Okinawa’s Long Struggle Against Militarism

On an island torn by decades of war, there’s one small space dedicated to peace. Perched atop cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the island of Okinawa, the Cornerstone of Peace memorial park has row after row of black granite plinths bearing the names of over 241,000 people killed during the almost three-month-long Battle of Okinawa near the end of World War II. The names include those of Okinawan civilians, Japanese soldiers, U.S. and other Allied troops, as well as people from other nations who were on Okinawa and perished in the violence.- - -This episode originally appeared in the May/June 2020 issue of response, the award winning magazine from United Methodist Women.Visit www.UnitedMethodistWomen.org/response to find out more.