Pedro Oiarzabal, principal researcher for Sancho de Beurko Association’s Fighting Basques project, places flowers to honor U.S. service members of Basque descent that perished during the Battle of Okinawa during a Dec. 5, 2023 ceremony at the Cornerstone of Peace memorial in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan. (Pedro Oiarzabal)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Spanish historical association dedicated to the Basque ethnic minority and its participation in World War II is taking steps to preserve the memory of soldiers and Marines who died in the Battle of Okinawa.

Pedro Oiarzabal, principal researcher for the Sancho de Beurko Association’s Fighting Basques project, held a small remembrance ceremony Dec. 5 at the Cornerstone of Peace memorial at Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman. The Spain-based association aims to preserve the memory of Basque participation in World War II.

The historian laid flowers and delivered remarks to honor six U.S. service members of Basque descent who perished during the bloody 1945 battle. He also met with Japanese officials to see what is required to immortalize their names on the monument’s black granite.

The 82-day Battle of Okinawa began April 1, 1945. More than 14,000 Americans, about 110,000 Japanese troops and at least 140,000 Okinawan civilians were killed during or after the fighting.

The Cornerstone of Peace, built in 1995, commemorates the battle’s 50th anniversary. The monument features the names of nearly 250,000 who died during the fighting — 14,010 Americans and 227,457 Japanese.

“During the planning of the event, Sancho the Beurko’s research team found out that none of the six Basque Americans were on the memorial wall,” Oiarzabal wrote by email Dec. 14. “At the beginning we felt disappointed, particularly for their families, but this did not deter us from travelling over 7,000 miles to honor them.”

Pedro Oiarzabal, center, the principal researcher for Sancho de Beurko’s Association’s Fighting Basques project, tours the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan, on Dec. 5, 2023. (Pedro Oiarzabal)

The Basque traditionally hail from northern Spain and southern France. About 3 million of them live in what is referred to as Basque country, according to the U.S.-based North American Basque Organizations. Over 57,000 U.S. residents self-identified as Basque in the 2000 census.

Oiarzabal, who splits his time between his home in the Spanish city of Bilbao and the U.S. where he conducts research, took on the Fighting Basques project when it was launched in 2015, he said. Thus far, he has identified over 1,600 combatants in World War II and collected information about them and their families.

Six perished on or around Okinawa during World War II: Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Uriola, Staff Sgt. Steven Sahargun, Pvt. 1st Class Alejandro Itcea, Pvt. 1^st Class Domique Laxague and Marine Pvt. Lawrence Amoriza and Cpl. Felix Ordoquihandy, Oiarzabal said.

All but Ordoquihandy perished during the Battle of Okinawa; he drowned at sea and his body was never recovered. Ordoquihandy, Uriola and Itcea are recipients of the Bronze Star, the U.S. military’s fourth highest award for valor.

Oiarzabal was joined at the ceremony by Hiroyuki Kinjo, professor emeritus in Hispanic studies at the University of the Ryukyus, and the museum’s director and curator, Sayuri Maekawa and Kazuhiro Tanahara, he said. The ceremony lasted about five minutes.

Tanahara is unsure why the six men’s names are not on the memorial, he said by phone Dec. 12. The names were gleaned from U.S. government rolls after the war, a spokeswoman for Okinawa prefecture’s Peace and Gender Equality Division said by phone that day. Some government officials in Japan may speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

Since 1995, the names of five Americans have been added, she said. Documentation proving place of death and family approval is required.

Oiarzabal is collecting the necessary documentation and plans to submit it soon, he said.

“I think it is meaningful for these six names to be inscribed to the Cornerstone of Peace,” Kinjo said by phone Dec. 13. “It is important to inscribe all names equally.”