81 Years On, Ex-Okinawa Wartime Student Nurse Urges No More War

Naha, Okinawa Pref., June 23 (Jiji Press)--Yasuko Onaga, 96, who was a student nurse mobilized for the now-defunct Japanese military during the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II, is sharing her wartime memories and urging that war never be repeated.

With the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa marking the 81st anniversary of the end of the ground battle on its main island on Tuesday, Onaga, a resident of Naha, the capital of Okinawa, is making a powerful appeal for peace amid rising international tensions.

Onaga was a 15-year-old student at a girls’ school on Okinawa’s main island when she joined a military unit led by Keijun Nagaoka in March 1945.

An evacuation order was issued for the then village of Mawashi, now part of Naha, prompting her family to flee to the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. But Onaga, who had received a militaristic education, felt compelled to serve her country. She worked as a cook and nurse in underground caves under the direction of a military medic.

In late May 1945, while drawing water, Onaga heard someone shout, “Get into the cave.” As she ran inside, a U.S. tank shell struck the cave, blowing away troops at the entrance. U.S. soldiers then followed up with flamethrowers and gas bombs.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]