Dearest Parents, Words cannot express my gratitude to you. It is my hope that this last act of striking a blow at the enemy will serve to repay in small measure the wonderful things you have done for me….I shall be satisfied if my final efforts serves as recompense for the heritage bequeathed by our ancestors.My dear parents….I shall be leaving this earth tomorrow morning forever. Your immense love for me fills my entire being down to my last hair. And that is what makes this so hard to accept: the idea that with the disappearance of my body, this tenderness will also vanish. But I am impelled by my duty. I sincerely beg you to forgive me for not having been able to fulfill all my family obligations…..

My greatest regret in this life is the failure to call you chichiue [revered father]. I regret not having given any demonstration of the true respect which I have always had for you. During my final plunge, although you will not hear it, you may be sure I will be saying “chichiue” to you and thinking of all you’ve done for me.

This is my last day. The destiny of our homeland hinges on the decisive battle in the seas to the south, where I shall fall like a blossom from a radiant cherry tree….I am grateful from the depths of my heart to the parents who reared me with their constant prayers and tender love. And I am grateful as well to my squadron leader and superiors officers, who have looked after me as if I were their own son and given me such careful training.

Letters from Kamikaze pilots right before their terrifying acts during the Okinawa campaign.

So much devotion to family and to their country and yet, their country deceived their intentions. So much ignorance and point blank lying lead to Japan’s defeat and to their countries disgrace of their own fighting force.

The Battle for Okinawa is what some people called the most decisive battle of World War II. That is probably right because it cost 340,000 lives. Both combatants and civilians.

Although there isn’t a feature film on the battle of Okinawa, you should still go out and see/rent/own Letters From Iwo Jima AND Flags Of Our Fathers. ( With both already rating as two of the best films of all time, I don’t see why you shouldn’t own them ) Iwo Jima was like Okinawa except…there were no civilians present during the battle, unlike in Okinawa.

Letters cited from The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb by George Feifer.