Last Letters of Sergeant Rokurō Urata to His Parents and Older Sister
On November 7, 1944, Sergeant Rokurō Urata
took off from Marcot Airfield in the Philippines in a Type 4 Heavy Bomber
(Allied code name of Peggy) and died
east of Lamon Bay in the Philippines in a special (suicide) attack at the age of
25 [1]. He was a member of the Fugaku [2] Squadron.
On October 24, 1944, this special attack squadron was formed at Hamamatsu Air
Base in Shizuoka Prefecture, and on October 26 it officially was named the
Fugaku Squadron in a ceremony [3]. After
his death in a special attack, he received a promotion to Second Lieutenant. He
was from Ōsaka Prefecture and joined the Army in 1939.
Urata wrote the following last letter at Marcot Airfield:
Dear Parents,
I have come to this place and at last have obtained my long-cherished
desire. I am just waiting for the final time to come. I certainly will not
be defeated.
I have the same feeling as Dai-Nankō (Kusunoki Masashige) [4]
who said, "Even though I am just one palace guard, the country's fate rests
with me."
With a few days until the attack, I have no regrets.
I pray that you will spend the remaining years of your lives in good
health. This is it.
November 2, 11 p.m.
Urata also wrote the following final letter dated October 26, 1944:
Dear Older Sister,
Now I truly will do my best.
Please remember well the name of Nishio Squadron.
After Hiratsuka, I was involved with a person named Hatsuko Sase and was
thinking even of marriage with her, but since I did not know even about the
next day and there also was my life in the barracks, we were waiting for the time
to arrive.
Today I cannot help feeling extremely happy. I feel deeply the blessing
of being born in Japan.
Everyone, take care.
Translated by Bill Gordon
May 2022 - letter to parents
April 2025 - letter to older sister
The letters comes from Kawachiyama (1990, 184-185, 208-209). The biographical information on this page comes from Kawachiyama (1990, 248), Osuo (2005, 189), and Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 254).
Notes
1. Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 254) indicates
that he was born in 1919, so he could have been either 24 or 25 at the date of
his death on November 13, 1944. Kawachiyama (1990, 248) gives his age at death as
26. It could not be determined which is his correct age at death.
2. Fugaku means Mount Fuji.
3. Kawachiyama (1990, 180-182, 185-186), Osuo
(2005, 10).
4. Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th-century samurai
warrior who symbolized courage and devotion to the Emperor. Dai-Nankō (or Nankō)
is the honorary title given to Kusunoki Masashige.
Sources Cited
Kawachiyama, Yuzuru. 1990. On'ai no kizuna tachigatashi: Tokkō
taichō Nishio Tsunesaburō no shōgai (Unbreakable bonds of kindness and
affection: Life of special attack squadron leader Tsunesaburō Nishio). Tōkyō:
Kōjinsha.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990.
Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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