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CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan - A crowd sat in complete silence
Dec. 9, 2014 at the Hansen Theater as one of the few remaining Imperial
Japanese Navy veterans of World War II entered the room. Slowly, he
made his way toward the stage. Although the beginning focus of his
life was in a time of war, he quickly changed his view of the world.
Rather than losing faith in the chaos, he found it.
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Marines with Paul Saneaki Nakamura, from Naha, Okinawa, Dec. 9,
2014 at Camp Hansen, Okinawa. Nakamura spoke about his life
experiences as a World War II veteran and Anglican Church bishop. Nakamura is a retired Anglican Church bishop and a prior service World War II veteran with Special Missions Unit, Japanese Imperial Navy Air Corps, Imperial Japan. The Marines are with various units assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tyler S. Giguere)
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“The ultimate message I wanted everyone to leave here
with is that arms will never achieve peace,” said Paul
Saneaki Nakamura, a retired Anglican Church bishop and a
veteran with Special Missions Unit, Japanese Imperial Navy
Air Corps, Imperial Japanese Navy. “Peace only comes through
discussion, dialogue and an understanding of each other.”
Nakamura, from Naha, Okinawa, was trained as a pilot
with the special mission designation of kamikaze pilot.
Kamikaze pilots were trained specifically to crash their
planes into American naval vessels in an effort to maximize
American casualties and halt their advance in the Pacific.
“One of my desires with (this talk) was to help the Marines
understand the mindset of an individual willing to give up
their life, tying back into the conflicts of today with
Afghanistan and Iraq,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Andrew W. Burns, a
chaplain with 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine
Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF. “It has to
do with the beliefs and the faith the individual has,
whether in a divine being or an emperor. We can compare and
contrast what causes these decisions.”
With the high
casualty rates suffered by both sides during the war, the
chance to speak with veterans is a unique occasion.
“I really wanted to see this. This (was) a once in a
lifetime opportunity to hear someone's story from a
different perspective, and I gained a lot of insight from
it,” said Lance Cpl. Max A. Arias, a chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear defense specialist with the
battalion. “I feel really appreciative that he, for one,
wanted to come and talk to us about this tough experience in
his life, and I thank him for that.”
Although
Nakamura started his speech with the tales of his wartime
experiences and tragedies, he also tied in his life as an
active member of the Anglican Church.
“I am very
appreciative of the opportunity today to share my experience
through war and to share how I found true freedom and peace
through God,” said Nakamura. “Despite the hardships I
endured, becoming a Christian has given me faith, joy and
hope again.”
Nakamura lost friends, family and even
lost his faith in a man he had regarded as a god during the
war, the emperor of Imperial Japan.
“Mainland Japan
severed Okinawa at the (27th parallel north) and separated
Okinawa from the rest of Japan,” said Nakamura. “We gave our
lives and placed our loyalty wholeheartedly to the emperor,
and he betrayed and severed Okinawa. And that is the time I
decided to stop worshiping the emperor.”
At the close
of the presentation, many attendees left with a new
perspective on the war from the Japanese side that they
never had before.
“We are all driven by something,
whether that is a faith in a higher power, faith in an
emperor, or faith in God,” said Burns, from Mount Desert,
Maine. “We are ultimately spiritual beings. It is all
something that drives us. Whether we were created by a god
or evolution or something, we all put our faith into
believing something that allows us to live our lives.”
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Tyler S. Giguere
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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