Mr. Kanesaburo Oshima, a 58-year-old Japanese immigrant and father of eleven from Hawaii, was a shopkeeper and businessman in Kealakekua. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was one of many Japanese community leaders and individuals identified by the FBI as a potential threat and was arrested on December 7, 1941. He was initially detained at the Kilauea Military Camp on the island of Hawai'i, then moved to the Sand Island Detention camp on O'ahu, before being transferred to the mainland.
His final destination was the Fort Sill internment camp in Oklahoma, a facility run in a strict military fashion with guard towers equipped with machine guns.
Deeply distressed about the family he was forced to leave behind and the burden of his business debts, Mr. Oshima’s mental health deteriorated under the strain of his confinement. On the morning of May 12, 1942, he began to act erratically. At approximately 7:30 a.m., he walked to the double-wired fence of the camp and began to climb. Fellow internees who witnessed the event reportedly tried to pull him down and shouted to the guards not to shoot, explaining that he was suffering from a mental breakdown.
Despite the pleas of the other internees, a guard on duty ordered Mr. Oshima to stop. When he continued his attempt to scale the fence, the guard fired a pistol several times but missed. The sound of the gunfire seemed to frighten Mr. Oshima, who then ran towards a guard tower and began to climb the barbed wire fence. It was at this moment that a guard shot him from behind. The bullet struck him in the head, and he died instantly at the scene.
The United States government conducted an investigation into the shooting. In a diplomatic communication to the Spanish Embassy, which was representing Japanese interests at the time, the U.S. Department of State indicated that a thorough investigation had been completed. According to the official report, the sentry had repeatedly ordered Mr. Oshima to halt before firing. The investigation concluded that the guard's actions were justified and not in violation of orders, as they were unaware of Mr. Oshima's mental state. Consequently, no arrests were made, and the guard involved was not publicly identified or charged in connection with the death of Kanesaburo Oshima.
