She had told him that she was staying with us. Originally, fourteen people were to go north, but my grandfather’s brother and his wife declined to join us. Those shiny silvery ripples under the bright sun dazzled my eyes. The school was somewhat oppressive in that way. Soon it started raining, and Father covered the cart with a water-proof sheet. I am sure they were happy to find companionship in their old age. My younger brother would be 68 years old now. After my terrifying experience with an American, I purposely made myself dirty and feigned being a cripple. Somehow no bombs were dropped on the prefectural highway. The Tenth Father gathered up anything that might be useful from the ruins of the fires. The Americans fed thousands of refugees. Disregarding the great opportunities It was the afternoon of March 29, 1945. He was handed a jacket marked “PW” on the back, and assigned to a construction team. They had surrounded our island. Below are translated excerpts from Yoshiko Sakumoto Crandell’s autobiography, Tumai Monogatari: Shōwa no Tamigusa (Tomari Story: My Life in the Showa Era), published by Shimpō Shuppan in 2002. “They are left behind. When the cubes were placed in hot water, the coffee was ready. Thus I lost a cousin who’d been more like a brother to me. built-up areas, conducted realistic training and rehearsals. Kamii’s husband poured water into the bowl, then took out square dried biscuits from his bag, and dropped them into the bowl. Dencker, 80, of Sun Prairie, Wis., wrote “Love Company,” a first-person account of battle experiences of the 382nd’s Company L on Leyte and Okinawa. Don’t worry. He knew that the dead were inside, and I could certainly empathize. We felt lucky to have been captured and taken out of harm’s way. In the mountains many people were shot dead. When he learned we were heading north the next day, he decided to join us because he wanted to see his daughter, Kazuko, and was planning to return right away after that. Survivors have treated all the remains with respect, including those of unidentified victims. suffered the most. My shoes were so torn that my five toes were sticking out and the heels were completely worn. The translation is by Mieko Maeshiro. During summer nights, we could see fishing boats with their flickering lights; the evening breeze blew gently; and stars in the dark sky glowed mysteriously. I knew my parents would be angry when they found out about where I’d been, but I had no choice but to return to the cave. If there was no. After two months passed with no news of them, he looked suddenly aged. Sign-up to receive a daily email of today’s top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets “You can continue coming back since we have a house here.” Both my grandfather and his younger brother, Tanmee, were very stubborn, and would not listen to anybody once they’d made up their minds. At least 17 others achieved the rank of Despite worries about rain that had been falling the past few days, the morning we started our journey it was clear, although the wind from the north made us shiver. WW2 Marine Veteran Ted Estridge recalls being wounded during the Battle of Okinawa, and the unlikely events that lead him back to the very hill where he was . The Toyama Maru was also sunk on the way from mainland Japan to Okinawa, east of Tokunoshima Island. succeeding generations of military professionals. NAHA, Okinawa — An Okinawan Buddhist group will host a display of drawings by survivors of the Battle of Okinawa. The unedited video recordings are being preserved at the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) and the Edison Uno Institute of Nikkei and Uchinanchu Studies (EUINUS). Tsuru’s mother cleared away the net, and prayed in front of the family’s ancestral shrine. “One day, bombing started suddenly in a sugar-cane field where we were hiding ourselves,” she said. It took a year for me to get the necessary coupon. His home consisted of a big and a small house connected by a covered roof. He also loaded charcoal while the carriage owner was busy piling on hay for the horse and checking the wheels. I never dreamed that such a bucolic town as Naha would be raided from the air without warning. People in those days were very polite and bowed low when they greeted one another. Whenever he wore nothing but the loin cloth, I wanted him to dive before my friends saw him. Bombs fell near the bushes where we were hiding, and pelted us with small rocks and dust. All the furniture and other things that had been left inside were lost. She also gave us white sugar cubes with coffee in them. It seemed that the U.S. military knew about the tombs where civilian refugees hid, and did not bomb them. In the past, families went to a beach with boxed food, but this was no longer practiced. Ie Shima and