Retired Nomads Part 4: Naha, Japan – Battle of Okinawa War-sites tour on Southern Okinawa Island

Mar 6

Today we were joined by Jim & Pam and Art & Gay and our guide was Yukihiro. We had another great day with Hero.

The weather continues to be problematic as it was cool and raining on and off.

from the balcony

He took us to see the jets take off at Kadena Air Base and then continued to the war sites. These are always sobering days, but necessary to experience.

stop to watch the jets take off

it was too early for ice cream (did I say that?)

Kadena Air Base

During the Battle of Okinawa 1/4 of the people on Okinawa were killed in the war. Our first stop was Kakazu Hill (1st Main battle site). During the war, the ridge looked smaller than its southern neighbor, Hacksaw Ridge, but its position and size did not make it any easier to conquer during the war. The fighting for this hill lasted from 8 to 23 April 1945 and was eventually won by the Americans. The Japanese Imperial Army lost 64,000 men in the fighting. American casualties numbered 24,000.

the wall of bullet holes at Kakazu Hill (1st Main battle site)

Hero

Tochka is a Russian military term describing HUB and is made of concrete, has a maximum thickness of one meter and 3 adults can be inside of the meter square space

The Peace Tower

views from the top

Deeg-Gama was formed as a depression in the limestone cave

view of "Hacksaw Ridge" as known to Americans and as "the Maeda Escarpment by the Japanese

Hero & Greg

Maeda Heights Peace Monument

If the weather had been clearer, we could have seen Hacksaw Ridge (Maeda Hill: 2nd Main battle site) better. Due to the weather, we skipped going there.

We stopped by the Peace Park to watch a film before going to lunch and then returning to see the museum after.

The main memorial to the Battle of Okinawa is the Peace Memorial Park. Its main attraction is the Peace Memorial Museum, which gives a sobering overview of the lead up to the battle, the battle itself and the reconstruction. (no photos allowed inside) We should have had a time limit here as you could of course spend most of the day here, but we missed 2 sites since so much time was spent here. Honestly, at some point there is only so much of the gore you want to experience. The actual photos of pieces of children and the like left me in tears. (no photos allowed inside the museum)

Hero’s first choice for lunch was closed so we went next door. Awesome lunch. We all wondered how much better his first choice could have been.

apartment building near the restaurant

the restaurant

Greg's chicken cutlet

my shrimp tempura

After lunch we visited the Haebaru Army Hospital Cave No. 20. We had a cave guide, and Hero came with us to interpret.

The bombardment of Okinawa by the U.S. military began the end of March of 1945, and army hospitals were made within each bomb shelter. There were some 350 doctors, nurses and medical orderlies, plus 222 female students brought with 18 teachers to help out as nurses. The United States began its assault on Okinawa in earnest on March 23, 1945. Late that night, 222 students aged 15 to 19 and led by 18 teachers, headed five kilometers southeast of Naha to a field hospital in Haebaru. The students believed they would be working in a safe, Red Cross-protected building. Instead, they encountered a rudimentary facility of bunk beds set up in a cave dug into the side of a hill.

American forces landed on Okinawa on April 1. The field hospital was soon flooded with casualties arriving from the front lines. In addition to looking after the wounded, corps members had to carry food and water, deal with human waste, and bury the dead. To access supplies, they dodged bullets as they left their hiding place, carefully hauling back food and water, and toiling night and day in the noisome cave.

Haebaru Army Hospital Cave No. 20

cave guide & Hero

bomb fragments

once buried medicines

Our last stop was the Japanese Navy Underground HQ. This site is where the Japanese Navy, led by Rear Adm. Minoru Ota, fought a desperate battle defending the island during the Battle of Okinawa. As his defense collapsed, Ota sent a telegraph to the vice minister of the navy in which he said that the Okinawan people did their very best in the battle. Later he and his men committed suicide, on June 13, 1945.

In 1970, the Okinawans opened the underground facility to the public hoping that future generations would see the futility of war and instead pursue world peace. You can tour several of the tunnels and view the operations room just as it appeared in 1945.