My father dies instantly in front of my eyes
My father dies instantly in front of my eyes
Name: Yoneko Kiyan (26喜屋武米子)
Age at the time: 9 years old (born February 1935).
Status at the time: Third grader at national elementary school
[War breaks out during my fourth grade at elementary school]
The war started half way through my fourth grade in elementary school. The military ordered us to escape to the Yanbaru area, but the Yanbaru area only had the ocean and mountains, and there was nothing to eat, so I thought we would starve to death. My father was very knowledgeable about the south and he thought that if we went to the south, there would be farms and it might be possible to dig up some potatoes to eat, so we escaped to the south.
[My father dies instantly in front of my eyes]
One morning, they shot gas into the location where we were, so when we tried to get out, they dropped a white phosphorus shell on us. My younger sister was burned on her head and cheek by the white phosphorus shell and so we left early in the morning to find an air-raid shelter because we thought it was too dangerous to stay there. This happened the morning of the day my father passed away. My father came back, saying "I went out looking for a shelter, but I could not find any good place for us to stay." My father then said, "We should hide where we are now by stacking up a stone wall." It was when he was starting to stack up the stones that my father was hit by a bomb. A large fragment of a bomb hit my father in his stomach and gouged out his hands and above his eyes. I could hardly look at him. He was killed instantly. We placed his body in a small hole and we talked about burying him by stacking up stones.
[Last words of a soldier]
It was the day they gassed us. Many Japanese troops were hiding behind rocks facing the ocean. All the soldiers hiding there had been burned from attacks by the American troops, and some had been hideously burned and died. One little boy soldier was sniffling and saying "I’m hungry, I’m hungry." My father was worried about the child and he went out to look for him later, but could not find him and just as my father was saying "Perhaps he was burned to death by an artillery shell" we saw another boy soldier running out, engulfed in flames. He came running over to the water bucket that was a little distance away from where we were and poured the water over himself. His skin was inflamed, with skin drooping down, his face was bloated and he was unable to see. This boy soldier faced north and prayed "Father, mother I wish you life with good health." He did not say "Long live the Emperor" but he was praying for his father and mother.
[When she cries again, kill her]
This was an event that occurred at Mabuni village. My little sister, the third one younger than me, was a whiny child and perhaps she was hungry, and so she just kept crying. One unknown soldier came over with a gun and told my father "When she cries again, kill her with this gun. If the enemy hears her and attacks, everyone will be affected" and he left the gun and walked away. Another soldier came over with a hand grenade and told my uncle, "When the enemy approaches, protect your children with this" and he left the hand grenade. When the soldier was gone my uncle said angrily "How am I supposed to protect them with a single hand grenade; is he telling me to kill us all?" Then another soldier came over and said, "A war is a fight between soldiers, so civilians will not be harmed. There is therefore no need for civilians to die. If we lose, become a prisoner of war", as he left. It made me think, people are different from each other, some are bad and some are good.
Name: Yoneko Kiyan (26喜屋武米子)
Age at the time: 9 years old (born February 1935).
Status at the time: Third grader at national elementary school
[War breaks out during my fourth grade at elementary school]
The war started half way through my fourth grade in elementary school. The military ordered us to escape to the Yanbaru area, but the Yanbaru area only had the ocean and mountains, and there was nothing to eat, so I thought we would starve to death. My father was very knowledgeable about the south and he thought that if we went to the south, there would be farms and it might be possible to dig up some potatoes to eat, so we escaped to the south.
[My father dies instantly in front of my eyes]
One morning, they shot gas into the location where we were, so when we tried to get out, they dropped a white phosphorus shell on us. My younger sister was burned on her head and cheek by the white phosphorus shell and so we left early in the morning to find an air-raid shelter because we thought it was too dangerous to stay there. This happened the morning of the day my father passed away. My father came back, saying "I went out looking for a shelter, but I could not find any good place for us to stay." My father then said, "We should hide where we are now by stacking up a stone wall." It was when he was starting to stack up the stones that my father was hit by a bomb. A large fragment of a bomb hit my father in his stomach and gouged out his hands and above his eyes. I could hardly look at him. He was killed instantly. We placed his body in a small hole and we talked about burying him by stacking up stones.
[Last words of a soldier]
It was the day they gassed us. Many Japanese troops were hiding behind rocks facing the ocean. All the soldiers hiding there had been burned from attacks by the American troops, and some had been hideously burned and died. One little boy soldier was sniffling and saying "I’m hungry, I’m hungry." My father was worried about the child and he went out to look for him later, but could not find him and just as my father was saying "Perhaps he was burned to death by an artillery shell" we saw another boy soldier running out, engulfed in flames. He came running over to the water bucket that was a little distance away from where we were and poured the water over himself. His skin was inflamed, with skin drooping down, his face was bloated and he was unable to see. This boy soldier faced north and prayed "Father, mother I wish you life with good health." He did not say "Long live the Emperor" but he was praying for his father and mother.
[When she cries again, kill her]
This was an event that occurred at Mabuni village. My little sister, the third one younger than me, was a whiny child and perhaps she was hungry, and so she just kept crying. One unknown soldier came over with a gun and told my father "When she cries again, kill her with this gun. If the enemy hears her and attacks, everyone will be affected" and he left the gun and walked away. Another soldier came over with a hand grenade and told my uncle, "When the enemy approaches, protect your children with this" and he left the hand grenade. When the soldier was gone my uncle said angrily "How am I supposed to protect them with a single hand grenade; is he telling me to kill us all?" Then another soldier came over and said, "A war is a fight between soldiers, so civilians will not be harmed. There is therefore no need for civilians to die. If we lose, become a prisoner of war", as he left. It made me think, people are different from each other, some are bad and some are good.