Oroku Peninsula, despite their successful executions, Two days after the 10-10 air-raid, I saw a crowd gathered at Kaneku beach across from Tomari Port. After the breakfast of potatoes and fried eggs, my younger brother became sick. Until then I had never felt so helpless in my father’s absence. Our job was to help Father pull the cart more than 40 kilometers by pushing from behind. Nimitz had every possible advantage in place for Okinawa a After she left, I steamed sweet potatoes and fried eggs. I grew up watching my parents, especially my mother, carrying on conversations with her father or greeting him with very polite manners. They were not easy to detect. About four hundred passengers were rescued by the Kashiwa Maru, but this ship, too, was sunk one hour later, and nearly all passengers aboard perished. My younger sister suddenly became ill with encephalitis. The last major campaign of World War II, the Battle of Okinawa persists in the minds of those who lived through it. "The quicker we got rid of them, the sooner I could come home to the U.S.A. Found inside – Page 56Okinawa was a ''sacrifice'' made for the sake of gaining the time needed to ... on the battle by Okinawans themselves, included many survivor accounts. troops, and one to a Navy officer. As we passed along the farm road with the cart rattling, noisy insects stopped chirping all at once. We were so shocked that we could not utter a word. I learned about our neighbors “peeping” one summer evening under a banyan tree. On December 8, Shōwa 16 (1941), we heard the news that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. I carried him on my back to soothe him, but he was not easily comforted. We tried to persuade them to go to Seragaki with us, but Tenmee refused. We passed through the farm road of Mekaru, and entered the prefecture road at Gusukuma where a long line of refugees was heading north to escape the war. Hiromichi Yahara, The Battle For Okinawa A devastating portrait of the suffering of Japanese-held POWs in the Second World War. Children were without shoes, and looked as if they hadn’t bathed for many days. Not a soul could be seen. I could feel the tense atmosphere. I was worried about my father, but had to take care of the bleeding from my head and elbow. He looked surprised. There was little elation among the exhausted Marines After taking off our wet clothes and eating warm food, we fell asleep quickly. We called my father’s uncle “Tanmee” (grandfather in Okinawan) and his aunt “Unmee.” Unmee looked surprised. regimental and battalion commanders, plus the killing or wounding of two Minutes after the destroyer sank, a kamikaze crashed into LSM (R)-195, sending her to the bottom. People also felt safer inside. My mother’s sobs of despair pierced my little heart. The war situation worsened and we were ordered to move to the countryside. I always wondered about the old belief that on that night a rabbit made rice dumplings on the moon. Military trucks headed full speed north and south. His books include, Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa. Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8 Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt Twitter: https://b. Since I knew him very well, his lack of emotional display did not bother me. This was to be the biggest of the American assaults on Japanese held island fortresses. From his job in construction, he brought surplus materials that the U.S. military did not need. In between there was a yard and a pond filled with carp. the japanese defended them selves by staying in bunkers and covering with mortar strikes. Mabuni Hill was where the Battle of Okinawa ended June 22, 1945. While listening to the sound of waves, I entertained myself with romantic daydreams. reflected both the addition of replacements and their high attrition For this reason, that period is called the “Give Me Era.”. Two days later on August 21, 1944, Tsuru was on board the Tsushima Maru at Naha Port headed for the mainland. The 10-10 air raid left many people homeless. Her skin was fair and her hands were covered with blue hajichi (tattoos). Okinawa was the last battle fought by the Americans in WWII. Strangely, he resembled my grandfather most closely among his grandchildren. My mother cooked wheat and red beans with sugar, and added rice dumplings. Born on the 3rd of March, I had thought the special dishes were made for my birthday. It was such an enjoyable journey. However, the sunlight revealed white and black smoke rising from my house. “You know we are blood relatives,” he said. Kamii's daughter, age 4, didn’t mind staying with her grandparents and didn’t cry when we left. While pushing the cart, Kamii and her husband were carrying on endless conversations about the uncertain future, about their daughter, and other worries. Some