A Journey of Lepers on Okinawa

In the village of Sobe on Okinawa six of us established a hospital for civilians injured during the bombardment and assault of the Ryukyus. The tiny village lay between the invasion beaches and the large Yontan air field. It was very badly battered by the combined sea and air attacks of our invasion fleet before April 1st, and by Japanese strafing and bombing after we had landed. Near where we had hospitalized injured people, we established an enclosure for lepers. These lonely creatures with gnarled limbs and lumpy features huddled together in what remained of an old stable. Because we were so busy with the acutely ill and badly crippled casualties, these lepers remained in relative solitude, visited only now and then, when I made an effort to look after their welfare. They received food from an emissary of our native galley, and the more able lepers fed their companions. By the end of two weeks after Love-Day, the First and Sixth Marine Divisions had covered the 45-mile distance from Sobe to the end of the island of Okinawa. They had also penetrated to the end of Motobu Peninsula , which extends westward from Okinawa into the China Sea, and had traversed the island of Yagachi Shima, nestled against the northern side of Motobu and facing the mountainous northern reaches of Okinawa proper. We were informed that a leprosarium which had been operated by the Japanese on Yagachi Shima was still in existence, and that the two Japanese doctors had been given permission to continue their work with that institution. A few days later word was passed to us that we were to transfer our fifteen lepers to the care of one of these doctors, Dr. Hiroshi Hayata. Since he is one of the great authorities in Asia on the subject of leprosy, it was with great anticipatory pleasure that we bundled our fifteen leprous pals into our truck and took off. These people suffered a malady which is chronic in character and not very disabling until the later stages. It is rarely accompanied by much discomfort, except from the tragic social ostracism forced upon them, but their physiognomy is distorted in bizarre fashions. Often there are striking incongruities in the number of fingers and toes, or the length of limbs. Digits become misplaced and curled and gnarled or drop off com