Japanese Soldier’s Remembrance of Iwo Jima – part one
This article from HERE was contributed by Nasuko.
My grandfather passed away in 1986. Since then, nearly 20 years have passed, but my grandfather left a note of “Battle experience record”. My grandfather was born in Meiji 45 (the first year of Taishō), was summoned four times from the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, and was serving to “Iwo Jima”, one of the greatest fierce battles during the Pacific War. It seems that after the war, I remembered it based on the memories of that time and the records written in my notebook.
In Iwo Jima, about 21 thousand Japanese soldiers fought and crushed and survived by only about 1,000 people. My grandfather belonged to the hybrid First Brigade Engineer Corps and only 13 out of 278 people had survived.
Takahashi Toshiharu (74 years old who died in 1986) from Susaki city, Kochi Prefecture, who was assigned to Iwo Jima as a commander of the Army Engineer at the age of 31.
Being seriously injured while shoulder struck back at Iwo Jima, he was taken prisoner of the US military and returned in February of 1946 (Showa 21).
After that, he worked at the Shimizu station in Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture.
We are engineers, making bombs is an expert. They made 20 km bombs at once. Put this on your back and infiltrate ourselves into enemy tanks. Wait for the night to come, carry the bombs on your own. I gave up my gun. No one says anything. It will not return to this position again. The war situation is a disadvantage, the division headquarters is also in danger. Now we are leaving.
There are many injured soldiers left in the position. Looking at our departure, we want to die together. You must destroy a tank that comes to Tianshan tomorrow morning. I never fail to fulfill my promises though I told my wife when I leave Japan that I should live and return. I was destined to die. Even if I live, there is no rice, there is no water, no bullets, no way I can live. Forgive my wife child I apologized with my heart that I could not return home alive. Now we are going to death with justice.
I know the topography. I enter a sideways hole position. . I will be absent until morning. I swear that our day will be our day. In turn and wait for the enemy’s coming at the exit of the hole. When I moved and looked at the enemy, my eyes flashed sharply. I heard a sound, I was buried in the earth and sand. The shell fell in front of me. It was a misfire. Every time I face death, something happens and helps. It is strange.
The tank that should come is still coming. The most terrible fellow, brown and large M4, came. It is 200 meters away. It protrudes a cannon, puts machine guns on the left and right, and also has a flamethrower. It is time for our eight people to die. There is no prospect of saving any thought. I am prepared for it. There is no fear, but the death is ever closer to us.
Yano, the sergeant watcher, ran to warn the others to prepare for the battle – the tank came. His complexion is pale. The enemy burns off the front with a flamethrower, sweeps with a machine gun, shoots with a cannon with a cannon and just goes on a slurp. This is repeated.
We have decided to jump out as the tank approaches 10 meters. There are ten tanks and we have eight people, so only eight can be destroyed. The remaining tanks will pour into my army.
to be continued….
Click on images to enlarge.
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Japanese Military Humor – from: Kunihiko Hisa cartoon album “Zero Fighter 1940-1945”
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Farewell Salutes –
Richard Bennett – Bartlesville, OK; US Army, WWII, CBI, 2nd LT.
Floyd Carter Sr. – Yorktown, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Tuskegee / Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Col. (Ret.)
Frank Forlini – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQ/187th/11th Airborne Division
Koso Kanemoto – Chicago, IL & Los Angeles, CA; US Army, Japan Occupation, US 8th Army, G-2 MIS Interpreter
Bill Lundquist – Skagit Valley, WA; US Army, WWII, ATO, radioman
Thomas Martin – Huron, SD; US Army, Iraq, Ranger, West Point graduate, KIA
Austin McAvoy – Detroit, MI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Intrepid
Bernard “Wallie” Newport – Waikato, NZ; RNZ Navy # 8095, WWII, Sub-Lt.
Rose Puchalla – Minneapolis, MN; US Army Air Corps WAAC, WWII, ETO, 1202nd AAFB (Africa), Pfc., KIA
Robert Wood – Lady Smith, WI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
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Posted on April 2, 2018, in First-hand Accounts, WWII and tagged Army, army engineers, History, Japan, Military, Military History, Pacific, veterans, war, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 102 Comments.
I am just catching up with you again, GP. Good to see these stories from the other side, too.