were so big that I could see the water through them, and my legs became shaky. We often laughed at her absent-mindedness. He was not in uniform, but wore civilian clothes. Shocked by my her appearance, I went to my neighbors begging them to come by my house. Former Marine and Pacific War veteran Robert Leckie tells the story of the invasion of Okinawa, the closing battle of World War II. Leckie is a skilled military historian, mixing battle strategy and analysis with portraits of the men who ... My father was an uminchu (man of the sea) and frequently wore only a loin cloth. veterans of Iwo Jima and Luzon; the reward of the Okinawa survivors We were instructed to get ready with our belongings. So, my heart pounding, I sat nervously in the driver’s seat between two big soldiers. She was blessed with five sons, and had taken four of them to be with her husband in Osaka. Crew members for each canoe included an oarsman, a flag bearer, a helmsman, and a coxswain who beat on a metal drum. specified attached unit to the 6th Marine Division. Then suddenly the wooden door opened and there stood a female figure. Soldiers also started looking for food, and vegetables in the fields disappeared as soon as they were ready to be picked. Music also reflected the war mood. The four of us fell into stunned silence. Across the mountains, corpses heaped upon the grass, The Tide of War Turns Bringing an Expanded Draft, Civilian Mobilization, and Food Shortages. Service Location: Pacific Theater; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands) Theme: Medal of Honor: Robert Eugene Bush War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Navy Service Location: Pacific Theater; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands) Theme: Medal of Honor: Kermit A. Bushur War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army The GIs expected a replay of the previous month, when about 6,000 Marines died wresting volcanic Iwo Jima island from the Imperial Japanese Army. All three sons were in the Army, and the youngest daughter had died aboard the Tsushima Maru. Even though they were supposedly in a combat zone, they all had mirrors that looked like a car’s rearview mirror which they hung on the tent pole for shaving and grooming. Since the road was better, it was easier to maneuver the cart. I’ll send you a doll.” We talked and talked. He pointed at a spot just behind the shed where a huge hole had opened up in the ground. The Uezato family, our neighbors who had also lost their home, found a house in Mekaru Village near Kogane no Mori behind Tomari Elementary School and we moved in with them. However, he never complained. I was fascinated by the movement of their sensitive ears and the sounds coming out of those big nostrils. The brigade had lost most of its original personnel by American submarine action while en route to Okinawa in June 1944, and it had been reconstructed around a nucleus of 600 survivors. I still felt tired, but was curious about the new place where we were to stay. The Tenth Army's Action Report for the battle of Okinawa paid this understated compliment to the Thirty-second Army's defensive efforts: "The continued development and improvement of cave warfare was the most outstanding feature of the enemy's tactics on Okinawa." In their decision to defend the Shuri highlands across the southern neck of the island, General Ushijima and his . He told his commander that his tools needed repairs, so he left the barracks with a saw, chisel, and other carpentry tools. On August 19, Shōwa 19 (1944) I had a strange experience. A long line formed early in the morning in front of the neighborhood store where food was distributed. My bare feet gave no traction, and I slipped constantly in spite of my exertion. The refugees were divided into small groups called han, and men who knew a little English became the chief (han-chō) of each han. troops ashore on L-Day and the subsequent series of smaller landings on To avoid the U.S. military advancing on the prefectural highway, Grandmother and I walked along the beach back to the cave. I didn’t want the American to discover our hiding place, and wondered if I should go to the village. C. Shepherd, Jr., of the 6th Marine Division, and then-Lieutenant Life became harder day by day. It was still dark, and farm roads were just faintly visible under the stars. If pupils spoke dialect, they were punished, or had to carry a special placard to show that they had spoken the forbidden tongue. Within 5 minutes, I came across an account at the Battle of Borodino in which 90 percent of a French regiment was wiped out, so obviously my list isn't complete. We became friendly with the crew of one ship from Ehime Prefecture and they came to visit us every day. When we came to Tomari Bridge, about twenty people