Installment 68: Japanese Massacre 80 American Civilians on Wake Island: October 7, 1943 At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the United States had more than 500 military personnel and 1,200 civilian workers stationed on Wake Island, a small atoll north of the Marshall Islands in the Southwest Pacific. The Japanese attacked Wake the same day as it attacked Pearl. The American defenders were outmanned and outgunned by the superior Japanese invasion force but put up a much stronger defense than the Japanese expected. Though the severely crippled American Navy at Pearl did send out a small relief force, it was too little, too late. On December 23 the island fell with the Americans suffering 122 killed in the process. But they had exacted a much higher toll on the Japanese, killing from 700-1000 troops, sinking a destroyer and submarine, and shooting down 23 Japanese aircraft. Most of the American survivors were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Asia. A group, however, was kept on Wake where the men became slave laborers as the Japanese quickly built up their defenses on the island. When the American Navy began its push back against Japan, the Japanese garrison on Wake became a frequent target of air attacks. Following one such bombing raid on October 5, 1943 the Japanese commander, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, ordered the prisoners executed. They were marched to the north end of the island, blindfolded, and machine-gunned. In the confusion, however, one man survived and escaped, later to return to the spot of the mass burial where he inscribed on a coral rock the message, “98 US PW 5-10-43,” (“5-10” being October 5). The man, who has never been identified, was later captured and personally beheaded by Sakaibara. On September 5, 1945 a small contingent of U. S. Marines received the surrender of the Japanese garrison on Wake, which had been occasionally bombed but otherwise bypassed and isolated during the previous months and years. Sakaibara and Lieutenant-Commander Tachibana were taken into custody and later sentenced to death for the massacre, implicated in the crimes by other Japanese officers stationed on Wake, several of whom later committed suicide. Known today as “The 98 Rock,” the coral rock with the unknown man’s inscription can still be seen on Wake Island. A plaque has been attached stating, “The 98 Rock, Inscribed by an Unknown P.O.W.” Another plaque sits nearby listing the names of the 98 murdered men. Sakaibara was executed by hanging on June 18, 1947 after complaining the trial and sentence were unfair and harsh, and saying, “ . . . but I obey with pleasure.” Tachibana’s death sentence was later commuted to life in prison. The remains of the 98 American men murdered on Wake Island today rest in the National Cemetery in Hawaii. Images: 1) Map showing location of tiny Wake Island in the Pacific; 2) The 98 Rock; 3) Rear Admiral Sakaibara (seated third from left) surrendering Wake Island on September 4, 1945.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:41:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015