12/07/1941

How do I begin to describe what I have witnessed? Destruction and terror, the likes of which have never been seen. Arizona still smokes, the black billows rising high into the sky while the battered and shredded flag outside the hospital hangs at half mast. The sound of TAPS echos from the airplane hanger across the island. I in my dress blues and Maggie in her black dress now look out over the pristine waters of the harbor at the smoking ruins of Battleship Row. I never thought in all my years that the place my parents had once called home would turn and attack us so viciously. Though it pains me to have seen such a thing, I am an Isei, born and raised here in the land of the free and the home of the brave....and I will fight for it as my samurai ancestors fought for theirs.

06/07/42

Grandmother, you wouldn’t believe it if you were here to witness it. A great victory was won today, a victory that will show that we are not easily beaten down. Our ship sailed at the front of the fleet like a mighty steel dragon and the planes above soared on the wind like eagles. Standing on the deck of the USS Enterprise, I could see hundreds of ships sailing across the blue mirror of the sea.

And then the battle began. The planes screamed and dove from the sky, the explosions of the bombs and flak rattling our ears and shaking the ship. Our machine gun squad jumped to and hurried to the guns, downing one plane after another until they splashed into the ocean. It’s a slow crawl, Grandmother, but I hope that wherever you are, you will keep us safe.

11/20/43

Still at sea with no end in sight. Tarawa has gone red with blood, Grandmother, a terrible sight even from the Enterprise. Every day I’ve heard of nothing but dead and wounded, some coming aboard with awful burns, bruises and injuries from artillery and heavy fire. The thought of them and the rest of the family hangs heavy on my mind. Only yesterday I had received a letter from my brothers and sisters. Crystal City is a far cry away from here. Things may not be the best, but they say they have learned to make do. I still wish I was there Grandmother.....with them and with Maggie.

11/27/44

I pray to return home soon Grandmother. I don’t know how much more of this I can take before I fall apart. If ever there were a place that were to describe hell in the Pacific, it would be Peleliu. When I saw the faces of those men, I had come to see what I should have known all along. We’ve been fighting too long.

02/19/45

It began early this morning, Grandmother. The fight for a tiny, flyspeck of an island began and there is no turning back. I can almost feel the earth quaking in my chest as the guns bombard the island. I wish this war were over Grandmother. I and so many others are ready to go home.

08/15/45

How do I speak of the elation that I feel, Grandmother? When we thought that none of this horror would end....victory. I couldn’t hold back the tears. I didn’t care what some of my shipmates thought. Though it pains me that Mother and Dad’s home city had been leveled by the bomb, I am nonetheless relieved. Though many died, many more have been spared from invasion. At last....at long last, we can go home.

08/15/1948

Three years to the day and here I stand, with my loving wife Maggie and our new son Akira. I’ve been around the world once, seen it all twice. I have fought and persevered as a man should. I am a fighter, a soldier, a husband and a father. I’ve served my time in hell and lived to tell. Those who know will remember....and for those not yet born we hope to tell our story so you will know. Until then.....Ki wo tsukete.

Paul Haruki “Hiro” Nagata

Petty Officer, United States Navy