in the field. Once again, Colonel Pettigrew, who knew the nisei and their loyalty to the United States, pleaded their cause and was successful in having the order rescinded.

The first class of 35 students graduated in May, 1942. Ten were retained as instructors and 25 were sent initially to Alaska and New Caledonia. The Intelligence Officer of the 27th Division in New Caledonia operations was so impressed by the work of the language team that he wrote in his commendation that "We would have been twice as blind about the enemy had it not been for the language work of these men." Similar commendations and military awards followed as more graduates were assigned to overseas units. Many who were with other Allied forces received foreign decorations also.

Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, the intelligence chief for General MacArthur, praised the service of the nisei MIS in the Pacific by stating that they shortened the war by two years and saved countless thousands of lives. Because of their valor and heroism in the performance of their duties, the men who served with the MIS in the Pacific were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation by a special act of Congress.

Valuable time and intelligence were lost before the nisei, who, even though security cleared, were selected and fully trusted to do their work. During the course of the Pacific War, language detachments consisting of MIS School graduates were assigned to divisions, corps and armies as well as to such special volunteer units as Merrill's Marauders. However, it was not until 1944 that a group of about 50 MIS Language School graduates were assigned to a highly secret communications installation in northern Virginia to translate important and timely decoded messages.

In our present situation, when the services of loyal Americans of Middle East origin are needed for language intelligence support, it is hoped that the authorities will heed the words of President Roosevelt, when he proclaimed on the occasion of the re-institution of selective service for Japanese Americans in 1943, that Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart and not of the race and ancestry. Americans come in many different sizes and colors, and even if some of us may "look like the enemy," our minds and our hearts are loyal to our country, America.

A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A NEW YEAR OF PEACE AND PROGRESS. S. Phil Ishio. ######

ECHOES OF SEPTEMBER 11 REVERBERATE AT NIKKEI MEMORIAL SERVICE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. by Warren Tsuneishi

Echoes of September 11 reverberated throughout the Veterans Day service at the National Japanese-American Memorial honoring the Nikkei war dead in the nation's capital.

In both the opening remarks by Master of Ceremony Cherry Tsutsumida, executive director of the memorial's foundation, and the invocation of by the Rev. Jack Shitama, about 60 JAVA members, relatives and friends were reminded of the similarity in the patriotic tributes bestowed on the Nisei dead and those who perished in the terrorist attacks on the twin towards in New York and the Pentagon.

The ceremony was opened with the posting of the JAVA Colors by JAVA vice president Calvin Ninomiya and former president Fred Murakami. Presentation of the colors by the U.S. Army Color Guard was followed by the pledge of allegiance led by JAVA member Paul Tani.

Ms. Jane Nishida, Secretary of Environmental Protection for the State of Maryland, was the featured speaker, filling in for U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who, understandably, could not be present because of the tremendous burdens he has been carrying in assuring the safety of the nation's airport, airlines and port facilities in the aftermath of the terrorists' attacks.

Ms. Nishida said she too had been heavily affected because her office was responsible for such critical areas such as safeguarding water supplies and insuring the safety of the population from airborne diseases such as anthrax that were adversely affecting mail delivery in Maryland.

Mrs. Etsu Masaoka, Mrs. Joanne Obata, Francis Nekoba and Phil Ishio laid a memorial wreath in front of the wall which bears the names of the fallen heroes of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service.

In impromptu remarks preceding the benediction, Ms. Tsutsumida underscored the importance of the Memorial to Patriotism, noting that all Americans were united in their devotion to their country when under enemy attack. She said that the Japanese American community itself was greatly diverse, but could still honor those like Mike Masaoka, the wartime JACL leader, as well as the draft resisters of conscience.

"In the end," she said, "we are all Americans."

Following a moving playing of the "Taps" by an Army bugler, the Reverend Shojo Honda, facing the names inscribed in the wall, prayed that the Universal Spirit watch over with compassion all of those who had fallen in battle.

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WARTIME STRUGGLES OF INTERNED JAPANESE AMERICANS PAVED THE WAY FOR NASA ASTRONAUT by Todd Halvorson

(Editor's note: The following is an abbreviated version of an article by Halverson, Cape Canaveral bureau chief of SPACE.com, filed a few days prior to space shuttle Endeavor's December trip to and from the international space station. On board was astronaut Daniel M. Tani, the second Nikkei to fly into space. Dan, the nephew of JAVA's Paul Tani, was flight engineer aboard the Endeavor. The shuttle took off December 5 with a fresh crew of three to the space station and returned to earth 12 days days later with the old space station crew. Daniel, born in Ridley Park, PA, though he considers Lombard, IL, his hometown, has both B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has held various jobs as manager and team leader with space-related companies and agencies and was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1996.)

