When these attacks failed – to prevent rape – Okinawan women and girls threw themselves off of cliffs – together with their young siblings and children. US Servicemen raped Okinawan civilians wherever they were found alive – whilst unarmed Okinawan civilians were shot on sight even in areas where all Imperial Japanese Army Units nolonger existed. This is why so many Okinawan civilians were killed – many even after capture or before they could attack again – according to the Americans. The Okinawans were NOT the passive victims trapped between two battling sides. The Okinawan civilians fought hard against the Americans – attempting to protect their ancestral lands and their ancestral shrines. This is a fascinating and highly important book that tells the story from the other side. The US Army possessed virtually no one who could speak Japanese – as all Japanese-Americans had been placed in Concentration Camps in remote areas of the US.