Ralph Kaneshiro: World War II M.I.S. veteran
Isamu “Ralph” Kaneshiro was born on August 8, 1925 on the island of Maui, Hawaii. He graduated high school in the year 1943 despite President FDR’s Executive Order 9066, given out in 1942. Hawaii’s population was mostly comprised of Japanese Americans, and they were important contributors to the island’s productivity; thus, it was not necessary or logical to place these Japanese Americans in internment camps.
After graduation, Ralph worked in the U.S. Engineering Department until he got drafted to serve in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in 1945, just after the war ended.
After completing basic training in Schofield barracks in Honolulu, he was sent to work with the U.S. Navy to interrogate naval POWs.
Mr. Kaneshiro travelled to the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service (ATIS) headquarters in both Japan and the Philippines.
During his service, he was sent to Tokyo, Atsugi air base, Chitose air base, and Manila. Some of his tasks as an interpreter included redirecting Japanese POWs to different camps and communicating with Japanese contractors who were in charge of building residential areas for families. Ralph was then sent to Zama, Japan on December 1946 to receive his discharge papers.
He returned to civilian life in Maui again and became employed at the Naval Supply Center in Pearl Harbor, where they soon sent him to Tokyo in 1950.
Several years later, Ralph and his psychiatrists discovered that he was
fully affected by PTSD after witnessingmassive destruction and suffering POWs during his service in East Asia. Ever since being diagnosed with PTSD, Ralph has not been in any paid employment.
Ralph would later marry his wife after meeting her at his church where he participated in the choir.
In 2011, he received a Congressional Gold Medal of Honor with his fellow Japanese American servicemen in honor of their sacrifice and commitment to the Unites States during World War II.
Mr. Kaneshiro has two children and five grandchildren and currently lives in Gardena.