The Cornerstone of Peace in the Mabuni district of Itoman, near the southern tip of Okinawa’s main island, is a monument on which is engraved the names of the war dead in Okinawa during World ...

“I am an Okinawan.” It took Higa decades before she was able to answer in this manner. One question long haunted her: “Who am I?” Higa was named Rie to sound like Lee, her father’s name.

The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest and costliest of World War II in the Pacific. The United States needed a base to stage an invasion of mainland Japan. The island of Okinawa was the ...