Letters — Iwo Jima Better

That night, the Americans came with satchel charges. The tunnel collapsed in a roar of stone and fire. Haruo did not feel the rock that crushed his ribs. He felt only a sudden, surprising warmth, as if someone had draped a blanket over him.

I will be the wave that touches the shore. letters iwo jima

He could not write that. So he wrote about plums. That night, the Americans came with satchel charges

He wrote instead:

His best friend, Kenji, had died that morning. A flamethrower had found the secondary tunnel entrance. There had been no scream, just a sudden, terrible silence followed by the smell of cooking meat. Haruo had not wept. He had simply taken Kenji’s rice ball and his last, precious packet of paper. just a sudden