MOORPARK : Vets Honored as a Driving Force Behind Victory

A 10-mile stretch of the Moorpark Freeway has been renamed in honor of thousands of Japanese Americans who served during World War II as linguistic and intelligence experts.

The section of highway, which runs from Moorpark to the Ventura Freeway in Thousand Oaks, was named the Military Intelligence Service Memorial Highway by the California Legislature.

Two large green signs declaring the new name of the roadway were installed Monday afternoon by California Department of Transportation crews.

The designation honors Japanese American veterans who served in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry Battalion and the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific theater of World War II, according to Jim Mita, president of the Military Intelligence Service Club of Southern California.

As part of the Military Intelligence Service, more than 6,000 Japanese Americans helped interrogate prisoners of war, translate documents and help intercept and translate coded enemy radio transmissions, Mita said.

“A lot of people knew Japanese Americans served during the war in the European theaters, but very few are aware that we also served in Pacific theater,” Mita said. “It’s nice to have the signs up in honor of these people and the contributions they made.”

Several commuters expressed approval of the re-designation of the thoroughfare.

“I think it’s only right that they get some recognition for their service,” said Hector Aguirre, 30, of Moorpark. “I think most people were not aware of this group’s contributions--I know that I wasn’t. I think it’s a nice idea.”

Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard), who co-authored the bill with former Orange County Assemblyman Tom Umberg, creating the memorial highway, said he was pleased to have done something to help recognize the veterans.

Takasugi said he was motivated in part because, until the early 1970s, Military Intelligence Service veterans could not speak of their wartime experiences since the activities of their units in the Pacific theater were classified by the federal government.

“These people are very deserving of this honor,” Takasugi said. “If it wasn’t for their service to America, the war in the Pacific would have been considerably extended. I was pleased to have been able to lend a hand.”

Caltrans spokesman Russ Snyder said the cost and installation of the signs, located at the Moorpark and Thousand Oaks entrances to the freeway and costing about $2,000 apiece, were paid for by private donations to the Los Angeles-based Military Intelligence Service Club.