Japanese American Military Experience Database
Rose Sayoko Michigami
Gender
Female
Birth date
1923-05-29
Place of birth
Newberg (Rex) OR, USA
Inducted
1945-01-08, Chicago IL
Enlistment type
Volunteer
Service branch
Army
Service type
War
Unit type
Support
Units served
Womens' Army Corp (WAC)
Workman General Hospital
Staunton Veterans Hospital
Richmond General Hospital
MISLS EW-11 (Graduated Snelling, May 1945)
Military specialty
Medical Technician Graduate
Military Intelligence
Stationed
USA: Ft. Des Moines, IA; Camp Atterbury, IN; Staunton, VA; Richmond, VA; Ft Snelling, MN.
Unit responsibility
1). Ward care of veterans under the supervision of R.N. Officers.
2). Language specialist (Military intelligence)
Major battles (if served in a war zone)
None
Awards, medals, citations (individual or unit)
Military Service Award
Living conditions
Slept in WAC barracks.
Bathed in shower stalls.
Meals were excellent - balanced GI menus.
Went to shows and towns for entertainment.
Most vivid memory of military experience
The most vivid memory of being in the Womens' Army Corp especially at Ft. Snelling, MN Military Intelligence Language School was the DRESS PARADE. It represented all 51 (47 Niseis, 3 Caucasians and 1 Chinese American) classmates. For me, it was a thrilling experience - I'll never forget.
Missed most whilst in the military
Privacy.
Additional information
Residence: Oregon.
Interned at Minidoka Internment Camp, Hunt, ID.
Shortly after being released from camp to work in Chicago, Rose and her sister Emiko enlisted in the US Womens' Army Corp, the first two Japanese-American women to do so.
After graduating from Pacific Business College in 1950, she began working as a secretary and held positions with several departments in the State of Oregon system., from which she retired in 1984.