Colonel Walter T. Tsukamoto: No Judge Advocate Loved America or the Army More

摘要

Shortly after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Walter T. Tsukamoto, a civilian lawyer and judge advocate (JA) captain (CPT) in the Army Reserve, requested that the War Department order him to active duty. His request was denied. Tsukamoto made another request for active duty. It also was denied. He then applied a third and fourth time for active duty: denied again each time. Finally, when Tsukamoto applied a fifth time in early 1943, the Army relented and, on 10 March 1943, CPT Tsukamoto-a native-born U.S. citizen of Japanese ancestry-became the first Asian-American to serve on active duty in the Judge Advocate General's Department (JAGD). What follows is a remarkable story of an Army lawyer whose love for America and the Army never wavered despite the fact that this affection was not always reciprocated.