But when it was over, nothing stood between Japan and invasion—except fear of the enormous cost in American casualties and the effect that would have on a country bone-weary of war.

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In the summer of 1945, Norman Ikari’s service to his country would have one last ironic twist. In early June, he and several other men on permanent limited assignment from the 442nd were shipped back to the United States, given twenty days’ leave, and told to report to Camp Ritchie, Maryland. “They asked us,” he says, smile a bit askew, “to wear Japanese uniforms, carry Japanese weapons, and stage demonstrations of Japanese infantry tactics to troops at IRTCs [infantry replacement training centers]. We were shocked and dismayed and disgusted, and we all refused. A different officer tried asking us again, in a less offensive way. We refused again.” That left them in limbo until Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On October 28, 1945, Norman Ikari was discharged.

Following Okinawa and Japan’s surrender, Warren Tsuneishi was sent to Seoul, Korea, where his unit became involved in military administration and translation. He was offered a commission if he agreed to re-up, but declined. “I just wanted to return to civvies,” he says. In January 1946, he did.

After joining sixteen million other Americans in the armed forces in war, these Nisei in peace signed on with the hoards of veterans who next headed to college—and, in their cases, to graduate school—thanks to the GI Bill. For decades they both worked as high-rated government employees: “The same government,” says Warren, “that interned our families. But that’s America. It’s a nation that’s always in the process of trying to live up to its dreams.”

This article was written by Gene Santoro and originally published in the September 2007 issue of World War II Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to World War II magazine today!

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