Misao Mitsuya: World War II Heroine

Misao "Minnie" Mitsuya

Enderlin's first World War II Heroine

Among the earliest “first-hand” World War II experiences that involved someone from Enderlin, were the heroic exploits of a little Japanese American girl named Misao "Minnie" Mitsuya. By the mid-1920s, about the time Misao was born, her parents had opened a laundry in Enderlin. But at some point in the early 1930s, Misao's father died and her uncle came to Enderlin to assist Mrs. Mitsuya in the business. Sadly, he also died shortly thereafter. After the second death, Mrs. Mitsuya concluded that she should sell the laundry and return to Japan and live out her life where she had been born.  And so, in October 1938, she, her daughter Misao or “Minnie” as her friends called her, and two younger sisters left Enderlin on a Soo Line train bound for the west coast from where they would travel by boat to Japan.

        Unlike her mother, young Minnie was an Enderlin-born Japanese American and a thoroughly "American" eighth grader. She was heartbroken at the thought of leaving Enderlin and the United States; like most children her age, she was fiercely loyal to her community and friends. Had she stayed in the United States, she would have graduated at the head of her high school class and with honors according to her teachers; she was a brilliant child. One Enderlin resident, Misao’s eighth-grade teacher, remembered, “It was a sad morning for Minnie as the westbound Soo Line passenger train pulled away from the station early that morning in October 1938.”[1]  Upon arriving in Japan, Minnie was appalled by what she discovered—in particular, the virulent hatred for Americans that was being preached by the government. Soon, she began to send letters to former teachers in Enderlin, Effie Selvig and Mrs. J. G. Griffin, warning that Japan was planning an attack upon the United States. In one of her final pieces of correspondence, written in early 1941, Misao said:

 Dear Miss Selvig:

     America be on the awake! I am very alarmed of America’s safety. Preserve, save and do not waste products. Do not use so much coal, iron and such things. You will need them later. Forest products in America are scarce so you must save, plant and take care of your young trees. Save on coal and oil. Take good care of clothes and do not be extravagant. Run and play and build up a strong body.

     Are America’s boys willing to die for their own dear country? Will they keep true to their own dear country? Do they keep faith in their own country? Over here the soldiers are glad to give their life for their country. As the boys and if they say “no” teach them that if they are not willing to give their lives for their country, the country will be in ruins in 100 years or so. If this doesn’t reach you it may be taken by censors and I shall be imprisoned or something but that is nothing to what might happen to U.S.A. I would gladly give my life for America.

Your sincere pupil,

Misao Mitsua

Although official accounts that filtered back to Enderlin from Japan suggested that Minnie had died of an "illness," her close childhood friend, Alma Opheim, declared that "everyone in town knew that Minnie had been killed." Japanese censors were, no doubt, onto Minnie. The stream of correspondence stopped just before her sixteenth birthday--the point at which Minnie was likely arrested and eventually done in on February 22, 1941. Nine months and two weeks after Minnie's final warning to America, the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor. Minnie’s story was distributed nationally just 22 days after the  December 7, 1941 attack, appearing in the December 29, 1941 issue of Life Magazine, which carried a short account of Minnie's heroism and an extract from one of her courageous letters. For a brief moment, her brave and selfless act received national attention. Enderlin native Misao Mitsua was not only a great American patriot but she was one of the early American heroines of World War II.[2]

 Cover of the December 29, 1941 Life Magazine

in which the article about Minnie

Matsuya's heroic warnings appeared.

When she was a little girl, Minnie and Alma Opheim had been the best of friends. Alma recalled spending countless hours playing and running around town with Minnie, as well as helping out at Mitsuya family's laundry. She recalled Minnie’s father’s spending time teaching her the rudiments of the Japanese language over shared meals. She also had fond memories of how the two little girls, the black-haired, brown-skinned Minnie and the blonde-headed light-skinned Alma would elicit comments from adults wherever they went.[3] The discovery of Minnie’s death shocked the community to the point where her former classmates, by this time juniors at Enderlin High School, presented a plaque in her memory at the school's 1942 commencement; it read, “Minnie Mitsuya—whose high ideals were an inspiration.” Shortly, the Enderlin Independent published a feature article titled "Japanese Girl’s Letters Warning to United States" paying tribute to Misao Mitsuya [4]

(Note: In 2006, while on a summer trip to Enderlin, I dropped by the high school one day hoping to see the junior class plaque presented in Misao Mitsuya's honor at the 1942 commencement. It was nowhere to be found. After all, I was told, the school had been renovated, remodeled, and expanded several times since the beginning of World War II. Trophy cases were, however,  filled with sports and debate trophies, but no Minnie Mitsuya memorial. School personnel had no knowledge of it, they said, and, in fact, no one with whom I spoke had ever heard of her. Nearly seventy years ago, Misao herself seemed to sense that she might be forgotten, even by former classmates. In a January 1941 letter, one of her last, she inquired about Enderlin friends. “They are now in second year high and soon will be in third . . . Are my hopes of meeting everybody shattered? I know that as time passes, the rope of friendship becomes thinner.” The little story told here is but one tardy response to her query, a way of saying that Minnie has not been forgotten. Some people still remember her and what she did to defend her country. She was a real American heroine. We should not forget things like that.  --FCB)

Notes

[1] Effie Selvig, “Misao (Minnie) Mitsuya,” Enderlin, North Dakota: 1891-1966 Diamond Jubilee (Enderlin: The Anniversary committee, 1966), p. 111.

[2] “Japanese Girl’s Letters Warning to United States,” Enderlin Independent, Enderlin, North Dakota [undated clipping in Bohm Family Archives].

[3] Various conversations between Alma Opheim Bohm and Fredirc C. Bohm III.

[4] A plaque presented by Minnie’s classmates to Enderlin High School in her memory reads, “Minnie Mitsuya—whose high ideals were an inspiration.” “Japanese Girl’s Letters Warning to United States,” Enderlin Independent, Enderlin, North Dakota [undated clipping in Bohm Family Archives].