Kaku Akagi
Bio
Kaku Akagi, born in 1931 in Crowley, Colorado, was the son of parents who immigrated to the United States from Japan. Unfortunately, after the Pearl Harbor attack, he faced discrimination because of his Japanese heritage. Following high school, he attended Colorado A&M University for a brief period before being drafted into the United States Army in 1951. After completing basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, which had segregated barracks and training groups, he went on to sail on the Marine Phoenix to Yokohama, Japan. He was selected to serve in the 500th Military Intelligence Service Group to gather intel from North Korean POWs. He was later wounded and sent home to the United States on a hospital ship. After his military service, he had a long and successful career in agriculture as a seed plant operator and consultant.
Video Clips
Experiencing Discrimination
Kaku Akagi shares he was ten years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He remembers listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt address the nation on the radio. He recalls going through town on his way to school the following morning and seeing a sign hanging from a storefront that said, “No Japs Allowed.” He speaks about a time when someone on the sidelines during a basketball game intentionally tripped him as he ran down the court. He describes the next four years as “tough” but says the experience helped him empathize with others from diverse backgrounds.
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Segregation at Basic Training
Kaku Akagi remembers being drafted into the United States Army in 1951 and undergoing basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He explains how his college ROTC experience had helped prepare him for boot camp. He describes how the barracks and training groups at Fort Leonard Wood were segregated which signified how different the United States was at the time from other nations due to this kind of discrimination.
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Receiving Top-Secret Clearance
Kaku Akagi shares how after thirteen weeks of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, he was transferred to Seattle for embarkation on the Marine Phoenix. He remembers reaching Yokohama, Japan, where they issued each soldier a rifle and three rounds of ammunition for target practice. He recollects being selected for an intelligence orientation along with four other Asian Americans. He states that a few weeks later, he received top-secret clearance.
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Collecting Intelligence
Kaku Akagi describes the significance of his duties in the 500th Military Intelligence Service Group. He recalls how the unit gathered accurate and helpful information from North Koreans in a POW camp in Koje-do. He explains why most of the detainees spoke Japanese in addition to Korean. He notes he questioned the prisoners in Japanese and mentions that some of them even spoke English.
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Photos
Kaku Akagi in Uniform
Kaku Akagi Collection (AFC/2001/001/91502), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91502/
