"The smell of death … is something that stays with you for a lifetime." (Video Interview,

James Mitsuo Furukawa

James Mitsuo Furukawa at the Shuri Museum, Naha, Okinawa, Ryukyu Island [1946] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Division Headquarters, Language Detachment, 441st Intelligence Corps Service Location: Hawaii; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Baltimore, Maryland; Pentagon; Korea; Japan Rank: Major Place of Birth: HI

Even though he was a civilian, James Mitsuo Furukawa had an eyewitness view of the war’s mayhem from the beginning. The Hawaiian-born son of Japanese parents, he was 16 years old and working in construction at the time of the attack. Seeing planes flying overhead on December 7th, he assumed, like many, that the military was conducting routine drills or maneuvers. After the smoke had cleared, he worked with construction crews to restore damaged buildings. Drafted into the Army in 1944, he served mainly as an interpreter, but was no stranger to bloodshed. During the invasion of Okinawa, he helped to set up a MASH hospital; he received a Bronze Star for his heroic efforts in rescuing patients after the hospital was bombed.