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Well, I know you’ve heard me say it before, but Smitty would always tell me that you need to look at ALL sides (there are never just 2) to any situation to get even a partial view of what really happened. That old saying, you can’t judge a book by its cover – you need to read and examine every page.
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Amazing. This pretty much could have been written from either side. No wonder we have to demonize the other side. Otherwise, we’d realize how similar we are
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Isn’t hat the truth? In today’s world though, some people just won’t leave us alone.
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Reblogged this on ENLIGHTENMENT ANGELS.
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Thank you for helping me to share this story.
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Always a first hand account brings those horrific moments to life, I wonder if today’s generation who read these words, can visualise in real emotion, what psychological thoughts are being experienced by both sides.
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I doubt that they do, Ian. In a volunteer army, only very a handful learn all that.
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Reblogged this on Truth Troubles.
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Thank you very much.
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Going to reblog this for you Sir.
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Thank you.
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Sometimes, there are great insights in the comments, too. You said, “Some people get a bit testy about showing the ‘other side’.” While that’s true, part of the value of posts like this is that they remind us that — to some in the world — we are the “other side.” That’s a bit sobering all on its own.
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Yes, so true. Maybe that’s their beef, they don’t like being called ‘the enemy’.
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Reading these kinds of posts reminds me that people are people, no matter what side they are on, and that they have families and feel and fear, the same as their enemy does.
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Exactly. I also think it’s the best way to get a full perspective on what transpired.
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Yep, absolutely, GP.
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Well, that’s a cliff hanger, G. Thanks for sharing the other sides perspective. –Curt
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I hope the you find the rest just as interesting, Curt. Thanks for stopping by.
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I am sure I will, G.
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Jeez, did I ever typo THAT comment!!
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Catching up on several missed posts has literally been an edge-of-chair read. Amazing accounts. In the current post the Japanese humour is surprisingly self-deprecating.
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I was surprised by the cartoon album myself, but after the war I suppose a good sense of humor was just as necessary as during it.
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Wow…. what an account. Digging deep into military history, I always want to hear the story from all angles. Japanese accounts are especially hard to come by. Thank Nasuko for me!
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She comes by and reads the comments, believe it or not. She’s a wonderful person and always willing to help! I thank you for reading part-1.
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It feels odd to see your Dad’s name under your Farewell Salutes, which I’ve followed for the past several years… Thank you.
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It broke my heart to see his name there Koji. I always felt that I knew him. (that was thanks to you and our friendship). After all you have done for me, I was finally able to do something in return. And I want to do more.
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Great Post
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Thank you.
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Such concise writing. Simply fascinating and important to read of this time from the perspective of ‘the other side.’ So concerned for current events resulting in yet another awful war. Thank you for this essay.
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I agree. Right now we are in so many wars. How much more can our volunteer military hold on?
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Reading those taut sentences, of approaching death…my own heart beat faster.
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I am so glad you’ve found this memoir interesting, Richard. Your site has given me endless hours of enjoyment – I feel like I’ve been to San Diego!!
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Thanks! Have a great day!
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You as well!
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Reblogged this on Practically Historical.
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Thank you very much. It is appreciated.
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Good to hear both sides of the story. Not many care to see the hurt on both sides, but it exists. Thanks for sharing all the stories.
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I feel it’s the only way to see what actually happened. I don’t understand why some people do fight it.
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Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site.
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Thank you very much, John.
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You are very welcome.
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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This is much appreciated, Penny.
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Edge-of-seat-post. War … sigh. GP, I fell helpless to stop one I feel brewing. 💔
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I don’t know how many times I’ve screamed here at home for the current wars to just stop and bring our troops home! Probably every time one of them dies, like the other day when the UK and the US lost a man in Syria due to an IED.
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Please excuse the typo should be “feel”.
I know … 😢
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thank you very much, Michael.
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Whew. What a story
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Isn’t it something! Nasuko really came through for me!!
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I had sweat on my brow with the idea of a tank using napalm, machine guns and cannon.
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That is a really wonderful painting! Nice cartoons too.
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Thanks, John. I feel lucky happening up on these things.
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It’s so important to remember that there were people on both sides, trying to survive and trying to be courageous. Thanks for sharing the Japanese perspective.
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My pleasure, Amy. I asked Nasuko if she knew of any eye witness stories of Iwo Jima and she certainly came up with quite a bit!!
