Robert Bruce Sheeks (April 8, 1922 – July 4, 2022) was an American combat intelligence and Japanese-language officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve who played an important role in saving the lives of Japanese, Korean and Chamorro people during the invasions of Saipan and Tinian in June–August 1944.

During the invasion of Saipan in June 1944, Sheeks was one of a number of Japanese-language officers whose mission was focused on getting civilians and Japanese soldiers to surrender.

The work of Sheeks and his fellow officers was responsible for convincing a large number of Japanese soldiers to surrender and saving thousands of civilian lives.

In the last year of the war, he wrote an article responding to one written by the journalist Robert Sherrod, which implied that Japanese civilians would fight to the death or commit suicide.

[12] After graduating from language school in January 1943, Sheeks was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps[8] and assigned to Nouméa, New Caledonia to interrogate survivors of sunken Japanese submarines,[13] from whom he gained intelligence about the new I–15-class submarines[14] His first combat assignment was at the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, where he carried out intelligence-gathering operations.

The creation of these passes was not directly supported by the military but they got help before the invasion from The Honolulu Advertiser, who printed thousands free of charge.

[30] Soon after the battle, Sheeks tried to change public attitudes about the Japanese, contesting an article on the final days at Saipan by the journalist Robert Sherrod.

[24] In an article in Time Magazine, Sherrod had implied that almost every Japanese citizen would fight to the death rather than surrender,[31][a] using the image of the mass suicides that occurred in the last days of battle to make his point.

[33] Sheeks wrote an article in response arguing against the idea that Japanese civilians were inhuman fanatics, who would fight to the last person.

[35] The battles of Peleliu and Iwo Jima, in which less than four percent of the Japanese soldiers surrendered and the Americans suffered a high casualty rate, made Sheeks's message unpopular.

[36] Three of the Japanese language officers–Lieutenants Sheeks, Charles T. Cross, and Raymond V. Luthy–were awarded a Bronze Star Medal for their work in broadcasting surrender instructions and rescuing civilians.

[36] They, along with others such Army Technical Sergeant Hoichi Kubo and Marine Corporal Guy Gabaldon,[37] collectively saved thousands of civilians.

"[33] After the war, Sheeks retired from active duty, but remained in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, eventually earning the rank of major.