Jerry Jiro Katayama correspondence collection

Jerry Jiro Katayama correspondence collection

Katayama, Jerry Jirro: collector

Jerry spent his formative years in Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. After he completed high school, he applied to the University of Utah and where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1939. After Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, Jerry became heavily involved in the Salt Lake City chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and, by 1943, he had enlisted in the United States military. He was inducted at Fort Douglas, completed his basic training in Camp Blanding, Florida and then was sent to Camp Savage in Minnesota to brush up on his Japanese language skills. After many months of rigorous language training at Camp Savage and at Fort Snelling, Jerry became an interrogator for the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Before embarking on his first mission though, he was sent to Fort Lawton in Washington and then shipped out to the Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii for “jungle training” and additional practice in interrogation methods. Jerry served in his capacity as an interrogator in Leyte, Philippines and then in Okinawa and, finally, in Korea. The war ended while Jerry was stationed in Okinawa and he was sent to Korea where he earned enough “points” to earn a discharge from the military. However, when he reached his quota, he chose to reenlist and was eventually sent to Japan for approximately a ten month period. His new role - which was associated with agricultural research arm of General MacArthur’s headquarters - was to investigate farms, hydroponics and animal husbandry and submit his reports to the U.S. government. He was honorably discharged from service in 1947.


Biographic information from the Japanese American Service Committee Legacy Center Archives

Japanese American Service Committee