“Draft:Tsuruji akikusa”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Tsuruji Akikusa was born on January 7, 1927 to Kohei and Masu Akikusa. He lived in the village of Yabegawa (modern day Ashikaga, Tochigi). The village only had 323 residents and fifty-two houses. It mostly consisted of farms with the exception of a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple. Tsuruji lived on a farm with his family. He was the elder of two brothers. Together, his family harvested rice, grew rice, and raised poultry. ^[1]

On September 10, 1937, his father Kohei Akikusa, an army reservist, was ordered to report to duty to China. This was a couple of months after conflict erupted between Japanese and Chinese at the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. He returned on February 10, 1939. ^[2] There were relatives of Tsuruji that did not return from war. Two of his uncles and two of his cousins were killed during World War Two.^[3]

At the beginning of World War Two, Tsuruji became fascinated with planes and wanted to be a pilot. He took exams to be admitted in the Yokaren flight school program but he was sent to the Yokosuka Navy Base Recruit Training Depot No.2 to become a sailor. His father did not want him to become a pilot due how dangerous it was and instructed a friend to send Tsuruji to Yokosuka Navy Base instead. While there, he endured a brutal boot camp where he was beaten and screamed at. There were times when he was inadequately fed.He endured the training and graduated on October 31, 1942 with the rank of Seaman Third Class. He then was sent to Yokosuka Ysushin Gakko (communications school) to be become a radio operator. He received Morse code training and attended classes about radio operation.He graduated as a radioman on July 22, 1943 and ordered to duty at the Yokosuka Mutsuai Communications Unit.^[4]

After two short leaves home, Tsuruji was sent to Chichi Jima aboard the Enju Maru. On July 28, 1944, he arrived on Chicihi Jima along with sailors and soldiers aboard the Enju Maru. After a brief stay on the island and surviving an air raid by the U.S. Navy, Akikusa and his fellow radiomen boarded a Type-2 SB(T) landing craft and were taken to Iwo Jima.^[5]

Tsuruji Akikusa arrived at Iwo Jima on July 30, 1944. Before disembarking their landing craft, U.S. Navy aircraft were spotted. Akikusa was pushed out of the landing craft by the sailors and soldiers behind him. He struggled to find cover as aircraft were strafing the ground around him. He tried to take cover behind a cluster of trees and bushes but was forced to leave by a soldier in a camouflaged anti-aircraft gun emplacement.^[6]

He eventually made his way to the Nampo` Shoto` Shirei-bu (Southern Area Islands Naval HQ) bunker complex, which was were he was to be stationed. There he was happy to find two men of his friends Shoji Kageyama and Yasuo Kumakura that he lost at the beach where they landed. The Nanpo` bunker was large enough to house 800 men. It hand enough food,water, and ammunition to hold out for three months. It was built into the ground and had a large tunnel network that was connected to it. Akikusa was given a tour of the bunker, which was made easier by kerosene lamps and electric lights set-up in the bunker. After seeing the various parts of the multi-layered bunker, he was directed to his communications station and shown the radio equipment he would be using. Besides just working in the Nanpo` bunker, he delivered messages and operated communication equipment in the Tamana-yama Communications unit bunker, Kitano Communications Unit bunker, and the Air Flotilla Headquarters Bunker.^[7]

While soldiers and sailors were required to dig tunnels, which would total to about eleven miles, Akikusa and other radio operators were exempt from that duty to prevent their fingers from being damaged so they could transmit messages. Like all Japanese soldiers and sailors, they were restricted to one cup of water a day on an island that had no natural bodies of water. At the Nanpo` bunker, the communications room was far underground where it was the hottest and he smelled the powerful odor of sulfur that was omitted from the volcanic island. He had to keep his headphones on for six hour shifts to listen for messages being sent to Iwo Jima while enduring these strenuous conditions.^[8]

On February 16, 1945, Tsuruji Akikusa observed the arrival of American warships off the coast of Iwo Jima. After moments of aerial bombardments,to Akikusa, it appeared that the invasion of Iwo Jima was imminent. Instead of seeing land craft full of Marines approaching the island, US Navy F6F hellcats and P-38s appeared in the sky and began to strafe the island with .50 caliber machine gun fire.Battleships and cruisers opened fire on Iwo Jima and Akikusa felt the ground shaking violently. He saw truckloads of dirt and soil being blasted into the sky. Some of the time he could not see anything due to the massive amount of dust.There was a break in the bombardment when it began to rain. Japanese soldiers and sailors took this time to collect rainwater before burrowing back into their forfeited positions. Tunnels and bunkers were excavated in the breaks in the bombardment, which would continue till the invasion on February 19.^[9]

On February 19, Akikusa watched boats and Amphibious Assault Vehicles approach the beach and drop off Marines. Their numbers soon grew into the thousands. He began to hear the sound of Japanese bugles were being played to rally the defending forces. The lyrics behind the music was dete kuru, dete kuru, minna minna korose (come out, come out, kill them all). He received a message from soldiers from Kuribayshi Headquarters asking if the invasion had begun and another congratulating them for repelling the invasion, which angered him because it meant the Army was not engaged in the fight. When the beach became full, Japanese forces began to open fire. Kuribayshi witnessed Japanese rocket-bombs exploding where the Americans were landing. Though many were being hit by the fire, he noticed boats dropping off Marines at the beach and then going to pick up more from larger ships offshore. ^[10]

References

1. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=1-10}}
2. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=12-13}}
3. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=9}}
4. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=14-22}}
5. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=50-55}}
6. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=56-57}}
7. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=58-59; 67, 93, 95}}
8. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jim|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=64-65}}
9. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=108-110}}
10. ^{{Cite book|title=A Tomb Called Iwo Jima|last=King|first=Dan|publisher=Pacific Press|year=2014|isbn=|location=|pages=117-118}}