From Concentration Camp to WWII hero
BY CORINNE LINCOLN-PINHEIRO
“Go near the fence, and you will be shot to death,” said the guard to the detainees in the concentration camp in Jerome, Ark. It was 1942 and Roy Hiroshi Matsumoto, a third-generation Japanese-American, knew any hopes of escaping were futile.
“I was scared and miserable and angry,” said the 99-year old Matsumoto, who now resides in Friday Harbor, Wash. “I am American. I was born in Laguna, California in 1913.”
Ten weeks after Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack, Executive Order 9066 required the removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry. Matsumoto’s desire to prove himself a true American would lead him on an exceptional journey – one that would save the lives of thousands of Soldiers in two different conflicts during World War II.
Key to his victory was the three years he spent in Japan learning Japanese and the tactics, which he learned in the local military junior high school officer-training program. He returned to the U.S. and graduated from high school in Long Beach, Calif., and went on to become a grocery deliveryman, where he learned the dialect of Kyushu Islanders along his route.
“My opportunity to leave internment camp came when I volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army,” he said. “That was the only way out. They sent us to train at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. I was sent to Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Language School in Minnesota because of the languages I knew and became a Nisei linguist with the Merrill Marauders (2nd Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit, Provisional).”
The Walawbum Road Block Incident
While deployed in northern Burma, Matsumoto’s interpretive skills saved lives. After spending a day in a tree eavesdropping on the Japanese 18th Division military headquarters (he’d tapped into their telephones lines), he learned of an enemy ammunition site vulnerable to attack and orders to attack the Walawbum roadblock. American troops destroyed the site and bypassed Japanese forces at the roadblock without incident. Matsumoto received the Legion of Merit award.
The Siege at Nhpum Ga, Burma (1944)
A month later, surrounded and outnumbered by Japanese troops on Nhpum Ga Hill for ten days, Matsumoto had an idea. Crawling in total darkness toward the enemy camp and the sound of voices, he overheard plans to attack the American battalion at dawn. Troops relocated further up the hill. As the raid commenced, the Japanese force, taken by surprise and confused by empty foxholes, were attached from afar. Confused, they heard orders in Japanese yelling, “Tosugekinini! Tokkan! Susume! Susume! (“Prepare to advance! Advance. Charge! Charge! Charge!). It was Matsumoto pretending to be a Japanese officer countermanding the retreat order. There were no American causalities in that incident.
“I was scared but had to do something,” he said, “else we were all in danger. I’m not a hero. I was just doing my job, and it was a team effort. I’m just happy we weren’t wiped out. After being called a dirty Jap, I showed everyone I was a real American.”
In Dec. 2011, the 20-year veteran and retired master sergeant received the Congressional Gold Medal. He’s been inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame and the MIS Corps Hall of Fame, received five Bronze Stars, two Distinguished Unit Citation Ribbons, and is an honorary Green Beret, among other accolades.
“I’m proud to have served my country with honor,” Matsumoto said. “It’s good to be included and not ignored anymore. Those awards have my name on it, and that’s a big deal.”
Picture courtesy of Matsumoto's daughter.
