Teruto Tsubota
Teruto "Terry" Tsubota (
After the war, Tsubota stayed in Okinawa Prefecture. In 1947, he married Kiyoko, a young local woman who had survived being conscripted by the Imperial Japanese Army as a nurse and whom he met in a refugee camp.[2] Together, they raised three children. He retired from the U.S. government service in January 1993. Tsubota remained a hero to the Okinawans as the man who personally prevented many combat deaths and civilian suicides during the battle.[3] The Japanese Army forces had misled the native Okinawan population that they would suffer rape and violence from the invading Allied forces; they urged Okinawans to kill themselves or others in advance of defeat.
He accompanied Okinawa's governor and other officials during Bill Clinton's visit to the prefecture in 2000,[1] and was one of the honored guests at the 59th anniversary of the battle held in the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in 2004.[4]
In 2007, the story of Tsubota and his fellow Japanese-American translators was told by James C. McNaughton in Nisei Linguists: Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service During World War II.[5]
Teruto Tsubota died in Lihue, Hawaii, at the age of 90.[6]
References
- ^ a b Defiant soldier saved lives of hundreds of civilians during Okinawa battle, Stars and Stripes, April 1, 2005
- ^ At 60th anniversary, Battle of Okinawa survivors recall 'Typhoon of Steel', Stars and Stripes, April 1, 2005
- ^ WWII interpreter saved civilians: The Hilo-born soldier was honored for his efforts on Okinawa, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 26, 2004
- ^ Thousands honor 59th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, Stars and Stripes, June 25, 2004
- ^ Book lauds unheralded Nisei translators, Stars and Stripes, June 23, 2007
- ^ Obituaries for Sunday, June 2, 2013, The Garden Island