The Emperor's Flower Petals

On June 14, 1944, Taruo Kawacuchi, one of the defenders of Saipan, wrote in his diary: "The enemy has landed and the time has come at last. An impressive ceremony for our country was carried out at the Saipan Shrine."

Thereafter, as the merciless U.S. advance continued, Kawacuchi, a corpsman in a division hospital, made daily entries in his diary. He recorded, as well as it has been done anywhere, the strange mixture of animal courage and fatalism which motivates the U.S. enemy in the Pacific. This week, as a still greater Jap garrison on Okinawa felt the weight of U.S. arms, the Office of Censorship released Kawacuchi's diary [which had been found by a U.S. Naval officer]. Excerpts:

June 25—During the night moved the patients to the vicinity of Tara Hoke. It is regrettable but we had to abandon some supplies.

June 26—Some of the patients were committing suicide with hand grenades.

June 27—Slept well because of the sake we took last night. Was ordered by hospital commander to be prepared to attack the enemy with rifles, hand grenades, or bayonets attached to sticks.

June 28—I received a slight wound across the forehead. When the barrage subsided there were cries of pain and help.

July 2—At dawn visited the place where my friend lay dead with a bayonet wound in his head. Covered him with grass and leaves. Upon returning ate a meal of hard tack and pickled prunes. . . .

July 3—The situation cannot be comprehended. . . .

July 5—Lieut. Matsumai came to our dugout saying, "As long as I'm going to die, I want to die with the pharmacist's section." Also: "If this is going to be our grave let us make it clean." We attended to cleaning up the area. The furious assault of the enemy commenced. . . . Two men pathetically committed suicide due to severe wounds. The lieutenant and the pharmacist section bade farewell and promised to meet at the Yasukumi Shrine after death. I, with Lieut. Yamaguchi, was absorbed into the command section and was very happy.