[Annotator's Note: The interviewer explains things to the interviewee for the first 30 seconds of tape.] Grant Jiro Hirabayashi was born in Kent, Washington in November 1919. Both of his parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. His father was a devout Christian and wanted to come to America where he could practice his religion freely. Hirabayashi grew up with seven siblings on a truck farm his father managed. He attended Japanese school but was more interested in baseball. At the age of 13, he wanted to go to Japan so his parents arranged for him to live with his uncle and he attended school while there. He recalled school in Japan to be very difficult, but he managed. He had joined the officers' training program while in school, and after he graduated was recommended to cadet school, but turned it down because he was an American citizen. When he returned to the United States, he joined the service and quickly learned how ill-prepared the military was for any type of attack.

Grant Jiro Hirabayashi attended school in Hotaka, Nagano, Japan for eight years and lived with his extended family. After he graduated his brother, who also lived and worked in Japan, recommended Hirabayashi to go home because he was concerned of the hostility growing in Japan. He returned to Kent, Washington and finished high school in one year. The United States drafted Hirabayashi and he had to report to Fort Lewis [Annotator's Note: Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Washington] on 4 December 1941, three days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He recalled that he was returning from church when he learned the news of the attack. Hirabayashi had joined the Army Air Corps prior to the attack, so shortly after the war broke out, he was transferred to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri for basic training. When he arrived, he was immediately placed in protective custody along with 25 other Nisei [Annotator's Note: a first generation Japanese-American]. After 40 days of confinement, he was released and assigned to his respective flights. While waiting for assignment to an aircraft mechanical school, he served as a flight clerk and Plans and Training Clerk. In or about June 1942, all Nisei at Jefferson Barracks were relieved from the Air Corp and reassigned. Hirabayashi was sent to Fort Leavenworth Station Hospital [Annotator's Note: Kansas City, Kansas]. While serving as a sick and wounded clerk, he received a letter from Colonel Kai Rasmussen, Commandant of the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota. His letter asked for Hirabayashi's resume with emphasis on language training. Upon his response, he was assigned to the Military Intelligence School.

[Annotator's Note: Grant Jiro Hirabayashi was selected to attend the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota.] Grant Jiro Hirabayashi recalled the school to be very intense. After his graduation, he requested and received a pass to visit his parents, who had been transferred to an internment camp in Tule Lake, California. When he arrived, he was taken aback by the camp conditions and the guards, in the same uniform he was wearing at the time, with machine guns facing inward on the camp surrounded by barbed-wired fences. Hirabayashi's family was eventually relocated to the Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming and then were released three months before the war ended. They relocated to Minneapolis [Annotator's Note: Minneapolis, Minnesota]. Their land and property in Washington had been confiscated by the government when they were placed in internment camps.

Grant Jiro Hirabayashi was very confused after visiting his family in an internment camp but returned to Fort Snelling [Annotator's Note: Fort Snelling, Minnesota] to wait for his overseas assignment. There were numerous rumors about a call for volunteers for a secret, dangerous and hazardous mission. He was one of the 14 chosen for this secret mission. He left camp in the evening by train, with the shades down, for Angel Island, California where he joined the unit code named "Galahad" [Annotator's Note: 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)]. They sailed from San Francisco [Annotator's Notes: San Francisco, California] to New Caledonia and on to Australia where they picked up a third battalion. They continued to sail to Perth [Annotator's Note: Perth, Australia] where they disembarked to stretch their legs for about an hour and then returned to the ship. They arrived in Bombay [Annotator's Note: Bombay, India] on 31 October 1943. From Bombay the unit traveled to Deolali [Annotator's Note: Deolali Pravara, India] where they began their initial training. He then went to a camp near Deogarh [Annotator's Note: Deogarh, India] where it was more suitable for jungle training. While at camp in India, he found out he was allergic to k-rations. He also chipped a bone in his arm, which almost made him unfit for combat. After four months, Hirabayashi and his unit were issued weapons and left Deogarh. His pack was so full and heavy, he could not get very far without abandoning some of his equipment. The unit consisted of over 2,000 officers and men and was divided into three battalions; each battalion was divided into two "columns" or Combat Teams and each column was identified by colors: the 1st Battalion consisted of Red and White columns, 2nd Battalion consisted of Green and Blue and the 3rd Battalion consisted of Orange and Khaki. Hirabayashi was assigned to the Red column of the 1st Battalion.

