A forerunner to the CIA, the OSS was created in June 1942 to conduct espionage activities behind enemy lines. Training was conducted at 16 bases nationwide, with the Catalina facility specializing in maritime raids and infiltration. Part of the Channel Islands archipelago, Catalina stretches about 22 miles in length, with a shoreline of sandy coves and rocky beaches, and mountains as high as 2,000 feet.
The OSS established its main base at Toyon Bay, a sheltered inlet two miles from the island’s main town of Avalon. Toyon Bay was home to a former boarding school, which the OSS converted into barracks, a mess hall, administration offices, and classrooms. The rugged terrain surrounding the cove was perfect for testing the recruits’ physical endurance, and resembled the geography the men would find in East Asia. Most importantly, Toyon Bay was secluded, surrounded by steep cliffs, with no road in or out of the area at the time. The Catalina OSS base was kept top secret during World War II; not even local residents and other service members stationed on the island were aware of its existence. Only in the 1980s, according to Sampson, were OSS files about the base declassified.
The commandos who trained on Catalina Island were primarily attached to the OSS’s Maritime Unit, assigned to insert into enemy territory by sea for reconnaissance and sabotage. To fill its ranks, the agency recruited top swimmers from throughout the armed forces. Korean prisoners of war, released after showing a commitment to fighting the Japanese, also participated in OSS training on Catalina.
Recruits with Japanese ancestry, such as Hamada and Yempuku, were invaluable as linguists and translators, and for their ability to infiltrate Japanese-controlled territory. Hamada grew up in Hawaii where, on December 7, 1941, he’d aimed a telescope at the sky and witnessed swarms of Japanese aircraft attacking Pearl Harbor. Even as Japanese Americans like him were being locked in internment camps by the U.S. government, he’d volunteered to serve his country as a member of the OSS—despite rumors that commandos had a 10 percent chance of survival.