Frank Fujita Frank Fujita ( October 20 , 1921 – 1996 ) was a Japanese American soldier of the US Army who , during his service in World War II became one of only two Japanese American combat personnel to be captured by the Japan ese . Part of the 2nd Battalion , 131st Field Artillery of the 36th Infantry Division , Texas National Guard , he was captured during the Battle of Java when the Dutch surrendered . A prisoner held in Japan for three and a half years , Fujita later published a memoir of his experience , " Foo : A Japanese - American Prisoner of the Rising Sun " . His work , along with those of John David Provoo and W . F . Matthews , fellow ' Lost Battalion ' prisoners of war , has served as a useful historical reference for the experience of American prisoners of war held in Japan . Biography . Early years . Fujita ' s father was born in a village near Nagasaki , Japan , and after learning English while at school he was sent to the United States to learn American methods of agriculture . Arriving in June 1914 , he took a Western name and became embroiled in gambling in Los Angeles . He worked for the Salvation Army before training as a chef on the Rock Island Rail Road . He met his future wife , Isa Pearl Elliott , in a hotel within Rock Island , Illinois , and the two were married in 1919 . Fujita was the second of five children , born on October 20 , 1921 in Lawton while his father worked in the food industry in Oklahoma , enhancing his income further with gambling wins and moonlight in artistry and sign painting . Fujita and his siblings were encouraged to absorb the culture of the United States and become " one hundred percent American . " Fujita joined the American Boy Scouts upon moving to El Reno , and survived well under his father ' s healthy income during the Great Depression . It was at this time that he earned the nickname " Foo " , based on a childhood pet . His drawings of this cat attracted local media interest from " The Abilene Reporter News " in 1937 , a local newspaper from Abilene , Texas . He obtained work as a cartoonist for a local school newspaper , and as a stage hand in various theatre plays . Enlistment . Fujita became interested in joining the military after hearing of his friend ' s enjoyment of the Texas National Guard . He enlisted after a lengthy debate between the National Guard and the civics teacher of the local high school debating the legitimacy of his claim to American citizenship , as well as questions over his weight , height and age , all three of which were below the minimum level . Made a PFC and a chauffeur for the battalion officers , Fujita progressed well in the National Guard though struggled at home with his studies . After accepting an ultimatum from his father to work harder or leave , Fujita chose to hitch - hike to Oklahoma and became an artist and illustrator . Upon the outbreak of war in 1939 , he returned to his National Guard unit , taking part in training manoeuvres through 1940 . Come November , Fujita by now a sergeant , the unit was mobilised and shipped out to San Francisco and then Louisiana . In 1941 , he was shipped overseas aboard the " Republic " . Battle of Java . During the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942 , the Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy . The American - British - Dutch - Australian Command ( ABDA ) Strike Force commander — Admiral Karel Doorman — was killed . What followed was several landings on the island of Java on March 1 . The Allied forces were commanded by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( KNIL ) commander , General Hein ter Poorten . Although the KNIL forces had , on paper , 25 , 000 ( mostly Indonesian ) well - armed troops , many were poorly trained . The Japanese troops landed at three points on Java on 1 March . The West Java invasion convoy landed on Bantam Bay near Merak and Eretan Wetan , having defeated the Allies at the Battle of Sunda Strait , a few hours prior to landing . The East Java invasion convoy landed on Kragan . By 7 March , defeat was inevitable , with Tjilatjap already in Japanese hands . Soerabaja was being evacuated while Japanese troops were rapidly converging on Bandoeng from both the north and the west . At 09 : 00 on 8 March , the Commander - in - Chief of the Allied forces — Ter Poorten — announced the surrender of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in Java . At 23 : 00 , the Dutch radio station NIROM ( " Nederlandsch Indische Radio Omroep Maatschappij " ) broadcast the last news from a temporary transmitter at Ciumbuluit . The announcer Bert Garthoff ended the broadcast with the words " " Wij sluiten nu . Vaarwel tot betere tijden . Leve de Koningin ! " " ( We are closing now . Farewell till better times . Long live the Queen ! ) The Dutch Governor , Jonkheer Dr . A . W . L . Tjarda Van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and Lieutenant - General Ter Poorten , together with Major - General Jacob J . Pesman , the commander of the Bandoeng District , met the Japanese Commander - in - Chief , Lieutenant - General Hitoshi Imamura at Kalidjati that afternoon and agreed to the capitulation of all the troops . Fujita was captured along 550 other members of what became known as the " Lost Battalion " . Internment . Fujita would be a prisoner of war for three and a half years . He spent the majority of his internment in Omori Prison Island in Tokyo Bay , but was also imprisoned in Surabaja and Changi Prison Camp in Singapore after initial capture . He was for a time in the company of fellow prisoner John David Provoo . Due to his ethnicity , Fujita was separated from other American prisoners and forced to produce propaganda broadcasts for the Japanese . Liberation . On August 29 , 1945 , Fujita and 300 other survivors from his battalion were among the first American prisoners to be liberated . Like most of his fellow inmates , Fujita was returned to the United States over a period of several weeks in late 1945 . Fujita travelled via train to Texas , and via bus to Abilene , arriving in October . He recorded later that " I walked past my mother and baby sister without recognizing them . My mom must have been drowsy , or the sight of me froze her to immobility , for I was two or three people past her before she came into action . "