[Annotator's Note: Grant Jiro Hirabayashi was assigned to the Red Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) and while in India for training, he contracted dysentery.] As his unit shipped out on a long hike through the mountains and into the Burmese jungle, Grant Jiro Hirabayashi had to rely on a mule to carry his pack while they advanced into combat because he was physically weak at the time. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 0:57:41.000.] The first time Hirabayashi's unit was in action was in the Battle of Walawbum [Annotator's Notes: Walawbum, Burma; now Walabum, Myanmar]. After the battle, he came across an empty bag with Japanese characters, Shinshu Miso or soybean paste for miso soup. Shinshu is the ancient name for Nagano Prefecture where his parents came from and where he attended school. It reinforced his hopes that he would be spared from confronting his cousins and classmates. The Japanese were taken by surprise, so they retreated in a hurry and scattered rice on the ground. Hirabayashi comments on a soldier named Hank Gosho who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion and served as a rifle man and linguist. He interpreted enemy oral commands on the spot and enabled the platoon to shift the power [Annotator's Note: fire power] in the direction of the enemy onslaught. Hirabayashi also mentions Roy Matsumoto [Annotator's Note: Roy Matsumoto's oral history interview is also part of The National WWII Museum's Oral History Collection] from the 2nd Battalion who tapped into an enemy telephone line and intercepted the communication that disclosed the location of an enemy ammunition dump. Subsequently, a major ammunition dump was destroyed by our bombers. Late that evening they intercepted a message indicating that the enemy was planning an attack at 2300 hours [Annotator's Note: 11:00 o'clock at night]. Because the Battalion had fought continuously for 36 hours without food and was low on ammunition, it was ordered to withdraw rather than confront a superior force. The next major battle was in Shadazup [Annotator's Note: Shadazup, Burma; now Shadazup, Myanmar] which was about 50 miles south of Walawbum. The 1st Battalion was called upon to establish a roadblock behind enemy lines. The White Combat Team [Annotator's Note: White Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)] crossed the Irrawady River early in the morning. Later in the day, Hirabayashi received orders to cross the Irrawady River and aid in tapping enemy telephone lines. When linguists were called on a mission, they were provided an escort. On this day he had two escorts, one in front and one in back. As his group crossed the river the water was shoulder deep. He held his carbine and pouch with dictionaries and maps over his head which obstructed his view. When he reached mid-stream, he heard three shots from a sniper and to this day he does not know how he managed to get across. Fortunately, he was able to cross the river safely. He later heard that when the sniper opened fire, those who were providing cover for him opened fire with all the automatic weapons on hand. The fire power was so great that it cut down a tree. They found the sniper tied to the tree. When he reported to the officer in charge, Hirabayashi was told that the telephone line was dead. He was not able to fulfill his duty, but his river crossing was not in vain. The enemy was taken by surprise and they retreated leaving behind their breakfast. He had a feast with rice and a can of sardines.

The terrain and environment of the jungle [Annotator's Note: the jungle in Burma; now Myanmar] was terrible. They [Annotator's Note: Grant Jiro Hirabayashi and his fellow soldiers] were full of leeches which would get on troops while they slept. His unit [Annotator's Note: Red Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)] continued marching after the Battle of Shadazup [Annotator's Note: Shadazup, Burma; now Shadazup, Myanmar] until they reached Nhpum-Ga Hill [Annotator's Note: Nhpum-Ga, Burma; now Nhpum-Ga, Myanmar]. Hirabayashi recalled that his battalion was ordered to divert the enemy while the 2nd Battalion fought for 15 days. Linguists took turn going beyond their perimeter every night to listen and secure information. One night, Sergeant Roy Matsumoto [Annotator's Note: Roy Matsumoto's oral history interview is also part of The National WWII Museum's Oral History Collection] from the 2nd Battalion, crawled way beyond his perimeter into no-man's land [Annotator's Note: an area of unoccuppied ground between the static positions of oppossing forces] and overheard that the enemy was planning an attack at dawn. With this information, the platoon leader withdrew his men from the ridge and booby trapped the foxholes they had previously occupied and concentrated all his automatic weapons in the direction of the attack. At dawn, the Japanese struck the previously held position. They were startled to find the position vacant and they charged up the hill led by an officer carrying a sword. The American platoon leader held his fire until they got within 15 yards and opened up with all his automatic weapons and annihilated the enemy. The second wave that followed saw what happened, and they hit the ground. Matsumoto, thinking that they may withdraw to fight another day, rose from his foxhole and gave command in Japanese, "Charge! Charge!" and they charged only to meet the same fate as the first wave. The 5307th Composite Unit [Annotator's Note: 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional); also known as Merrill's Marauders] was able to hold the hill as the Japanese forces retreated. Merrill's Marauders regrouped and drove south to accomplish their final battle at Myitkyina [Annotator's Note: Myitkyina, Burma; now Myitkyina, Myanmar]. They caught the Japanese by surprise and occupied the airstrip. The Japanese quickly reinforced their troops and placed the Marauders and their Allied forces in a precarious position where those who were recuperating in hospitals were returned to defend the airstrip. The battle of Myitkyina went on until 3 August 1944 when the commander at Myitkyina, Japanese General Mizukami [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Army General Genzo Mizukami], committed suicide. On 10 August, Merrill's Marauders were disbanded and Hirabayashi was sent back to India.