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Cape Canaveral, FL. -- Rookie astronaut Dan Tani is to strap into shuttle Endeavor soon, aiming to set sail on a round trip to the International Space Station.

And when the ship takes off, its thundering ascent will serve as a metaphor for the long climb his race has faced since more than 100,000 Japanese Americans -- including Tani's parents -- were interned in U.S. detention camps during World War II.

"I've reaped the benefits of the struggle that my family and other early Japanese Americans had coming to America and living in the country, surviving through World War II," Tani, 40, said in an interview with SPACE.com.

"I'm really reaping the benefits of those pioneers that really blazed the trail for me to have this kind of opportunity."

Destined to be only the second Japanese American to fly into space, Tani was born Feb. 1, 1961, in Ridley Park, PA. But two decades before that, his parents and his oldest brother were whisked out of their California home and into a concentration camp.

What turned out to be a two-and-a-half-year imprisonment began not long after Japanese warplanes bombed Pearly Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941…

"My brother was actually three weeks old when the call came for all Japanese Americans to report to a relocation center. And they were taken out of their homes and sent first to a racetrack in the Bay area of San Francisco," Tani said.

"They lived in tarpaper barracks alongside horse stables for a couple of months and then were put on trains -- not knowing where they were going -- and ended up in Utah."

Next step for the Tani family: Topaz, Utah, the site of one of 10 internment camps in seven states that had been turned into "relocation centers."

Patterned after military facilities, the camps all were surrounded by barbed wire and watched over by heavily armed military police in guard towers. Those detained were housed in barracks with tarpaper walls and no amenities. They ate rice, macaroni and potatoes in mess halls. Beef brains, tongue, kidneys and liver were staples in camp kitchens.

But life went on.

"Even with the hardships of living in camp, I think, from the stories my Mom tells me, they tried to make life as normal as possible," Tani said. "they set up high schools. They set up stores. They set up sports teams. They thrived in that sort of very restrained, closed environment."

The beginning of the end of the mass imprisonment came Dec. 17, 1944, as the federal government issued a public proclamation that led to the release of those confined in the concentration camps.

And while it wasn't until 1988 that the U.S. Congress offered an official apology, the wartime struggle of the Japanese ultimately paved the way to limitless opportunities for Tani and others in American society.

"I guess the amazing part of my story, when I think about it, is that here's a country that chose to take my family out of their homes strictly because of racial connection -- not citizenship; my parents were born U.S. citizens -- and restrain them for years, and then learn the lesson, realize that that was not the right thing to do, and apologize for that," Tani said.

Just as amazing is that the citizens of the same country that imprisoned so many now routinely elect Japanese Americans to key local, state and federal government posts, and that one of their own now is an astronaut headed for orbit.

"It says great things about our nation and about my family. It's great that one generation later the same government can send me into space," Tani said.

"I'm very proud of that, both of my family and my nation…And I feel lucky to reap the benefits gained by those people that really came early on and had a struggle and made a difference."

#######

(Editor's note: Clyde Owan is the son of former JAVA member Tom Owan, who now lives in Davis, CA. It expresses the feelings of a Sansei over current hate crimes against Arab Americans in the wake of September 11.)

Many have compared the attacks of September 11 to the attack on Pearl Harbor. I remember Pearl Harbor.

I remember Pearl Harbor because I am the son, grandson and friend of Americans who were sent to America's concentration camps during World War II. My family and others of our race were used as scapegoats for the nation's grief and anger over the December 7 attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, American citizens of Japanese ancestry were stereotyped and falsely linked to security threats. They were pronounced guilty because of their race, deprived of their rights, and shipped to places like Poston, Manzanar, Heart Mountain, and Topaz. These destinations were desolate, surrounded by armed sentries and barbed wire. Japanese Americans did not live in a land of the free, but their young men, nonetheless, volunteered for battle and heroically combated the Axis powers.

For decades, Americans of my heritage fought to force the government to apologize and admit wrongdoing. For us, it has been paramount to educate others so that the wrong is never repeated.

I know September 11 will be remembered as a day when the world changed. The attacks have left me numb. It's hard for me to comprehend the contempt for human life that the terrorists held.

At the same time, I am deeply troubled by the actions and attitudes of others in our country who compound this world tragedy by employing the same mindset of hatred in their attitudes toward and even violence against Arabs, Muslims, and those they meely perceive as Arabs or Muslims. For example, even a European friend of mine whose skin is dark in complexion is fearful for his own safety and worried about his appearance.

