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By Pierre V. Comtois
Close to the northern end of the island of Tokashiki, the largest member of a tiny group of islands called Kerama Retto, located 15 miles west of Okinawa and hardly 400 miles from the Japanese home islands, Corporal Alexander Roberts and the rest of the 306th Regimental Combat Team rested for the night beneath the starry skies of the northern Pacific. It was a welcome respite from the previous three days of tension-filled landings and clashes with resisting Japanese troops.
Suddenly, the eerie silence of the night was interrupted by a series of dull explosions and the subsequent screams and wails of the injured from farther inland. The next morning, Roberts and his fellows, in seeking out the source of the sounds, discovered a small valley filled with over 150 dead and dying Japanese civilians. As a result of official warnings of the barbarous practices of the invading Americans, fathers had throttled their families before disembowling themselves. In some places, three generations lay mangled together beside the bodies of their patriarchs who themselves had been torn apart by the self-inflicted blasts of hand grenades. As the American soldiers did what they could dispensing food and medical care, survivors who had killed their loved ones only hours before wept with the realization of the enormity of their error.
Such a scene was only the beginning of the tragedies to be visited upon the Japanese people already overburdened with the human cost of year
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13 thoughts on “Kerama Retto: Key to Victory at Okinawa”
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13 thoughts on “Kerama Retto: Key to Victory at Okinawa”
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Thank you for this extremely detailed and well-written article. I believe my grandfather, a Metalsmith, was on an ARDC anchored near Kerama-Retto working to repair US ships damaged fighting the Japanese. This article was very enlightening. I appreciate reading some of the perspective of the Japanese civilians as well. Thank you.
Great information-thanks for posting. My grandfather participated in the campaign aboard the USS Forrest DMS-24, part of MinDiv 58. The ship was struck by a kamikaze on May 27th 1945 and retired to the Kerama islands for temporary repairs: 6 sailors of their crew perished and up to 20 were wounded. May God rest their souls. Ms Jen-perhaps your grandfather was one of many who worked on my granpa’s ship to repair it for its return journey to the USA in June thru July 1945? Thank you for his service. V/r JS
In October 2017 I had an article published in the now defunct “America in WWII” magazine titled “Inside the Mind of the Kamikaze!” It was taken from data collected in the Museum for Peace, the Kamikaze pilot’s museum near Kagoshima, Japan. It was really enlightening to hear what those young pilots thought on the days before they died. The suicides on the Kerama Islands bear out how the Japanese felt about their ultimate defeat.
I wasn’t aware that America in WWII had folded. Thanks for the news. They agreed to buy one of my articles several times, but then I couldn’t get them to respond to my emails. A character issue, I think. Found your website, look forward to reading your articles.
I appreciate the very detailed story about the Kerama Islands invasion. To honor my Dad, Aviation Electrician PO 2nd class Wallace K. Anderson, I wrote a story to share with my family about the kamikaze-style attack on his ship, the USS St. George a seaplane tender at Kerama Retto on May 6th, 1945 (the date is often recorded as May 5th but I believe this was due to all naval communications ignoring the international date line). The story was about an artifact he brought home from the war, an engine valve he picked up (against orders) after the attack and the plane it belonged to – the Japanese Army aircraft Ki-61 Hein.
Greatly appreciate this article. My father was on board the SS Hobbs Victory as a naval armed guard gunner on April 6. They were unloading mortar ammo for the Marine landings.The Hobbs and the Logan Victory were both sunk that day by Kamikaze raids. I understand that tactics of the landings had to be altered because of the loses of these ships and supplies. I only learned of these events just before his passing in 2007. He never spoke of it growing up. Still filling in
many details of that day. This helps much. Thank you..Chuck Walker. USN Vietnam ‘69-‘70
Side note: Okinawans are an ethnic sub group of Japanese and the relationship since the end of WW II has not always been smooth. Okinawans believe that the main island Japanese used Okinawans as cannon fodder to slow the American forces during the final months of the war and as a result civilian casualties were quite high. In return, the main island Japanese do not always see Okinawans as fully Japanese, feelings which are often mutual.
Another fine artical
You have obviously done a lot of research to put together this article. I lived on Zamami-son, Kerama-retto, Okinawa-ken, Japan, for 3 years 2000-2003 and interviewed a number of local islander survivors and a Japanese ex-soldier about the island’s WWII history. I also corresponded with the family of a deceased US soldier with the intention of uncovering an accurate record of WWII events on Zamami, Aka and Geruma. I handed over my research to the Zamami Village Office in 2019. Since then, Zamami, with the efforts of local CIR Jaime Cerna, has created this wonderful website: https://zamami-peace.net and made additional efforts to commemorate sites of historical significance on the islands. Please take a look.
My dad was there on the Shannon, DM-25.
Your work is excellent, but I am unable to confirm the dates of one event that is evading me. My father who was on the LCS(L)(3)-17 said that after the landing they sailed to Naha and then rendezvoused at Kerama Retto, where they were attacked by Kamikaze aircraft; but I have been unable to place a date on this attack. He said that this action, during which fifty-three Kamikazes were shot down, was the most memorable part of his naval career. He himself downed three Kamikazes in this attack. As the landing was on April 1, this could have been the attack associated with the USS Newcomb on April 6; but your presentation implies that the latter was during preparation for the invasion, not after the landing, which leaves me a bit uncertain. Are you able to direct me to a source that may tie down the date of the attack associated with the LCS(L)(3)-17?
My father (William C Bolte) was in air-sea rescue and his plane arrived at the islands a day early. Here is his brief recounting of his event
After seeing the large number of ships, our pilot (Lieut JG, Maynard Kouns) told us that we were to land (on water) at a place called Keramma Rhetto. (you should forgive the spelling), and that someone had provided us with the intelligence that the Island didn’t have any shanty-eyed troops. This information dated about 1933 we really didn’t know anything and for all the information we had we could expect to be fired on as soon as we tried to land. We all knew that Military Intelligence is an oxymoron. So, I along with several others was expecting to hear machine gun fire as soon as we leveled off for landing. The bay where we were instructed to land is within easy .50 caliber machine gun range to where we touched down. It would have been like shooting ducks.
Next we found spot to anchor a buoy and we did just that. The surprise came after dark when some of our picket boats discovered that our hosts were planning to send swimmers out to place explosives against the side of the aircraft. Everyone was trigger happy. I, a “Medic” was forbidden by the Geneva Convention from carrying a weapon. The Japanese had never signed the document and felt free to maim, kill or mutilate their sworn enemies: us. Consequently I was armed with a Thomson sub-machine gun, a thirty eight special revolver. and two percussion grenades. Each enlisted member of the crew had to stand watch for couple of hours from atop the wing to spot any attempt on our wellbeing.. I was the last member to receive a weapon so I got the Thompson which is quite heavy compared to the .30 caliber carbines that everyone else was allotted. I never fired the gun except for one occasion, just before dusk, when I saw someone on the shore and opened fire. It was stretching the range of the .45 caliber weapon so it is doubtful that I did any more than scare the getas off of the intended victim.
My father Lt. Comdr. Roger L. Alaux was killed by a kamikaze attack on 1 May 1945. He was the Fleet Staff Officer responsible for the net defenses and assigned to the cruiser USS Terror. The Terror lay at anchor in Kerala Retto where it was attacked. 171 casualties: 41 dead 7 missing and 123 wounded.