PERSONAL FOCUS:
TAKEJIRO HIGA - Military Intelligence Service
Okinawa,
the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, is located off the southern
tip of Japan, 2.5 hours by plane from Tokyo. During World War
II, the Battle of Okinawa became the most significant battle of
the Pacific war. For the invasion of Okinawa, the United States
assembled the largest naval force in the Pacific war involving
1,300 ships. During the 82-day battle (April 1-June 21, 1945)
more than 250,000 people died, more people than in the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Americans suffered more than
48,000 casualties compared to the Japanese Army's 107,000 dead
and Okinawan civilian casualties estimated at 100,000.
Takejiro Higa fought in the Battle of Okinawa and survived to
talk about it. For Takejiro, the battle had deep personal significance.
Though born in Hawaii, he spent most of his youth in Okinawa.
In recalling the invasion, Takejiro stated, "I had tears
in my eyes - knowing that my relatives [were] all out there. But
I had a duty to perform. I had no choice. It was different with
my brother. My brother spent only three years. I spent 14 years."
Takejiro recalled, "I was born in Waipahu. When I was two,
my mother took me, my brother Warren who was five, and our eight-year-old
sister Yuriko to Okinawa to meet our paternal grandparents. My
father stayed in Hawaii to run our family store." Three years
later, Takejiro’s father traveled to Okinawa to accompany
his family back to Hawaii. Unfortunately, Takejiro's mother was
ill and unable to travel. So the decision was made - Warren and
Yuriko would return to Hawaii with their father. Takejiro, who
was five, would stay with his mother.
This was the last time Takejiro would see his father. Six years
later, tragedy hit the Higa family when both his father and grandfather
died in the same year. The following year both his mother and
grandmother died. At age 12, Takejiro was an orphan in Okinawa.
Luckily his father's younger brother adopted him.
In 1939, Takejiro turned 16 and faced the possibility of being
forced to work in Manchuria. He made a fateful decision. "I
wrote to my sister in Hawaii and asked her to sponsor my return
before the Japanese Army grabbed me." Shortly thereafter,
he returned to Hawaii. It had been 14 years since he left and
Takejiro struggled to learn English.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941 and
the United States declared war. The Higa brothers both volunteered
for the Army, volunteering for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team,
but they were not selected for some unknown reason. A few months
later, a letter from the War Department asked if they would be
willing to serve in the Military Intelligence Service as interpreters/translators
in the Pacific war. There their Japanese language skills would
be put to good use.
Takejiro and Warren were sent overseas together and served in
New Guinea and then in the Philippines. They were part of the
American forces engaged in "island hopping," the conquering
of small but strategic islands that would be used as stepping
stones to Japan. The "island hopping" plan was proposed
by General Douglas MacArthur, with the intent to save American
lives by cutting off the Japanese rather than invading every Pacific
island held by the Japanese. As plans moved ahead for the invasion
of Japan, the strategic importance of the island of Okinawa grew.
The Army "brass" was made aware of Takejiro's many
years in Okinawa. His knowledge of Okinawa helped clarify some
misconceptions. Large aerial photos of the island appeared to
show that it was heavily fortified. Takejiro gave the intelligence
officers a crash course in Okinawan culture. What was viewed as
hillside fortifications were actually traditional Okinawan burial
tombs. The crater-like holes believed to be machine-gun nests
were actually farm composting pits. As the Okinawan invasion day
approached, Takejiro was torn between the performance of his military
duties and his cultural and family ties. But in the end he resolved
to do his best to help his unit.
Landing on the western side of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, 60,000
American troops surprisingly experienced no opposition. They did
not know that the Japanese Army, more than 100,000 strong, were
hidden in a network of caves and tunnels waiting to ambush them.
The ensuing battle would be bloody.
Takejiro’s familiarity with the landscape and knowledge
of the Okinawan dialect proved to be very valuable in separating
the few captured military personnel from civilians. One prisoner
said that he was from a local Okinawan village. Takejiro's knowledge
of the village and Okinawan language showed that the man was a
Japanese colonel posing as a civilian. (The Battle of Okinawa
resulted in a small number of captured prisoners; most died in
combat or committed suicide rather than surrender).
Because of his ability to speak the Okinawan dialect, Takejiro
was able to provide much needed assistance to the civilian population
caught between the warring armies. In one instance he was able
to help a prisoner Americans believed to be a Japanese soldier
trying to pass as a civilian. Speaking to him in the Okinawan
dialect, Takejiro discovered he was one of his former schoolteachers.
As a result, the man was sent to a civilian refugee center instead
of a prisoner of war camp. On another occasion, Takejiro saved
hundreds of civilians hiding in a cave. Again, using the Okinawan
dialect, he was able to assure the civilians that they would not
be harmed. Luckily they believed him and came out unharmed. They
were all on the verge of committing mass suicide with hand grenades
believing the Japanese propaganda that all American soldiers were
cruel. Years later Takejiro met one of the women he had saved
on that day. She warmly thanked him for saving her life and told
him how close they were to killing themselves.
In
an interview with the Go For Broke National Education Center, Takejiro
recalled his service in the MIS, ". . . I was afraid I might
be sent to somewhere that I might run into somebody I know - relatives
or classmates. . .But come to think about it now, I'm glad I was
sent to Pacific. And. . .without firing a single shot of my carbine
I was able to discharge my obligation as an American soldier.
And at same time, some help to the people I grew up with. . ."
The number of people killed in the battle of Okinawa saddens
Takejiro. However, he feels at peace knowing that he saved many
lives - both American and Okinawan. Takejiro went to war and found
peace. After the war Takejiro sought to make the most of his life.
He returned to Hawaii and attended the University of Hawaii majoring
in business and accounting. He later worked as an Internal Revenue
Service agent. As a father and grandfather, he shares his experiences
with his children and grandchildren because, "They should
know [the] difficult time their parents and grandparents experienced.”
Okinawa
is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It is the largest of
the 160 islands of the Ryukyu Island chain that comprise the prefecture.
Okinawa is located about 2.5 hours by plane from Tokyo. Okinawa
is also 1.5 hours from Shanghai and Taiwan. The strategic location
of the island is a historical fact in the war in the Pacific during
World War II.
Okinawa was the last stop before the invasion of the main islands
of Japan. As a result, it was an important WWII battle for both
the U.S. and Japan. During the 82 days of the Battle of Okinawa,
American casualties numbered 12,000 killed (including 5,000 Navy
dead and almost 8,000 Marines and Army dead). The Japanese losses
were enormous: 107, 539 killed and 23,764 sealed in caves or buried
by the Japanese themselves; 10,755 captured or surrendered. The
Okinawan civilian casualties were estimated at more than 100,000.
The invasion of Okinawa was code named Operation Iceberg. The
largest naval armada ever assembled numbering some 1,300 ships
were involved in the assault of the island. Of that number, 34
were sunk; mostly by kamikazes and 368 ships and craft were damaged.
American loss of life and the determined defense of the Japanese
in Okinawa played an influential role in the decision to use the
atomic bomb in Japan. Based on the Battle of Okinawa, a million
deaths were projected as the casualty numbers in an invasion of
Japan.
ACTIVITIES
Framework Standards Context
California Standards
Grade 11
11.7 Students analyze the American participation in World War
II
