NAHA - Okinawa resident Sueko Urasaki, who appeared as a trembling child in a U.S.-filmed recording of the Battle of Okinawa, has spoken publicly for the first time in 80 years about her harrowing experience, expressing a heartfelt plea for peace to future generations.
The footage of the then 7-year-old girl, now widely known as the "shaking girl," has long symbolized the horrors of the war. This year, on the 80th anniversary of the conflict, Urasaki shared the memories she had kept buried deep in her heart.
In the black-and-white footage taken by the U.S. military during the 1945 battle, a visibly frightened young girl can be seen trembling as she drinks from a water bottle handed to her by an American soldier. That girl, now 87 and living in Naha, was experiencing her first direct contact with foreign soldiers in the chaos of war.
"I was shaking. I'm still shaking. You see, I was drinking water from a canteen," Urasaki recalled. "That’s me in the footage. I still remember how terrified I was. There were bodies lying on the road."
While fleeing the shellfire, Urasaki encountered American troops for the first time in her life. "I had never seen blue eyes before. It was frightening," she said. "I remember that road. U.S. soldiers were camped by a house around there. They wore hats and left their rifles nearby. I was given water to drink at that spot."
The scene was filmed in the very location where she now stands again, decades later. She remembers even spitting the water out in fear. "I was scared it might be laced with medicine or something. I kept thinking—where are they going to kill us, where will we die?"
For many years, Urasaki chose not to speak about her wartime experience. But now, she has decided to pass on her memories to the next generation.
"Please, let there be no more war," she said. "Thank you for saving me that day. But war is the most terrifying thing. I want it to end. We should not allow more people to become victims of war. I hope people will truly think about that."
The memory of a 7-year-old girl frozen in fear amid the chaos of battle continues to stand as a powerful testament to the tragedy of war and the enduring importance of peace.
Source: TBS
