After promotion to lieutenant in 1916, he returned to naval artillery school, but was forced to take a year off active service from November 1917 to September 1918 due to tuberculosis.

[3] Although this never came to pass, he was promoted to rear admiral and commanded the 8th Combined Special Naval Landing Force at New Georgia against the American First Raider Battalion.

However, half were civilian laborers conscripted into service with minimal training, and the remainder were gunners from various naval vessels with little experience in fighting on land.

[8] What actually happened is clear: Ōta began preparations on or around 24 May, for the withdrawal of all Naval elements to the south in support of the Army.

While in mid-march to the south, 32nd Army HQ ordered Ōta back into the Oroku peninsula citing that a mistake had been made in timing (explanations vary).

According to the museum for the underground Naval Headquarters in Okinawa, "many soldiers committed suicide" inside the command bunker, including Ōta.

Since the enemy began to attack the main island of Okinawa, the Navy and the Army devoted themselves to defensive warfare and could hardly look after the prefecture's people.

Old men, children and women who were left behind to fend for themselves are now forced to lead starved miserable lives exposed to natural elements.

I should add the devotion of young female local nurses: they continue to help the seriously injured soldiers left behind after the military movement and medics are no longer available.

Furthermore, I have seen people without transport means walk in the evening rain without complaints at all when a sudden and drastic change of the military strategy dictated that these civilians relocate to a far away place at short notice at night.

To sum up, despite consistent heavy burden of labor service and lack of goods all the time since the Imperial Navy and Army proceeded to establish the front line in Okinawa, (despite some bad rumors of a few parties) the local citizens devoted themselves to the loyal service as Japanese (illegible) without giving (illegible) Okinawa Islands will become scorched land where no single plant will remain unburned.