Last Letters of Second Lieutenant Hidehiko Nakajima to His Family
On June 8, 1945, Second Lieutenant Hidehiko Nakajima
took off from Bansei Air Base and died in a special (suicide) attack
west of Okinawa at the age of 23. He was leader of the 144th Shinbu Squadron, which also had the name of
4th Tsurugi (Sword) Squadron. He piloted an Army Hayabusa
Type 1 Fighter (Allied code name of Oscar). After his death in a special attack,
he received a promotion to Captain. He was from Nakatsu City in Ōita Prefecture and graduated
from the Imperial Japanese Army Air Academy in the 57th Class.
The last three postcards from Nakajima arrived together in June at his home without
his writing any date on them. They each had a postmark from Kaseda Town in Kagoshima
Prefecture, which was where Bansei Air Base was located, but the date could not be made out. They had no return address.
These three postcards have been translated below:
To Father:
Dear Father, now I am here. In a few hours will be the sortie, and I will
show you a splendid sinking with an explosion. I have arranged my personal
items and sent them. From here I will take only my military sword. Sincerest
regards.
To Mother:
Thank you for everything you have done. It will be a fine sortie a few
hours later. Take care of yourself. Pardon me for leaving a step
before you. Farewell.
To Younger Sister:
Your older brother goes bravely to the Sea of OO [1]. Now I have few words to
say. Just cry your eyes out at the complete destruction of the arrogant
enemy. Take care of yourself.
Nakajima also wrote the following death poem in tanka form (31-syllable poem
with lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables):
My hometown
Father, mother, and fellow countrymen
I go to battle
To destroy haughty enemy
For country's prosperity
Letters and poem translated by Bill Gordon
March 2010 (letters)
June 2024 (poem)
The letters come from Shirakawa (2002, 101-2). The poem comes from Tokkōtai
Senbotsusha (1999, 131). The biographical information on this page comes
from Naemura (1993, 179) and Osuo (2005, 206).
Eiko Shirakawa wrote the book
Sara no hana: "Tokkō" Okinawa no
umi ni chiru, Nakajima Hidehiko no kiroku (Sal flower: Dying in
special attack in Sea of Okinawa, record of Hidehiko Nakajima) (2002),
which contains about 80 letters and postcards primarily written by Hidehiko
Nakajima with most from the period after his entrance into the Army Air Academy
on April 1, 1941.
Note
1. The word "Okinawa" appears to have been
censored here in the postcard.
Sources Cited
Naemura, Hichirō. 1993. Rikugun saigo no tokkō kichi: Bansei tokkōtaiin no isho to isatsu (Army's last special attack base: Last
letters and photographs of Bansei special attack corps members). Ōsaka: Tōhō
Shuppan.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Shirakawa, Eiko. 2002.
Sara no hana: "Tokkō" Okinawa no
umi ni chiru, Nakajima Hidehiko no kiroku (Sal flower: Dying in
special attack in Sea of Okinawa, record of Hidehiko Nakajima). Tōkyō: Bungeisha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai
Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1999. Tokkōtai iei shū
(Special Attack Corps death poem collection). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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