OKINAWA, THE LAST GREAT BATTLE

With the invaluable help of Dr. Martin Rabolvsky, I came into possession of a particular set of items which I consider to be some of the most meaningful pieces of an ever growing collection of WWII memorabilia. In the photograph shown above are the personal belongings of Japanese Army Airforce Lieutenant Tokuchi Tsutomu. Lieutenant Tsutomu was on a mission to attack American ships off the cost of Okinawa in 1945 when he was shot down and crashed in the ocean. Seriously hurt, he spent 10 hours floating in the water before being rescued by Japanese fishermen. His injuries were much too serious then and prevented him from flying combat missions for the rest of the war. In an ongoing effort to preserve history I'm still collecting information about Mr. Tsutomu and I hope to learn more about him in the near future.