Education
Arthur Komori attended the University of Hawaii when he was recruited by American military intelligence eight months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
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Arthur S. Komori
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Career
He enlisted on 13 March 1941 for duty with the Corps of Intelligence Police at Fort Shafter, Territory of Hawaii together with Richard M. Sakakida. On 22 April 1941, he commenced his duty with the CIP unit, G-2, Headquarters, Philippine Department, Fort
Santiago, P.I, posing as an American draft dodger and merchant seaman who jumped ship.
He got a job at a Japanese newspaper in Manila. When war broke out, he voluntary had himself interned together with other Japanese in order to gather intelligence.
He was released from internment a week after the outbreak of war by the American Army, and was relieved of his assignment. He participated in the Evacuation of Manila, Battle of Bataan, and Battle of Corregidor.
He escaped Corregidor on orders of General Jonathan Wainwright on 13 April 1942.
He was the only Counter Intelligence Corps agent authorized to escape to Australia upon the Fall of Bataan. He continued to serve in United States intelligence in Australia. He was the only Special Agent detailed to enter Japan on the first shipload of troops entering Tokyo Bay on 25 August 1945.
He acted as the interpreter to several Allied Commanders.
After the war, Komori returned to Manila to search for Richard Sakakida, who had escaped into the jungles. Komori studied for his law degree from University of Baltimore.
He served as an attorney and formerly served as a District Court judge. Arthur Komori became ill, and was under long-term care at Wilcox Hospital.
In May 1999 the United States. Department of Veterans Affairs (Virginia) denied post-traumatic stress disorder (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) disability benefits for Komori because his senile dementia and Alzheimer"s conditions couldn"t be linked to his service years.
However, six months after the Virginia denied Komori military disability payments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, official word came that federal aid is forthcoming. Komori, died in Wilcox Hospital in 2000 at the age of 84. Brigadier General Thorpe submitted a recommendation for the award of the Bronze Star to Komori, which was authorized in December 1945.
Komori was awarded the Bronze Star and in 1988 was elected to the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Lorraine Ward, and Katherine Erwin (December 31, 2013). Reflections of Honor: The Untold Story of a Nisei Spy.
University of Hawaii Press.
