One of the funnest/interesting things we did while our family was here was take the Battle Sites Tour organized by MCSS Tours+. Gustavo and I have been wanting to take this tour for a while and we thought this would be the perfect time, especially since i knew my brothers would enjoy all the history. We met at the Bowling Alley on Camp Foster, we took a bus to the first stop Kakazutaka Observatory Park in Ginowan, otherwise known as Kakazu Ridge, which used to be two steep hils with a connecting mountain pass. This ridge was the site of some of the bloodiest and most tenacious battles because the ridge stretched from east to west and blocked Shuri the capital of Okinawa. Up the stairs you can see a split globe observatory, which houses one of the most amazing views on island!
^^ After hearing about this grewsome fight, finding this Peace Pole in the park was so moving ^^
^^ Around the observatory there is a memorial/prayer site, which was decorated with colorful cranes ^^
During this whole tour i couldn’t shake how surreal it felt to hear the tragic story of the battle that was fought exactly where we were standing only 69 years earlier. But i’m glad we had the chance to learn more about Okinawa’s history.