A School for the Enemy: The Tinian School for Japanese Children and Its Western Objective (1944–1946)

Ringer, Casey

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

A School for the Enemy: The Tinian School for Japanese Children and Its Western Objective (1944–1946) Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/mc87pr803

Abstract

The Tinian School for Japanese Children, built from spare plywood and authorized by U.S. Navy
Command, hosted classes and community events for nearly 3,000 children and their families
during World War II from 1944–1946. Tinian, a small island cradled between Saipan and Guam,
became the ground of battle between the United States and Japan in 1946 for its strategic
proximity to Tokyo, its airfields, and sizable west–shore port. Following the Battle of Tinian in
July 1944, the civilians of Tinian faced a large–scale humanitarian crisis which was, in part,
alleviated by the Tinian School. Despite the uniqueness of the Tinian School, there is scant
literature available on the Northern Mariana Islands, let alone Tinian and the Tinian School aside
from personal anecdotes in memoirs. The school was headed by two U.S. Navy Japanese
Language Officers, Lieutenants Telfer Mook and Warren Johnston, who were given special
assignments to oversee the civilian population of Tinian Island. With their resourcefulness,
connections, and quick use of available scraps, the school's infrastructure became further
sophisticated, English readers were produced, and teachers were assembled from the island's
population. And although the school was a feat of humanitarianism, it was in function a passive
imperial mechanism which aimed to better the life of the children in line with an agenda of
Westernization. The paper aims to build knowledge of the school and complicate its intentions by
introducing racial and militaristic elements that undermine the initially perceived wholesome
value of the school. This paper will track the school's foundation and growth while highlighting
imperial tendencies and underscoring the dire humanitarian crisis of Camp Churo on Tinian
Island. Thereafter, the paper shifts to comparative analysis to other U.S. sanctioned schools in
the Pacific which will further contextualize the Tinian School. Finally, the paper will conclude
with the impact of the school on its students, translating their sentiments regarding their
childhood.

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