Minoru Iwatake's Obituary
Minoru Iwatake
Minoru died peacefully at age 92 on January 6, 2017. A native of Kahului, he grew up in the Kobayashi Camp in the 1930s. After his father died in a fishing accident, his mother was left to raise 6 children by herself. She moved her family to Hiroshima in 1940 where she had relatives. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Minoru was unable to return to Hawaii.
Toward the end of WWII, he was involuntarily drafted into the Japanese army and fought the Russians in Gokashi, Manchuria. He experienced artillery shells "the size of grapefruits" exploding all around him as the Russians overran his bunker. When the war ended, Minoru was left to fend for himself. To escape from the Russians, he made his way from the Northern tip of the Korean Peninsula to US-occupied Seoul by walking hundreds of miles and hitching a ride on a train full of Korean civilians fleeing to the South. After several months, he returned to Hiroshima, only to find that his youngest brother, Takashi, had perished in the atom bomb blast.
The Iwatake family owes a debt of gratitude to Toshio Shimoda of Wailuku, who paid to bring back Minoru's younger brother, Masaru, from Japan to Hawaii. Masaru then helped another brother, Susumu, return. By pooling resources among the brothers, Minoru was able to return to Hawaii in 1950.
Wanting to serve his country, he volunteered for the US Army during the Korean War. He hoped to fight in combat, but his Japanese language skills proved invaluable and he became a language instructor with the Army Language School in Monterey, California.
In 1957, Minoru began his 39 year military intelligence career at the Army Map Service in Bethesda, Maryland. His career was punctuated by 2 tours of duty in Japan. During his first tour, from 1968 to 1974, he worked for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He helped protect US bases against anti-American demonstrations and student riots. He returned to Japan in 1984 as a Naval Criminal Investigation Service Special Agent. Using his Japanese language skills and knowledge of Japanese customs and culture, he helped to strengthen the partnership between America and Japan.
Minoru is survived by his wife, Janice; sons Brian, Walter, and Michael; sister Mieko Kusuyama; and four grandchildren.
Services will be at the Nakamura Mortuary on 21 January. 1218 Lower Main St, Wailuku, Hawaii, 96793. Visitation 11:30. Service 1pm. Aloha attire.
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