While in India, Grant Jiro Hirabayashi worked as a translator for the British Air Force after being in Burma [Annotator's Notes: present day Myanmar]. He recalls a Japanese officer prisoner who called him a traitor while he was trying to interrogate him. Hirabayashi became angered by it. He also had to interrogate some comfort girls [Annotator's Note: females who worked for the Japanese military as prostitutes, often against their will] from town for information. Hirabayashi did some bartering with the women because they did not have much. When his unit left for China, they took an airplane and had to sit on ammunition boxes throughout the flight. Hirabayashi was very nervous about the trip because the plane seemed to struggle as it went over the Himalaya Mountains, however they did land safely at their destination.

Grant Jiro Hirabayashi was transferred to Kunming [Annotator's Note: Kunming, China] followed by an assignment to the Sino Translation and Interrogation Center (SEVTIC) in Chunking [Annotator's Note: Chunking, China] as an interrogator in Charge of Japanese Air Force prisoners of war. He interrogated a Japanese officer who, during interrogation, divulged Japan's program to develop an atomic bomb. The Japanese officer said that the research was being conducted at two Imperial Universities. He then went on to explain the bomb using scientific terminology that was beyond Hirabayashi's comprehension. When Hirabayashi made an oral report to his superiors in the hope of obtaining assistance, they dismissed the report. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 1:55:13.000.]

Grant Jiro Hirabayashi recalled preparing to go to Japan for an invasion, but he also knew from interrogating many prisoners that every country was developing atomic warfare, and the United States happen to "win the race." Hirabayashi was very thankful that he did not have to invade Japan. When World War 2 came to an end, he received orders to proceed to Nanking [Annotator's Note: Nanking, China] to serve as personal interpreter to Brigadier General McClure [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Robert Battey McClure], the United States observer to the Japanese surrender ceremony. General Ho Ying-chin, representing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Lieutenant Colonel John Burden and Hirabayashi boarded a C-46 cargo plane [Annotator's Note: Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo aircraft] and flew to Nanking. When they arrived, they were taken aback to be surrounded by armed Japanese soldiers interspersed with handful of GIs [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] and Nationalist troops. They were immediately escorted to a waiting vehicle and taken to a hotel. Hirabayashi recalled the situation as very tense. After they settled in, Burden suggested that they go for a walk and as they turned the corner, they were confronted by three soldiers coming down the street. Burden asked, "What do we do?" Without answering, Hirabayashi pushed him off the sidewalk to avoid any confrontation. This encounter occurred the day before the surrender and the Japanese were very cocky. Their attitude was that they were victorious in China and that if it were not for the Emperor's order, they were willing to fight on. The following day they headed to the surrender ceremony without any problems. He remembered during the ceremony flashes from cameras were going off everywhere. The ceremony was simple and swift. Hirabayashi returned to the United States shortly after the ceremony. He recalled seeing the Statue of Liberty as they neared New York Harbor [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. Hirabayashi was relieved. He was discharged at Camp McCoy [Annotator's Note: Camp McCoy, Wisconsin].

Grant Jiro Hirabayashi reunited with his parents in Minnesota where they had relocated after they were released from the internment camp. Hirabayashi served with the Military Intelligence School at Fort Snelling [Annotator's Note: Fort Snelling, Minnesota] and subsequently the school was transferred to Monterey, California. He was transferred to SCAP or Supreme Commander for the Allied Power Legal Section in Japan and served with the War Crimes Tribunal as an interpreter, translator, interrogator, and court monitor. His wife joined him later in Japan. Upon completion of the War Crimes Trial, he served with the War Crimes Parole Board. He returned to the United States to take advantage of the G.I. Bill and studied International Relations. Hirabayashi suffered from reacting to loud noises but did not have any other post traumatic stress. Hirabayashi felt honored to fight for his country.