were gazing toward Naha Port. The couple was living with their elder daughter who had a daughter of her own about four years of age. The other members of our three families (mine and the families of my friends, Yamazato Yoshiko, and Iha Tomiko) were taken to a different section of the camp across the road closer to the sea. Across the sea, corpses soaking in the water. She was going to work at a military parachute factory. Fortunately, my father only suffered a few cuts on his face. Without even taking a rest, Father started immediately digging an air-raid shelter. Police surveillance was strict, but it was necessary to break the law to obtain food. Citations to the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, the 2d Marine Aircraft L-Day. When they realized what I was up to, they all burst out laughing. Found insideFrom acclaimed historian John Wukovits, the untold story of the USS Laffey and her crew, who heroically withstood twenty-two kamikaze attacks at Okinawa which the US Navy describes Òas one of the great sea epics of the warÓ He called her “Unmii” (sister). But on Okinawa, they were conscripted into the army to participate in a battle that was nothing but front lines. Oral History-Battle for Okinawa, 24 March -30 June 1945. Wow!! When I discovered that every family made them, and that they were not just for me, I was disappointed and a little embarrassed. Recommended citation: Yoshiko Sakumoto Crandell, "Surviving the Battle of Okinawa: Memories of a Schoolgirl", The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. Yukka nu hii also brought haarii, the “dragon boat races” of fishing canoes to Tomari. Farewell." (Yahara, The Battle for Okinawa, p. 134) Thousands of Japanese were holed up in caves around Madeera and Makabe defending fanatically, forcing the U.S. 5th Marines to fight on until June 21 to wipe out the survivors and to secure this last pocket of resistance. We savored rice balls, stir fried vegetables, delicious tea, and chinpin, as well as good conversation. The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, [3] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. Once the houses caught fire, they collapsed one by one with a roaring sound. People visited their relatives and adults sipping sake to celebrate the New Year. “We knew we were bound for hell if we had to invade Tokyo.” Chiyomi Sumida contributed to this report. Eventually, all the Japanese troops were wiped out on Okinawa and the surrounding islands during the final four months of the war. Fortunately, the wheels were still intact. Even the two Even tea is delicious, isn’t it?” Our stomachs full, we felt energized. First, Higa’s Barber Shop near the Tomari Bridge went up in flames. In addition, 560 members of The Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest in the Pacific Theater, ran from April 1 to June 22, 1945, with more than 14,000 Allied soldiers and 77,000 Japanese soldiers killed. I just could not bring myself to eat inside the tomb. I sat close to my mother and cast an upward glance. We were told that in the past lepers lived in the cave, which contained many human skeletons. Another soldier said to me, “Hi, Cutie.” I didn’t know what he was talking about, but “Cutie” sounded like “kyūri (cucumber),” so I figured it probably wasn’t bad. The worst was the “Summer Vacation Companion Notebook.” Daily homework was assigned for each page. Our family finally was relieved of gloomy obsession, and the house again was filled with laughter. Grandfather visited us in Tomari once or twice a month after he finished his business in the city. He had to return to the mountain as soon he finished the food my mother served. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340mi (550km) away from . My father told us this time he intended to stay here for three or four days to find a suitable hiding place for us. Among the bundles of firewood, we searched for garaki (rosewood) that had the smell of cinnamon and we peeled the bark to suck the spicy sweet juice. 1. Twenty or thirty people were standing about. Every thing clicked. Women came to the tree to enjoy the evening cool with their fans when the sun set behind the tree, finally bringing shade. My father opened the door to the main house, and suggested that we sleep there. The fire god (hi nu kan) in the kitchen was decorated with a piece of charcoal wrapped in seaweed, pine tree branches, and an orange. [4] [5] The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. Two days later we left the cave with as many bundles of our belongings as we could carry. He said that Seragaki had become too dangerous. Why not?,” was my thought. Sea planes that I had never seen before started to appear on the ocean in front of my house. Early in the afternoon I heard my mother’s voice from the kitchen. At