Evening star., 1942-08-13
Marines Set Up Own
School 10 Teach Men
Military japanese
Longuoge Specialists
Direct Studies at
West Coast Bose
By HAROLD KEEN.

ny HAROLD KEEN.
Stan Correspondent Of the star and North
American Newspaper Alliance.
SAN DIEGO, Calf. Aug. 12.-The
Marine Corps, which spearheaded
tho seaborne invasion of the
japanese held Solomon Islands, has
tackled one Of the most difncult
problems OF such = venture through
tle medium Of books, it was of1icial-
y disclosed here yesterday.
IN = quiet, sun -filled classroom At
taas edge Of the Second Marine Di-
VISIONS Camp Elliott, 4 group Of
carefully selected officers and en-
listed men has launched = project
that will seek TO overcome = major
Obvious disadvantage Of our armed
forces-ignorance OF the enemy's
language.
It isn't an ordinary japanese Ian
guage course that the Leathernecks
have undertaken. Elementary jap
anese is taught regularly in the
Second Divisions combat inteli-
gence school to enable marines to
read identification discs and recog-
niss insignia on captured and fallen
Japs, to give simple orders, and to
expedite elementary questioning OF
prisoners.
But the hand-picked few in this
aew class have pledged themselves
to master the complex ideographs
that make up military japanese
ideographs likely to confront them
in seized orders-and to gain enough
conversational skill for detailed in
terviews with prisoners to obtain
vital information Of the enemys
strength and intentions.
Taught Asiatic History.
Prom the moment last February
when he was taken out OF his class
rooms at the University Of Oregon,
where he was professor OF Asiatic
history. and commissioned an oticer
In the Marine Corps. 1t. H. J. Noble
set about to organize such instruc-
ton.
Chance soon brought to Camp
Elliott two other scholars OF Japa-
nese. They were First 1t. John E.
Merrill of Los Angeles and Second
1t. Paul Dull Of Seattle. both sur
vivors OF the Japanese bombing Of
Pearl Harbor December 7.
The three officers teamed up to
establish the first school of its kind
In Marine Corps history.
Were not bothering the stu
dents with Japanese philosophy or
culture" explained 1t. Noble. when
they get into action against the
Japs, they'll want to know about
the enemy's guns, his casualties. re-
Inducements and general situa-
ton"
Textbooks are japanese War Of
fice manuals obtained in peace
time. 1t. Merrill, who taught Eng
lish at a Japanese foreign language
school near Osaka for three years,
specializes in the spoken language,
while 1t. Dull, 4 Ph.D., a former
teaching fellow in the University
Of Washington political science de-
partment and postgraduate
Rockefeller Foundation student at
Harvard Yenching Institute, teaches
the written japanese.
Was Born In Korea.
It. Noble, administrator of the
course, was born in Korea OF mis-
Sionary parents. He received his
ALB. degree at Ohio Wesleyan. His
MA. at Ohio State and his PhD.
1T the University of California. He
went to Harvard for graduate work
in Asiatic studies and returned to
the Orient in 1896 on Rockefeller
Foundation fellowship to learn
japanese In the three-year United
States Embassy course given diplo-
mats and military personnel
The students were chosen because
they have demonstrated passion
ate desire to learn Japanese and
have proved linguistic capabiity.
Capt. G. r. Jones, a Marine para
chuet ofiicer. was Rhodes scholar
at Oxford, studied in Germany and
has command OF the French and
Spanish tongues as well.
Pvt. Lou Yet Ming, n, one of the
few Chinese in the Marine Corps,
has an Oriental twang shaded by .
drawing Southern United States
accent. Born in Coahoma, Miss,
Pvt. Ming was taken to China by his
merchant-farmer father at the age
Of Z and left there with relatives to
be educated. He returned to Mis-
sissippi in 1895 after completing IL
years in 4 Canton college. When
the Japs brought tragedy to his
kinfolk in Canton during raids last
September, Ming determined to seek
revenge and enlisted in the Marine
Corps
Tn three months Of the most in
tensive studying, these men will
have learned as much rs would re-
quire 18 months of ordinary in
struction in civilian life" 1t. Noble
asserted They will then be key
men In the intelligence units OF the
Marine fighting forces.
Whereas tens of thousands OF
Japanese know English fiuently, the
American armed forces consider
themselves fortunate to find one
man in a division capable OF speak
4 IL