The Marauder Samurai

[Jim O]

During World War II, as most know, many Japanese-Americans were "interned" in camps. Many were "Nisei" having been native born US citizens of Japanese born parents. Most of those interned were living in California. Japanese-Americans in Hawaii were exempt.

In 1943, the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) was formed under then Colonel Frank Merrill. They were the first US unit to see action on the Asian mainland, in Burma. They became known as "Merrill's Marauders" and Merrill was promoted to Major General.

One group which consisted of 15 men became known as "The Marauder Samurai". They were primarily Nisei, some of whom had family in the camps. Their leader was then Lieutenant (later Captain) William A Laffin, whose mother was Japanese American.

They performed operations in Burma deep behind enemy lines, in the jungles and the mountains. They also served as interpreters.


General Merrill said of them:

"As for the Nisei group, I couldn't have gotten along without them. Probably few realized that these boys did everything that an infantryman normally does plus the extra work of translating, interrogating, etc. Also they were in a most unenviable position as to identity as almost every one from the Japanese to the Chinese shot first and identified later."

From The Marauders by Charlton Ogburn:

" . . their persistent volunteering to go forward to intercept the commands of the enemy when the lead units were engaged by trailblocks. What was unspeakably hard for the others can only have been harder still for them. Some had close relatives living in Japan, all had acquaintances, if not relatives held in the concentration camps in the United States on the grounds that persons of Japanese descent and feature must be presumed disloyal. . . . What were their thoughts in the solitude of soul that jungle warfare enforces? I have no way of knowing. But in the case of Sergeant Roy Matsumoto, whose mother was living in Japan, we may perhaps justifiably surmise that he took some comfort from the reflection that she was not in one of the major cities but in a smaller one less likely to attract attack by American bombers - - Hiroshima."

Some of the Marauder Samurai:

• Captain William A Laffin, KIA Myitkyina, Burma May 18, 1944
• HowardH Furumoto, Hilo, HI
• Henry Gosho (Horizontal Hank), volunteered from an internment camp
• Grant Hirabayashi, Kent, WA. Parents were in an internment camp.
• Robert Y Honda, Wahiawa, Oahu, HI. Took a reduction in grade to serve with the Maruaders. Later served with OSS.
• Calvin T Kobata, Sacramento, CA
• Russell K Kono, Hilo, HI
• Roy H Matsumoto, Los Angeles, CA
• Edward Mitsukado, Honolulu, HI
• Herbert Y Miyasaki, Pauuilo, Hawaii, HI
• Roy N Nakada, Honolulu, HI
• Ben S Sugata, Los Angeles, CA (went to middle school in Japan)
• Thomas K Tsubota
• Jimmie Yamaguchi, Los Angeles, CA
• Akiji Yoshimura, Colusa, CA who later said "For the most part, we came together as strangers. We shared, however, a common commitment to what we perceived to be a right and duty. Perhaps most important, each of us in our own way looked beyond the "barbed wires" (of the War Relocation Camps) to a better America."

[temujin77]

Roy Matsumoto of Merrill's Marauders spoke fluent Japanese. During a Japanese attack during the Battle of Myitkyina in Mar 1944, the first wave of attackers were cut down by automatic fire, but the second wave hesitated to move forward. Matsumoto turned his mouth skyward and yelled "charge!" in Japanese, and the dutiful Japanese soldiers charged into the sights of the machine gunners, bringing the engagement to an early end. Dale Abbott of the Marauders' Green Combat Team recalled Matsumoto's tricks: "Roy jumped up and yelled 'attack' in Japanese and on they came.... If he had ever been caught, I hate to think what they would have done to him."

Matsumoto is a hero by all accounts in my books!