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I love the little cartoons! They’re so cute. 😀
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Me as well. I happened up on them by accident about a year or so ago.
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Chilling to read…but very glad you posted it. People are people the world over and I suspect that very few of them want to be caught up in wars.
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So true, Helen – so very true!!
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I look forward to the continuation of the story….
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Thank you. I’ll get it done, or at least a part two together as quickly as possible.
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Great post and I also think it is great to hear the other side of the conflict!
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I feel it’s the only way to see the whole picture – at least as best we can.
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I agree.
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How intense and tragic. Thank you for sharing this provocative article from the “other” side.
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I think it makes us realize even more that if two politicians don’t agree – let THEM do the fighting.
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It is good to see the realities of war from the enemy’s perspective. Unfortunately, some of the details seem to have been lost in translation. Thank you, GP, for posting the account of the Japanese soldier!
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I’m sure the translation leaves a lot to be desired, but at the moment it is the best I can do. The original article in completely in Japanese.
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Oh, GP, I did not know that you were doing the translation. I thought this had been submitted to you for publication. What a difficult task to translate Japanese text into English! You did a great job.
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This is Google’s work. There are a couple of Japanese-speaking readers, so I hope they will read the original (via the link I provided) and make sure this translation is accurate.
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Kind of reminds me of the Clint Eastwood movie, “Letters From Iwo Jima”. Sad that they were trained to never surrender. So many lives were needlessly lost on both sides, due to this inflexible policy.
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I read that they did not have the word retreat in their language, so the officers developed, ‘about-face and advance.’
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Well, that just goes to show there’s a loophole in everything.
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Interesting to read how the Japanese soldiers experienced the war
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Thank you for dropping in to read it, Gunnar.
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So compelling. We are right there with them as we read. I’m praying that reading your records, people who would lead us into war again will learn valuable lessons.
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I’m hoping that myself, Karen. I’m glad you’re finding this interesting.
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You always know there is another side, another story, but you can easily forget that they are scared, driven, and that they have families waiting for them to come home. These stories are so interesting (can’t wait for part-2). Thanks for bringing them to us.
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My pleasure, Dan. I am thrilled that I am receiving so many wonderful comments about this post.
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Nice post Nasuko, and thanks for sharing it GP. Governments declare war, but it is left to the small people to fight them and pay the price, following orders but often with a “spun” version of why they must fight. Interesting to here about thing from the other side’s point of view. Looking forward to the next installment. Great post!
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Glad to hear that DC. I think it’s the only way to see the whole history.
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I always like your posts as it allows for objectivity and the human side of things. Usually, the Japanese are portrayed as the baddies. This post you shared reminds us that each soldier irregardless of which country they fought for was a son, father, brother or uncle. In any war, lives are lost. Also the cartoons are hilarious…so that is what the shark teeth drawn on the planes are for🤣🤣 and cloud camouflage is brilliant!👍
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I am very glad you can appreciate what I’m trying to do. Some people get a bit testy about showing the ‘other side’.
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As we mature in thinking, we get more objective in our views and can better appreciate things. Wars are caused alot by pride and eccentrics. Look at how Rocket Man and Orange Man are behaving and the mature ones are asking for peaceful outcomes, hopefully. Thanks for showing a balanced view as always😊
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It’s the only way to get a true picture of what happened. If our politicians were mature individuals and our media weren’t so greedy – we’d be a whole lot better off!!
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Not only interesting, but also important to hear the other side of this well-known battle. It gives us an insight, and shows that the Japanese soldiers were not just brainwashed fanatics, as they are often portrayed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Exactly, Pete. Nasuko came through with an perfect article.
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Great to hear that other view.
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Thank you. I feel it’s necessary to see the whole story.
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Glad that you do.
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There are two sides to every conflict. Good to read the Japanese side. Thanks to Nasuko.
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Yes it is, Rose. Nasuko is always very helpful.
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Will look forward to the rest of it.
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I’m glad to hear that.
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How great to hear from the other side. Well done!
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I was thrilled that Nasuko took the time to locate this for me. She deserves the credit!!
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Good post for too many seem to forget that there were others there also……chuq
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As he speaks, people can see just how human the enemy often is.
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I agree….too many do not see that….chuq
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Much appreciated my friend.
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