Brian Masaru Hayashi
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780195338850
- eISBN:
- 9780190092856
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195338850.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century, Asian History
Asian Americans joined X-2 (the counterintelligence branch) and were involved in spy hunts. They were not always successful, as the Japanese Mata Hari’s spy ring eluded capture. Yet Asian American ...
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Asian Americans joined X-2 (the counterintelligence branch) and were involved in spy hunts. They were not always successful, as the Japanese Mata Hari’s spy ring eluded capture. Yet Asian American like John Kwock were nevertheless effective in securing OSS facilities from penetration by Japanese and Chinese Nationalist agents under Tai Li. Their greatest contribution, however, came with the Allied POWs rescue operations for missions code-named Cardinal and Pigeon. They also took up war crimes investigations immediately after the cessation of hostilities. They looked into alleged collaborationist activities of their ethnic cohorts such as Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan’s radio propaganda broadcaster Herbert Moy, and others whose alleged activities were deemed treasonous by European American investigators such as Frank Farrell. With their expert knowledge of the local context in East Asia as well as the alleged traitors’ Asian American background, this provided them with a unique ability to assess these cases.Less
Asian Americans joined X-2 (the counterintelligence branch) and were involved in spy hunts. They were not always successful, as the Japanese Mata Hari’s spy ring eluded capture. Yet Asian American like John Kwock were nevertheless effective in securing OSS facilities from penetration by Japanese and Chinese Nationalist agents under Tai Li. Their greatest contribution, however, came with the Allied POWs rescue operations for missions code-named Cardinal and Pigeon. They also took up war crimes investigations immediately after the cessation of hostilities. They looked into alleged collaborationist activities of their ethnic cohorts such as Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan’s radio propaganda broadcaster Herbert Moy, and others whose alleged activities were deemed treasonous by European American investigators such as Frank Farrell. With their expert knowledge of the local context in East Asia as well as the alleged traitors’ Asian American background, this provided them with a unique ability to assess these cases.
