Okinawa marks 74th anniv. of WWII battle, mourns victims

Okinawa on Sunday marked the 74th year since the end of a major World War II ground battle that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 local residents and soldiers from the Japanese and American militaries.Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, who was elected last September, made a "peace declaration" at the annual memorial service in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, in which he urged the central government to give up its plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the subtropical island prefecture.Using also the region's dialect and English, Tamaki said, "We must pass down Oki…READ FULL ARTICLE