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Show 16 Hilltop Times Sept. 14, 1995 'I &S3 Today's volunteers clear wartime sites, X OKINAWA China Toril ArmV by Stanley E. Willingham OO ALC Support ?Camp Schwab (Marines) fJ Camp Hanseri (Marines) Camp Courtnoy (Marines) I (" Kadrna (An Force. Navy) Zukeran (Marines A Makiminato (Marines) V V V? Futenma (Marines) ' I I yGEHI Island site of 'bloodiest battle' Approximately 7,000 miles from Hill AFB. one of the most serene places on earth rests in the Pacific Ocean, a tropical oasis known as the "keystone" of Okinawa. the Pacific However, that is the Okinawa of 1995. In June 1945, Okinawa, the largest of all the islands in the Ryukan island chain of southern Japan, was the site of the bloodiest battle in the Pacific during World War II. Both the American and Japanese military recognized the strategic impor-tanc- e of the island, which resulted in numerous battles with a significant loss of life for both sides, including many Okinawan citizens. Additionally, many of the citizens believed in the phrase, 'death before dishonor." in which rather than be captured by enemy forces, they committed fratricide, homi- - . .? si ; the battle of anniversary .'((,. Thi was the creed of the Japanese 32nd rniy on Okinawa in 1945. Japanese leaders believed this creed was necessary: if the American inv asion of Okinaw a was successful, nothing stood in the way of the Allies invading Japan itself. Okinawa became the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. The island w as the intersection of (he Central Pacific drive under Fleet Admiral Chester imitz and the Southwestern Pacific drive under (ieneral of the Army Douglas Mac Arthur. The landings themselves on April 1. 1945. were remarkably peaceful. This was because J apanese leaders decided to concentrate in the southern section of the long island. In addition to defending the island, the Japanese flew kamikaze missions against the warships and transports of the Allied fleet. bout 1.800 Japanese pilots carried out these suicide raids against Allied ships. The tenacious defense on the ground and the suicidal attacks from the air led many American planners to believe taking Okinawa foreshadowed casualties an Allied invasion of Japan would entail. Army troops ran into the main Japanese defense line on April 4. The Japanese had heavily fortified the area around Shuri Castle, and American advances were measured in yards. On April 22 Marine Corps divisions after clearing the northern part of the island joined the assault in the south. The Japanese took advantage of every terrain feature and obstacle. They turned Okina-waburial vaults into pill boxes, and the Americans had to secure each strongpoint. Kunishi Hill the Marines called Sugarloaf all had to be taken, often in brutal frontal ase n Audrey Malloy, director of Ogden ALC SCP. Her plan also included constructing supports in one of the revetments to permanently store the rebuilt Ohka rocket. The local civil engineers, the 718th Civil Engineering Squadron, loaned dump trucks, construction material and other equipment to help the effort. Crews called it a "herculean effort" to remove the 50 years of vegetative growth, settled soil and accumulated litter. They chopped, hacked and dug out 14 dump truck loads of debris until the revetments once again resembled air- J V 'a, S V - J' w craft storage structures. - The Ohka In addition, members of the 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron. Det. 1. also stationed at Kadena. took a condemned aircraft fuel tank and built a scale replica of an The completed "Ohka" suicic tioned in front of the cleared- - 600-gallo- n Ohka. The Ohka was a piloted plane, carried by Japanese bomsuicide bers, launched for a journey directed at American ships. Using vintage photos and historical documents garnered from numerous Okinawan historical societies and a little U.S. Air Force expertise in aircraft maintenance and airframe structural repair, crews began work on the fuel tank. MSgt. Bradley Lovemore. TSgt. Barrv Lengele and SrA. Forrest Young of the 649th CLSS. Det. 1. and Steve Degenhart of the SCP, performed the work to construct the scale replica. Once finished, the Ohka was placed in front of one of the revetments and added to the list of historical sites to see for the multitude of VIPs and veterans assembled on the island for the commemorative activities. It has also been used as a backdrop for a reenlistment ceremony and displayed for the recent 1995 Kadena AB Open House. "America Fest." in which it is estimated more than a million peoevent. ple visited during the four-daThe crews of both the SCP and the 649th CLSS. Det. 1. say they are very proud to have been a part of the effort to remember an event as substantial as the battle of Okinawa. "As a result of a few volunteers, we have enriched the knowledge of approximately a million people as to the battle of Okinawa and the second World War." said one of the SCP members. rocket-propelle- Okinawa Remembering of The 50th plane for one icurship. One boat for one One nun for 10 enem v One man for one hip 60-mil- Center Pacific cide or suicide. ( hie -- v rebuild aircraft C ''S -- f' Okinawa led to many significant and emotional events recently for those who live or are stationed on the island. During the week of June many American and Japanese WW II veterans who actually participated in the Okinawa battles, as well as other distinguished visitors, came back to participate in commemorative activities. As the commemorative effort got rolling on the island, members of the Air Logistics Center Support ("enter Pacific became caught up in the 19-2- n Og-de- spirit of the activities surrounding Kadena AB. Kadena. like the whole island of Okinawa, has an abundant number of memorials, antiques and mementos that are constant reminders of WW II and its cumulative effects. Some of these reminders include a number of revetments, or bomb shelters, that were used by the Japanese to house and maintain small suicide aircraft known as Ohka (Cherry Blossom) planes. Many of the revetments are still standing, but are covered with heavy and dense plant growth. offers help Members of Hill the support center volun- teered to clean out six of the revetments of the vegetation, soil build-uand litter barrels. The group was organized by p I ' II one-wa- y i t i.: s W, - 4 't-- t 0: y AS .. it t.-i- I i o saults. By June 21 Americans had finally reached the southern portion of the island, and Marine who took Corps Maj. Clen. Roy S. Cleiger command of the U.S. Tenth Army when Army . i Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner was killed declared the battle over. On land the Americans lost 7.374 dead. J 1.807 wounded and 239 missing. At sea the kamikazes sank 36 ships and damaged 368. The Navy listed 4.907 sailors killed or missing with another 4.874 wounded. (American Forces fn formation Sert ict') nt ill. Mi ? fc v. - V,-- A1 'I. " . r I V 1 I) |