95-Year-Old Teaches Peace Through War Survival Story

When American soldiers discovered 14-year-old Kohei Nohara hiding near Cape Kyan in June 1945, he heard a sharp metallic click and thought he was about to die. The sound wasn't a rifle being cocked but a lighter igniting a cigarette an American soldier offered his uncle.

This June, the 95-year-old Nohara returned to Haebaru's Shonan Elementary School to share his survival story with 90 fifth graders. Teacher Naoya Arakaki projected Google Maps onto a classroom screen, tracing Nohara's desperate journey south across Okinawa as U.S. forces advanced during World War II's final months.

The students saw wartime photographs of landscapes scarred by shelling as Nohara described fleeing through April and May 1945. He watched nearby villages go up in flames and heard constant mortar fire while sheltering in caves with his older brother and relatives.

When Japanese forces withdrew to southern Okinawa in late May, they moved into areas where civilians had sought refuge, drawing devastating American attacks. Nohara and his family joined thousands fleeing south, passing countless bodies along muddy roads.

Tragedy struck repeatedly in Mabuni, where some of the war's bloodiest battles unfolded. An aunt suffered a severe leg wound and told the family to leave her behind. Two days later, shrapnel tore into a cousin's abdomen, killing him instantly.

The day after his cousin's death, American soldiers found Nohara's group, and they surrendered. He later learned that one of his younger sisters, evacuated to northern Okinawa, had died, possibly from malnutrition.

Why This Inspires

Arakaki reminded his students that war remains a reality in parts of the world today. When he asked if they knew about current conflicts, one child called out, "I know about Gaza."

"War is not somebody else's matter," Arakaki told them. "I want you to study these things and pass them on so that we can build a more peaceful world."

More than eight decades after the war, Nohara visits the Cornerstone of Peace monument every June 23 on Okinawa Memorial Day. "I want to pray for those who died and ask them to watch over us as we strive for a peaceful world," he said softly from his home in Haebaru.

For Arakaki, a 46-year-old graduate of the school himself, hearing war experiences firsthand gives the next generation something textbooks cannot. He told his students they were listening to "a very precious story."

When asked about the Battle of Okinawa, Nohara paused before speaking quietly: "I saw pieces of human flesh caught in trees. I saw countless bodies. War is a terrible thing." His testimony ensures that fifth graders today will carry forward lessons of peace for tomorrow.