If we truly believe that we are different from those with little regard for humanity then our natural feelings of outrage and anger must be coupled with wisdom and moral courage. We cannot regard ourselves as civilized if we acquiesce when the innocent are terrorized, threatened, or harassed. We must be more than the sum of our fears. We must be defenders of tolerance, fairness, and compassion.

The painful and tragic experiences that my family and others endured during World War II have been imprinted on my conscience. When I look at those who have encountered prejudice or hatred because of recent events, I see reflections of the experiences my parents and grand parents endured. My family and others like them were pronounced guilty on the basis of their race. They were not judged on their own actions or the content of their character. Instead, they became symbols of injustice when a strong nation turned weak and surrendered to fear, ignorance, and hatred.

I remember Pearl Harbor.

I hope you do, too, so that our nation will be strong and just, and all its people free and secure.

######

The family of World War II veteran Eiro Yamada has established a scholarship fund for descendants of Nikkei veterans of that conflict in honor of their father who passed away in the spring of 2000.

Direct descendants of Japanese Americans who served during the war in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Military Intelligence Service or the 1399th Engineering Construction Battalion attending a college-level institution within the United States in the fall of 2002 are urged to apply for a scholarship.

The Eiro Yamada Memorial Scholarship funds, expected to be awarded annually, will go to ten or so students for the coming academic year. Any applicant must include the name and his or her relationship to the veteran (i.e. grandson, granddaughter, etc.). Verification of descent may be required.

The scholarships are being offered by the Yamada Scott Family Foundation, which includes the Eiro's two sons, Ronald and Russell, and daughter, Susan Scott, who established the scholarships to honor their father.

Eiro Yamada was conscripted into the Hawaii Territorial Guard as a member of the ROTC at the University of Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, served with the 442nd RCT in Europe, and then after VE Day was transferred to the MIS. He died when hit by a car following a luncheon of 442nd veterans in Honolulu.

Applicants for the scholarship should contact the Hawaii Community Foundation at (808) 537-6333 or may download the application form at: www.hcf-hawaii.org.

#######

Mrs. Leila Meyerratken, whose middle school students in Lafayette, Ind. created a 120,000 tassel tapestry in honor of Nikkei WWII veterans, reported a flood of E-mail from U.S. middle school teachers seeking aid in developing lesson plans to educate their students about problems faced by Japanese Americans during the war.

Mrs. Meyerratken received more than 300 E-mail messages in a surprising and almost instantaneous response from middle school teachers to an article she had written for a publication for such teachers.

A further surprise, she said, was the fact that she had sent along some photographs of the tapestry along with her article, hoping that one of them would be accepted, only to learn that all of them were being used along with her article.

A further growth, she said, was an expansion of her focus with her present eighth grade class to more current concerns -- that of countering hate crimes committed against Americans who may look like but despise the radical Muslim terrorists in the wake of the September 11 incidents.

When asked if there has been any backlash from the public to her students' latest actions, Mrs. Meyerratken said that so far, the parents have supported their children who are happily demonstrating that which is politically correct.

"The children teach their parents in Lafayette," she said.

As for the tapestry, she said it was currently hanging in one wall of a hall in the huge Indiana World War Memorial Building where military vehicles, helicopters and other war mementos are on display.

Plans are under foot to display the tapestry in California, perhaps Sacramento and Los Angeles in February and then in Hawaii in March. She said there was additional thought being given to adding important artifacts received from veterans of the Military Intelligence Service.

Mrs. Meyerratken said that she and her current students were restoring the Japanese garden that the previous eighth graders had created at the Tecumseh Middle School courtyard. She said that two veterans from Hawaii, one who had been with the 232nd Combat Engineer Company of the 442nd RCT and the other from the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, have promised to visit and assist the students in designing and constructing a "taiko" bridge across the pond in the Japanese garden.

Other WWII veterans also have shown interest in the middle school project, she said, noting that a Mr. Higgins, who had been an officer with the "Lost Battalion" which had been rescued by the 442nd RCT spoke to her eighth grade class at Sunnyside Middle School.

######

CALL ISSUED FOR FULL LIST OF WWII MIS VETERANS by Grant Ishikawa

The Americans of Japanese Ancestry WWII Memorial Alliance have asked for the full names of all Nikkei who attended the Military Intelligence Service Language School at the Presidio in San Francisco, Camp Savage and Fort Snelling to leave for their younger generations and researchers.

