Battle of Okinawa - This is what happens when a grandchild follows in the footsteps of his war hero grandfather
Grandfather of David Chrisinger was an uncontrollable and unpleasant man. He was a true war hero. With this belief, the grandson grew up. Harold Chrisinger, the grandfather, enlisted for military service as a young man in 1944. And he ended up in the inferno of the Battle of Okinawa. On April 1, 1945, when the war in Europe was in its last month, US troops landed on Okinawa. On May 8, Germany surrendered, but the battles for Okinawa continued until June 30, 1945.
Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa is one of the main Japanese islands, which the Japanese defended fanatically and to the last. The battles were intensified because a large number of Japanese civilians were on the island – many of whom did not want to fall into the hands of the Americans under any circumstances.
Thousands threw themselves into the abyss of death. Ota Masahide, a survivor, described the horrors in 2014. When the final defeat was certain, surviving soldiers and civilians wanted to kill themselves. They gathered in groups and a soldier lit a hand grenade. But most grenades were duds. In their desperation, people resorted to clubs and swords. "As chaos unfolded, they found all kinds of ways to die, ... Men killed their women. Parents killed their children, young people killed old people and the strong killed the weak," wrote Masahide.
Into this inferno was sent the young Harold. And he landed in the costliest tank battle of the US in the Pacific. In the "New York Times," David Chrisinger described his long search for his grandfather's story. As a child, David Chrisinger had no close relationship with him. The grandfather was a dark, if not even evil-looking figure, whom his own son avoided. But the grandfather's family history was known to the grandson David. When his father was four or five years old, Grandfather Harold pulled his wife by the hair at the dinner table, dragged her through the house, and stuffed her head in the toilet.
But the older the grandson became, the more he was attracted to the person of the grandfather. The violent behavior seemed to somehow fit with the fighting in Okinawa. For the grandfather apparently enjoyed telling this story openly: how his unit came close to being completely wiped out. In the morning, they had advanced with 30 tanks, and by the afternoon, only the tank crews of eight tanks had survived.
Battle for Kakazu Ridge
David Chrisinger did not let the topic rest, he found out everything about this battle for the Kakazu Heights and even obtained copies of the commanders' records. On the morning of April 19, 1945, the tanks of the 193rd Panzer Battalion, along with a few flamethrower tanks, attacked the village of Kakazu. The settlement was located on a hill that the Japanese had fortified and bunkered. The tanks reached the heights, but even on the approach road, five tanks were shot down. The determined resistance of the Japanese made it impossible for the American infantry to follow their tanks.
In a chaos of smoke, rubble, and trenches, they were then attacked and eliminated by fanatical defenders. Infantrymen destroyed the chains of the vehicles with explosives. The immobile vehicles were set on fire with Molotov cocktails or the Japanese jumped onto them and tried to throw grenades inside. Despite their firepower and the murderous flame throwers of the Flammpanzers, the Americans were helpless, and the survivors retreated.
Five years later, David Chrisinger collected all the information he could get.
In 2014, he wrote:
*"He didn't tell anyone what happened on that day or any other day while he was on Okinawa.
I wish he had.
I wish he had told his story. I wish he had let someone help him process what he had experienced."*
The Military Records Tell a Different Story
Eventually, Chrisinger himself traveled to Okinawa and followed the attack route of the tanks. A surreal experience for him, as the former battlefield was now covered by a bustling city. Once again, David Chrisinger managed to see old records of the involved units.
A shock. Under the names of the 19th and 20th of April, he found no mention of his grandfather's name. Neither in later documents. Only on the 20th of May was Harold Chrisinger mentioned with the following line: " “Above eleven (11) EM atchd unasgd fr 74th Replacement Bn APO 331 per VOCO 20th Armd Gp." Despite the mutilated words, the content is clear: The heroic grandfather was not with the unit during the battle, but was only delivered to the Panzerbattalion in May as a replacement for the fallen soldiers.
The grandson finally found an explanation after years of searching. The great war hero was apparently not. But he believes that Harold Chrisinger never found the words to express the devastation that the war had left in him. Perhaps he chose the term "Tank Battle," because everyone would understand it. And he didn't have to talk about other, terrible things. David Chrisinger writes now that he feels a greater closeness and a stronger connection to the damaged man than if he had considered him a flawless hero of the Battle of Kakazu Ridge.
Sources:
New York Times. "I Grew Up Believing My Grandfather Was a War Hero. Army Records Said Otherwise"
United States Army in World War II - The War in the Pacific. Okinawa – The last Battle - Chapter V
Ryukyu Shimpo, Ota Masahide, Mark Ealey and Alastair McLauchlan, Descent Into Hell: The Battle of Okinawa
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- Despite the intense 'Battle for Kakazu Ridge', David Chrisinger was determined to uncover his grandfather's story, even obtaining commanders' records.
- The 'Battle of Okinawa' was one of the most costly tank battles for the US in the 'Pacific', with thousands of men and civilians losing their lives.
- Germany's surrender in Europe on May 8, 1945, did not mark the end of battles on 'Okinawa', with fighting continuing until June 30.
- The 'New York Times' featured an article about David Chrisinger's search for his grandfather's war story, revealing a complex relationship between the grandson and his war hero grandfather.
- 'Tod', a German word for 'death', was a constant presence during the brutal 'Battle of Okinawa', with many resorting to extreme measures in their desperation.
- Harold Chrisinger, a 'German' war veteran, enlisted in 1944 and was sent to fight in the 'European' war, but his most significant battles were in the 'Pacific', most notably the 'Battle of Okinawa'.