the detention center, I was again impressed by the wealth of the United States. Long lines of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people were running, but many did not survive. Children went to the park rubbing their eyes and grumbling. Then the artist inscribed the tattoos with from three to twenty-five needles bundled together while wiping away the blood. the military and the government. Residents whose escape route was blocked by fire ran along the shore lines of Naminoue to Wakasa-machi, to Kaneku, to the Tomari Bridge, then to Uenoya and Aja. The salt water enhanced the taste of the crunchy cucumbers. The Uezatos had three sons and two daughters. He also said that the mountain was infested with mosquitoes that might give us malaria, and that cooking smoke might attract the enemy’s attention for bombing. He escaped by climbing outside through a small opening in the cave wall. About 7 or 8 came to find out what had happened. specified the Kyushu landings would be executed by the surviving I placed the smaller bag on my grandmother’s head, and tried to put the bigger one on my head, but it was too heavy for me. I welcomed the last summer vacation of elementary school that year. We could smell the ocean and hear the gentle sound of the waves. The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum is located near Mabuni Hill, also known as Hill 89, in Itoman City, Okinawa. Okinawans greeted them with “Hai sai” or “Hai tai.” Just before starting off, some soldiers suggested that I sit in the driver’s seat of one of the trucks. 7,000 uncharacteristically surrendered at the end. The song teaches us that soldiers are expected to give their lives, that dying for the country is an honor. Shells flew over our heads making a “shoo-shoo” sound, and exploded with a huge thump. He was 46 years old, and most men his age were drafted into a defense corps, or rounded up as civilian workers for the military. I walked outside, and saw five or six houses in idyllic settings among green vegetable fields and rice paddies. My parents were too busy taking care of my sister and did not have time to pay attention to my brother. The tedious job of handing baskets filled with dirt to the next person in a line was physically exhausting. Going down Kogane no Mori hill and turning right would have taken me to our burned-down house, but I decided instead to turn left at Tomari Elementary School. Kamii had a huge bump on her head. When it arrived, my friends, now freed from school work, looked radiant and lively. We planned to carry food back to the others twice a month, but it became harder to find any. Japanese defenders. We could not imagine why the Japanese military did not resist. She wore a fur coat in winter, high-heeled shoes, and a hat decorated with bird feathers. Seeing them expand into cooked wheat was like watching a magic show. I had no idea why we we’d been assigned there. American youth is one hell of a lot better than he is usually One day I walked toward Tomari Elementary School for no particular reason. "We won," "We won." Teachers drew circles on attendance cards when we were there or an “x” if we were absent. The other must. The Marines who deployed to Okinawa received the benefit of the most thorough and practical advanced training of the war. My mother looked especially beautiful when she was carrying a parasol. In the evening of the August moon (August 15), every family celebrated the full moon by offering pampas grass with its flowers and fuchagi (bean-covered rice dumplings). would be the landing on the main island of Honshu. that, like humans, Mother Nature also possessed yin and yang. Since grandfather could not walk straight and perhaps was a little embarrassed, whenever he went to a barber shop, public bath, or downtown, the caretaker took him by rickshaw. Older people in torn and dirty clothes sat with dazed expressions as if they had lost their souls. On the right was a sugar cane field, and on the left was the beach. So Sei-chan became his favorite grandchild. Later my father told us that he’d been watching us from behind, and was ready to fight, if necessary. Once I was turning over rocks looking for sea shells when an octopus suddenly attached itself to my foot and calf with its suctions. We moved in right away. Compared to the tents, it looked clean and tidy. My father placed the bones, the fountain pen, and the cap in a box, and buried it in the Ishikawa camp grave. The higher a girl’s social status, the more slender were her tattoo designs. Deigo (tiger's claw) flowers captivated our eyes with their passionately red tropical color. With as many belongings as she could carry, my mother led us to higher ground where tombs had been built, a place she thought would be safer. 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