The Alliance plans to make the completed list available on a CD-ROM under its program entitled "Echoes of Silence" which has been organized by Dr. Roy Machida and Jim Yamashita, both 442nd veterans.

Currently, published lists of MISLS rosters contain 5,670 names, but unfortunately, it is estimated that about 80 per cent of the names on these lists have only last names and initials instead of full first names.

"Too often the JAVA website receives inquiries from relatives of children of veterans " and "Too often we also receive inquiries seeking Nisei veterans who fought in a certain campaign or were assigned to certain units" which can not be satisfied, the project organizers said. The projected list would be of great assistance to such inquirers.

Being sought are last names, first names, serial numbers, awards, home town (where the veteran currently resides) and assignments (i.e. Bougainville, or 81st Infantry Division, etc.).

"We need MIS veterans to check their official orders you have squirreled away for almost 60 years for information on each veteran," the organizers said, in addition to some information about themselves.

So far, help has come from Seiko Oshiro of Minnesota, JAVA's own Paul Tani, James Tanabe of Honolulu, Roy Inui o Washington State, Allen Meyer of Chicago, Aiko Herzig and Harry Fukuhara.

The MIS veterans are being asked to send their information via E-mail to ichikawa@erols.com or by mail to : JAVA Research, P.O. Box 59, Dunn Loring, VA 22027.

######

A Five Star Council of prominent Americans has been created to oversee the Library of Congress' Veteran History Project whose goal is to collect and preserve for future generations testimony and documents from veterans of America's wars in the 20th Century.

JAVA is one of the official sponsoring organizations of the project with JAVA members Warren Tsuneishi and Warren Minami conducting a survey of Nikkei veterans in the Washington area for their possible input into the project. Dr. Tsuneishi is the JAVA contact for the project.

T he Council, among others, includes Senators Daniel K. Inouye, John Kerry, Chuck Haagel, Ted Stevens and John Warner; Congressmen Amos Houghton, Steny Hoyer and Ron Kind; retired Lt. Gen. Julius Beekton, Maj. Gen. Jeane Holm, former Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall, Secretary of Veteran Affairs Anthony J. Principi, and other prominent personalities such as Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and former presidential candidate Robert Dole.

The project is collecting memories, accounts and documents from veterans and those who supported them during both World Wars and the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf conflicts. The material will be included in a database available to researchers and educators.

The Library of Congress project is seen as the ideal repository for maintaining JAVA's historical records so that they will be available indefinitely.

For update information on the Project, people can go to the Project website: www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/ or to the National Council of AJA Veterans at: ncajavets@aol.com.

######

Practically everyone attending the official dedication December 6-8 of the "D-Day Invasions in the Pacific Exhibit" at the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans was surprised to learn that there were so many Japanese Americans involved in that theater of the war.

Numerous military and political dignitaries including former President Bush attended the ceremonies along with thousands of visitors from around the country. Included were the "Pealing of the Bells" on December 7 to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Pacific Victory Parade with veterans from the various services, enactments of the Pacific invasions, a USO dance, and the showing of a documentary on the "Price of Peace" by Steven Spielberg and Stephen Ambrose*, one of the founders of the D-Day Museum.

The Pacific Invasion exhibit depicting events leading to the war, the Pacific invasions and the occupation of Japan covered the entire second floor of the museum while the part played by the nisei in the Military Intelligence Service was represented by an exhibit about Harley Fujimoto of Arizona who took part in the Philippines landings and the Korean conflict.

Ted Yanari, a local resident, set up the MIS exhibit which consisted of photos and booklets sent to him by various nisei groups. Ted, I and Fred Fukasawa from San Leandro were the only nisei veterans there to explain to the surprised visitors what the nisei did in the Pacific war.

A local newspaper reporter took our pictures which ran with an article about the nisei the next day, while a young yonsei from Atlanta, David Furukawa, asked pertinent questions on our war services for his research project.

*Ambrose, a distinguished historian who has written many books about World War II in Europe, is writing a book about the war in the Pacific, including the role played by the MIS. He would like those who served in the MIS to send your name, address and phone number plus a short written description of your service to: Jennifer McClough, Office of Stephen Ambrose, P.O. Box 1713, Helena, MT 59624.

(Note: I have a copy of the "Price of Peace" documentary and plan to show it soon after the holidays and will announce the time and place when a suitable locale for showing the documentary is found.)

######

A gala "Salute to Senators Inouye and Akaka" for their many years of services to the Asian Pacific American community will be held at the Officers Club at Fort Myer on Saturday, April 27.

