Sixty years after U.S. jet crash kills 18 elementary school pupils, Okinawans pray for peace at memorial ceremony

Sixty years after U.S. jet crash kills 18 elementary school pupils, Okinawans pray for peace at memorial ceremony

On June 30 at Miyamori Elementary School in Ishikawa, Uruma City, participants offer flowers and the burning of incense in front of the memorial monument.


June 30, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo online edition

June 30 marked the 60th anniversary of the 1959 crash of a U.S. military jet from Kadena Air Base onto Miyamori Elementary School and the residential district of Ishikawa, Uruma City (Ishikawa City at the time), which killed 18 elementary school pupils. Starting at 9:30 a.m. on June 30 this year there was a gathering for the bereaved families, and a memorial ceremony held by the Ishikawa Miyamori 630 Association at the elementary school. Many people came to express their condolences.

First, flowers and the burning of incense were offered in front of the Nakayoshi Jizo memorial monument. Bereaved familiy members, local residents, and related persons from Uruma City and wider Okinawa prayed for the victims of the crash. They prayed for peace and for such an accident to never occur again.

Next, participants were ushered from the monument to the school gymnasium for the memorial ceremony. At around 10:40 a.m., the time of the crash sixty years prior, everyone offered prayers once more. After that, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki and Uruma City Mayor Toshio Shimabukuro delivered addresses.

(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)

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