Identity

Identity. . I was born in the states, in Nebraska, and I'm an American just like you. , , Tech. 5th Grade Sue Ogata Kato, , Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, US Army, 1943–46, Pvts. Iris Watanabe, Sue Kato, and Bette Nishimura at Building 57, MISLS headquarters, Fort Snelling, 1944 , Courtesy Hennepin County Library, After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, Sue Kato felt a duty to serve. Initially banned because of her race, she joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943. After intense training at Fort Snelling, Sue translated Japanese documents seized in combat.,

Sue later wrote, We did it for all Japanese Americans. I was proud to be an American.... I would do it all over again. I don't regret any part of it.

, MISLS soldiers, about 1945 , Courtesy Greg Nakanishi, Translators at Fort Snelling, 1945 , St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press, In 1942, the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) moved to Fort Snelling. The program trained soldiers in Japanese language, culture, philosophy, and geography., That same year, the US government sent men, women, and children of Japanese descent to concentration camps via an executive order. By 1946, roughly 160 instructors and 3,000 students trained in 125 classrooms at Fort Snelling, even as friends and family remained incarcerated., A concentration camp is a place where people are imprisoned not because they committed any crimes but simply because of who they are. For many, the word summons images of World War II and the Holocaust. However, concentration camps have existed throughout history in many places around the world, including the United States., MISLS soldiers at Fort Snelling, 1945 , Courtesy Greg Nakanishi