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki will be asked to be the keynote speaker while various military, government and diplomatic representatives will be invited to participate.

JAVA, as the representative Japanese American veterans organization, is taking a leading role in paying tribute to the two Hawaiian senators. Other sponsors include the Asian Pacific American Heritage Council, the Japanese Ameican Memorial Foundation, the JACL (Washington, DC chapter), the Japanese American National Museum, the National Japanese American Historical Society, and the National Council of AJA Veterans.

#######

-- Donated $500 from JAVA at its October 14 luncheon to Arlington (VA) Fire Battalion Chief Randy Gray for firefighter victims and their families involved in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. The Chief spoke of the hazards involved in fighting the Pentagon fire. About $400 of the amount came from individual JAVA members who sent in donations specifically for that purpose. Ms. Leila Meyerratken, the Indiana school teacher whose students created the quilt honoring WWII nisei GIs and Donald Wakakida, commander of VFW Nisei Post 8499 also spoke at the luncheon. Don spoke of the questions created by the JACL's resolution apologizing to nisei draft resisters, which the VFW opposed, and was told that JAVA already had already recognized the principles behind the resisters' stand offering the hand of friendship to them.

-- JAVA members Norman Ikari (442nd RCT), Joe Ichiuji (522nd FA Bn), Yuiko Kawamoto (MIS) and Phil Ishio (MIS) told their respective stories of wartime experiences in the European and Pacific theaters to an appreciative audience of WWII veterans and some young ROTC students at the recent Fourth Annual Veterans Committee meeting. Their narratives were carried by a local radio station that evening along with the stories told by other special groups such as the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women's Auxiliary Corps. Ishio also took part in the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

-- Harry Fukuhara has sent Grant Ichikawa an MIS Chronology -- 1940-1999 compiled by the late Roy Uyehata who passed away last May. It contains pertinent MIS dates as well as key 100th Bn. and 442nd RCT dates. JAVA's website master Dave Buto has been asked if it is feasible to put the chronology on the JAVA website, which can be done, Dave said, if it is compressed using Acrobat software which would cost about $300. Grant has moved that Dave be given the go-ahead as well as Dave being reimbursed for $239.40 he has spent from his own pocket paying the fee for the JAVA website: www.javadc.org.

-- JAVA's Ken Iseri was in the Fairfax Hospital recuperating from an operation for abdominal blockage, which he thought was caused by the fusion of his intestines which resulted from cancer of the colon which was operated on last year.

-- Ayumi Sato, a graduate student at Emerson College in Boston is working on a 20-minute documentary about the Kibei for her Master's degree in broadcast journalism. She has been trying to locate people in the Boston area for possible interview but has not been successful so far. She is seeking anyone within driving distance of the Boston area. She can be reached at: ayumi@mediaone.net or writing to her at the Department of Journalism, Emerson College, Boston, MA 02116.

-- Recently published by MacFarland & Co.: Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War by Bruce Petty, who lived and did research from 1995 to 2000 on the World War II battle site. Survivors, including U.S. military survivors such as Ben Hazard and Dick Kishiue, tell their own stories in their own words about one of the bloodiest battles fought in the Pacific during that war. The 216-page illustrated volume is available from: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, with cost $55 for each copy, $4 for the first book and an additional $.75 shipping and handling each added copy (international/Canadian orders: $6 for each copy plus $1.50 each additional) Orders can be called into 1-800-253-2187 or 336-245-4450, Fax 336-246-5018. McFarland website: www.mcfarlandpub.com. (See attached order form on the next page.)

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Editor's Note: This and subsequent issues of JAVA News are being mailed only to members without E-mail capabilities. If anyone with a computer still has problems getting the newsletter, please let me know and you'll be put you back on the mailing list.

Saipan

Oral Histories of the Pacific War

Bruce M. Petty

216pp $55 illustrated case binding (8.5 x 11)

96 photographs, maps, index

ISBN 0-7864-0991-6 2002

The battle for Saipan is remembered as one of the bloodiest battles fought in the Pacific during World War II, and was a turning point on the road to the defeat of Japan.

In this work the survivors -- including Pacific islanders on whose land the Americans and Japanese fought their war -- have the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. The author introduces the volume with a history of the Mariana Islands and other parts of Micronesia and arranges the oral histories by location: Saipan, Yap and Tinian, Rota, Palau Islands and Guam in the first half, and by branch of service in the second half.

Bruce M. Petty worked as a nuclear technologist for fifteen years before moving to Saipan in 1995 to research this book. Five years later he moved back to his home in Fairfield, California.

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