Teruto "Terry" Tsubota (, July 28, 1922 – May 22, 2013) was a second-generation

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

(

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

) and a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

. Born in Pahoa, Hawaii, Tsubota was credited with valiantly saving hundreds of civilian livesDefiant soldier saved lives of hundreds of civilians during Okinawa battle
'' Stars and Stripes'', April 1, 2005 while serving as a

Military Intelligence Service The Military Intelligence Service (, ''America Rikugun Jōhōbu'') was a World War II U.S. military unit consisting of two branches, the Japanese American unit (described here) and the German-Austrian unit based at Camp Ritchie, best known as ...

(MIS) combat translator with the

6th Marine Division The 6th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps World War II infantry division formed in September 1944. During the invasion of Okinawa it saw combat at Yae-Take and Sugar Loaf Hill and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. Th ...

during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

in 1945, when he was attached to the

4th Marine Regiment The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Mission 4th Marine Regiment conducts littoral ...

. After the war, Tsubota stayed in

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

. In 1947, he married Kiyoko, a young local woman who had survived being conscripted by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

as a nurse and whom he met in a refugee camp. Together, they raised three children. He retired from the U.S. government service in January 1993. Tsubota remained a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

to the Okinawans as the man who personally prevented many combat deaths and civilian suicides during the battle. The Japanese Army forces had misled the native Okinawan population that they would suffer rape and violence from the invading Allied forces; they urged Okinawans to kill themselves or others in advance of defeat. He accompanied Okinawa's governor and other officials during

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's visit to the prefecture in 2000, and was one of the honored guests at the 59th anniversary of the battle held in the

Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum is a museum in Itoman, Okinawa. It was established on June 11, 1975. The Cornerstone of Peace, a monument similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is located here. Background During World War II, the United States invaded the Ryukyu Islands ...

in 2004. In 2007, the story of Tsubota and his fellow Japanese-American translators was told by James C. McNaughton in ''Nisei Linguists: Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service During World War II''. Teruto Tsubota died in

Lihue, Hawaii Līhue () is an unincorporated community, census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Līhue is the second-largest town on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, following Kapaa. As of the 2010 census, th ...

, at the age of 90.Obituaries for Sunday, June 2, 2013
''

The Garden Island ''The Garden Island'' is a daily newspaper based in Lihue, Hawaii, covering the islands of Kauai and Niihau. History ''The Garden Island'' began publication in 1902. It was formerly owned by Scripps League Newspapers, which was acquired by P ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsubota, Teruto 1922 births 2013 deaths American military personnel of Japanese descent United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II People from Hilo, Hawaii United States Marines American expatriates in Japan