The State of the Zamami Public School

There was a nice two-story building
But they were invaded by the Japanese soldiers
so we took our desks and studied
Where the current school is, under the banyan tree
Because there were soldiers in the school
Schoolwork was put to the side
We made air raid shelters
Did farm work to grow vegetables for soldiers
We sometimes had bamboo spear training
With the men from the Defense Squadron
We could barely study

Experience of the 10.10 Airstrike

The October 10th airstrike, The airstrike was at Tokashiki
We could see the mountains of Tokashiki clearly from here
People from the village gathered
We thought it was allies training
Everyone gathered here, thinking we were watching the Japanese Army train for air battle
We clapped and cheered them on
We thought we’d be able to see better if they’d come closer
As we sat and watched four aircrafts in formation
From the evacuation road
Over there
A soldier came running down the street yelling
“Airstrike Alert!” in a loud voice
That’s when we realized those planes were enemy planes
We all then scattered
And went home, got our emergency kits
Carried them
And ran towards the Yuhina Gama
There were a lot of planes flying in the sky
When we were heading to Yuhina Gama
We were shot at from low altitude
I panicked and hid by the adan tree
No one was hit during this attack
On October 10th
There were no injuries in the village

Kerama Island Airstrike on March 23

On the airstrike of March 23, I was planning
To go to a place called Machan to make compost
My father had heard from someone
That the information today was bad, and that I shouldn’t go
We were put in the air raid shelter since morning
The air raid shelter by the farm, with my brother
I thought I’d be able to go home in the afternoon
So I stepped out of the shelter
And saw the mountains across the way
Burning down in a row
It was bright like a flashlight was on
Because the mountains were on fire
It was burning for a long time
They probably burned for about a week
Not one tree was left
You could actually see through the mountain
It was pitch black
Burnt like charcoal

Experience at Nunduru Gama

There’s a gama (an air raid shelter) that is accessible only during spring-tide
You can enter this big gama when the tide subsides
100 people could probably fit
That’s how big this natural gama was
At first it was spacious
Because we were one of the first ones to occupy
More and more people of Zamami came
Villagers from Asa came
Eventually, the gama was so full of people that
We would all just be sitting because we had no space to lie down
After we hid in Nunduru, my father was injured
And couldn’t go anywhere, just stuck in the gama
So my older brother and mom would
Take turns digging up potatoes and fetch water
While we watched my younger sister
The water was the kind of water that you wouldn’t want to put in your mouth, if you saw it in daylight
We drank water from a paddy field
With soggy moss
We couldn’t start a fire to cook
If any light is seen, they would shoot us
We couldn’t go cook food
So we ate things raw, even Japanese radish and carrots
My sister was only 3 months old
But my mother couldn’t produce breast milk
There was no food, so she’d cry
People in this gama would say,
“This child doesn’t have to be here”
“Kill it, kill it”
We couldn’t kill a living person
So my mother finally decided to take my little sister
Out from the Nunduru Gama
To somewhere far away, during the day and at night
She probably cried where ever she was
But my family stayed in the Nunduru Gama

Corpses of Japanese Soldiers at Nihonmatsu

There was a place with two pine trees standing
People of the village called this place Nihonmatsu
Ally soldiers went there to plan sneak attacks
U.S. soldiers were constructing a base there
Those that went there to sneak an attack
Everyone was shot with machine guns
The U.S. soldiers
Dug a big hole
And threw the corpses as if they were firewood
I witnessed this
Dead soldiers that were clutching trees by the road
They had no remorse or anything
Even when they stepped on corpses
To think that, that could be us tomorrow
There is no emotion, war is truly a scary thing

Temporarily Buried Corpse at the Kokumin School

The activity field of where the school is now
Is where U.S. soldiers dug up holes to bury bodies
And erected crosses
We didn’t know where they died
After the war, they excavated all of them
And made the villagers wash the corpses of the U.S. soldiers
There were soldiers all around
We saw them die
And saw some collapse with swollen stomach
So I don’t want to eat anything raw for the rest of my life

Two Older Brothers That Died in War

Before the war, my older was a cannon technician
He graduated from an artillery school in Kagoshima
He was transferred to Okinawa before the U.S. Forces landed
My mother and I were asked to visit him
At the time he was at Kakihana Elementary School
So we went there to visit him
I think soldiers had informed each other by then
He told my mother to sleep with her emergency goods by her side
So she could can run away at anytime
In no time, the U.S. Forces landed
We still don’t know where the remains of my brother are
We don’t know even know where
or how he died on Okinawa Island
My other brother who became an airman passed the first-stage exam in Okinawa
And went to Kagoshima to take the second-stage exam
He got on the Konan-Maru ship and was killed
A box with his remains was delivered
It was delivered to us
But my mother didn’t think his remains were in the box
Since he died at sea
The only thing in the box
Was a plaque with his name on it

A Message to Your Children and Grandchildren’s Generation

War should not happen, ever again
I would never want my children or grandchildren
to experience
that same suffering that we experienced
I pray that the young people that will carry this country
Keep the peace eternally