prepare a chart on horror of war
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For those who experienced World War II in the Pacific, living through combat was truly a hell on earth. Literally hundreds of thousands of people — soldiers and civilians alike — were killed or wounded. To make this film, producers Austin Hoyt and Melissa Martin spoke to many survivors, whose memories reveal the horrors of war. Read a few of their stories.An Okinawan Civilian's War
Shige Nakahodo
Okinawan resident
Lived through the American invasion
On our way to Mabuni, we saw numerous bodies in the area of the current Memorial of Himeyuri. The bodies were as black as buffalo and were all swollen. We could no longer distinguish men from women. We could not stand the smell of the bodies. Cotton balls in my nose did not prevent the bad smell, and I used mugwort leaves instead. As soon as we arrived at Mabuni, a bomb exploded nearby, whose fragment is still in my forehead. The next day, I found my mother alive. We did not know where to go. So, we followed other refugees and encountered a hell on earth. We saw dead bodies, crying and screaming people, and a person who was begging to be shot to death. It was total chaos.
Read more about the civilian experience on Okinawa.
Facing a Suicide Bomber
Walter Moore
Tank battalion officer, First Marine Division
Took part in the invasion of Okinawa
The Japanese army had these spider traps with about 50 pounds of picric acid filler. It's a kind of a classic sight you didn't want to see at the time. They'd have a white bandana with a Japanese flag, bunch of hieroglyphics. They'd have this 50 pounds on their back, and literally stagger with it, because they're little guys -- come pop out of the hole and go right for the suspension system, and stick their head in it, blow themselves up. And you know what was horrifying about this, if I may say so, is that it didn't rain much. When it was real dry, you'd see chunks on the tank armor that look wet like mud. And you'd go over and scratch it, and it'd be human flesh. They'd literally blow themselves up.
Read about Japan's Ketsu-Go policy at the end of the war.
A Nurse's Waking Nightmare
Ruri Miyara
18-year-old student nurse in 1945
Survived a phosphorous attack on Okinawa
The [American] voice said, "We are going to blow up this cave if you don't come out!" No one responded. Then, explosives were thrown into the cave, the people near the entrance fell to the ground, and white smoke filled the cave. I couldn't see anything and couldn't breathe... Everybody started screaming, "Mother, help me!" "Father, help me!" "Teacher, help me!" "I can't breathe!" ...The more we tried to speak, the more we suffered. But we couldn't stop asking for help. Many people died while asking for help. I lost consciousness... The teacher came to me and removed me from the pile of dead bodies saying, "You are alive!" ...I could barely move. I crawled to my friend nearby and asked her to sit aside so that I could lie down next to her. She did not respond. I repeated my words. She still ignored me. And then, a friend of mine said, "What are you doing? She is dead. They are all dead. It's been three days since the gas bombs were thrown into the cave." I realized for the first time that most of my friends were dead. I looked around and found that there were bodies everywhere. Some were without heads or arms. I was like a living corpse at that time.
Dangers in the Air
Harry George
B-29 co-pilot
Survived fighter plane attacks
When the flak stopped, then the fighter planes would come in and try to ram you. You've probably heard of this thing called a baka bomb. It's a suicide Japanese rocket plane. We first heard them described as an orange ball of fire. They'd strap his baka bomb, his rocket plane, under a twin engine betty bomber and they'd go over the target when there's a lot of B-29s streaming over the target. Then they'd release down. He'd have about 10 minutes of fuel, and an arming lever on the front of it, and he's the only one in it. No landing gear. He was told to go ahead and ram a B-29. And they did that several times. Matter of fact, the 25th of May mission that we had, I looked out to the right and I could see another 29. A friend of mine, it seemed like the baka bomb came down right from behind him, and just hit the plane in about the center. And the whole thing blew up at that time. So it's quite a fearsome sight.
Learn more about Harry George's wartime experience, and why the U.S. needed Iwo Jima.