Theodore Shigeru (Ted) Kanamine (1929–2023)

A native of California, Theodore Shigeru (Ted) Kanamine spent part of his childhood at the Jerome Relocation Center, a Japanese American internment camp built during World War II at Jerome (Drew County). After the conclusion of the war, Kanamine spent almost twenty-seven years in the United States Army, becoming the first Japanese American to reach the rank of brigadier general.

Born on August 29, 1929, in Hollywood, California, Ted Kanamine was the son of Thomas and Lucille Kanamine. He had a younger sister, Joyce, and the family operated a small market near the studios of Walt Disney. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, forcing the relocation of all people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast of the United States to War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps in the interior of the country. Two camps, Jerome and Rohwer, operated in Arkansas.

The family sold their business and most of their possessions before spending several months at the Santa Anita Racetrack in California, a temporary measure as the internment camps were being built. At the age of twelve, Kanamine moved with his parents and sister to the camp at Jerome. The family lived together in the camp for two years before an attorney in Nebraska offered the Kanamines a place to stay through the WRA. The family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where Kanamine’s father worked as a gardener and servant, while his mother did domestic work. After the war ended, the family remained in Omaha.

After graduating from Omaha Tech High School in 1947, Kanamine entered the University of Nebraska at Lincoln the same year. Majoring in criminal psychology, he graduated in 1951 and entered law school at the same university. Upon graduation, Kanamine received a commission in the U.S. Army following his participation in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Three weeks after completing his law degree, Kanamine married Mary Stuben, a white woman, and the couple would have three sons and two daughters. The couple married in Iowa due to laws banning interracial marriage in Nebraska at the time.

Called to active duty in 1955 as a member of the Military Police Corps, Kanamine held various positions over the next decade, moving twenty-one times during his career. In 1957, Kanamine served as a staff officer with the 508^th Military Police Battalion in Munich, West Germany. Over his career, he commanded troops at the platoon, company, battalion, and group levels. During service in Vietnam, Kanamine worked as an aide-de-camp to General Creighton W. Abrams. He later recounted the efforts of the staff officers during the 1968 Tet Offensive to keep Abrams and General William Westmoreland away from windows and other openings as street fighting raged outside their building in Saigon. Later during his service in Vietnam, he commanded the 716^th Military Police Battalion, tasked with patrolling Saigon; it was the only major unit stationed in the city.

Upon his return to the United States, Kanamine served with the Army Criminal Investigation Division. In this role, he led the investigation into the My Lai massacre. Additional commands included the 89th Military Police Group at Fort Lewis, Washington. In 1976, Kanamine received a promotion to brigadier general. He served as the provost marshal of both the U.S. Army, Europe and the Seventh Army in the later 1970s, with command of the Fifteenth Military Police Brigade. He ended his career as the chief of staff of the First Army at Fort Meade, Maryland. Kanamine retired in 1981 and moved to Florida.

By the end of his career, Kanamine had received the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, among others. In retirement, he served in various volunteer roles with the American Red Cross and the Roman Catholic Church. In 2012, Kanamine was inducted into the Military Police Corps Hall of Fame.

Kanamine died on March 2, 2023, in Naples, Florida. He is buried in the Sarasota Veterans National Cemetery.

For additional information:
“Regimental Hall of Fame.” Military Police Regimental Association. https://mpraonline.org/hall-of-fame/ (accessed October 17, 2024).

Rosenwald, Michael S. “1st Japanese American General in U.S. Army.” Washington Post, March 10, 2023, p. 3AD. Online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/03/06/theodore-kanamine-first-japanese-american-army-general-dies-at-93/ (accessed October 17, 2024).

“Theodore Shigeru ‘Ted’ Kanamine.” Japanese American Military Experience Database. Japanese American National Museum. https://discovernikkei.org/en/resources/military/176/ (accessed October 17, 2024).

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University