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Minoru Yonnie Hanada
Intelligence Officer • United States • 1915–2001
Japanese-American intelligence officer who interrogated Japanese POWs and rose to lieutenant colonel, breaking racial barriers.
Minoru Hanada served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was recruited by the Military Intelligence Service for his Japanese language skills. He served as an interrogator of Japanese POWs in the Pacific, then in the occupation of Japan. He became one of the first Asian-American officers to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel, paving the way for integration of the U.S. armed forces.