It's been asked how can I have a name added? From what I understand it takes only a couple things.
-One thing the petition below doesn't say is this: A family member must initiate the request.
-Also, notice the dates below; March 26 - September 7, 1945. I'm told that the individual's records
most show that between these dates the person had to have lost their life.
The site has been trying to get these names added to the memorial, but have hit several roadblocks.
This is due to multiple reasons:
- The park is an Okinawa Prefecture memorial, so in order to have a name added, the family
has to write the local government office and request the name to be added.
- Since it's not a U.S. ran memorial the American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) will not
add the list of fallen to their database of fallen U.S. soldiers KIA during the war, this is to include
Lt General Simon Buckner (the highest ranking officer killed during the entire WW2). From what
I've gathered, unless there was a Congressional Mandate the 14,009 names could not be added
to their database.
- Also, I inquired why the last battle of WW2, with the highest death toll for any island during the
Pacific campaign, wasn't one of the sponsored memorials from the ABMC. To this, I was also
told that even if the base that I'm stationed on was to build and dedicate a memorial to the
battle, that it could not be endorsed without a Congressional Mandate.
Those that lost someone on or around Okinawa now for the first time can search the sites database
along with a picture of the engraved name. The only real way for this piece of history to continue is for
the ABMC to add these names to their database.
