Mystery Monday or Military Monday? More from Nolan Lane's WWII Photo Album and the Japanese Passport

Passport of Maka Kanehawa
issued in Okinawa, Japan, 1931

Well, the search continues for more information about the strange Japanese passport found in my Uncle Nolan's WWII photo album.  (If you need to catch up on this story, click here and here.)

First of all, I got a great suggestion from fellow genealogy buff Heather Kuhn Roelker who writes the wonderful blog Leaves For Trees.  After reading my first post about the passport, Heather recommended that I contact the PBS show "History Detectives" to see if they might be interested in investigating the story behind the Japanese passport.  So I did just that!  I went to the History Detectives website and submitted my story.  It's probably a long shot, but at least it's worth a try, right?  Thanks so much for the suggestion and the encouragement, Heather!

I also spent some time this past weekend researching the Battle of Okinawa.  I specifically wanted to find out about the aftermath of the battle since this is what my Uncle Nolan and the 9th USN Construction Battalion (Seabees) encountered when they arrived in Okinawa in late June of 1945.  According to all the accounts I read, the Battle of Okinawa, which lasted from April 1, 1945-June 21, 1945, was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific as well as the largest sea-land-air battle in history.  There were numerous military casualties on both sides and over 100,000 civilian deaths and even more civilian injuries.  To find out about Maka Kanehawa, the original owner of the passport, I think my focus should be on these Okinawan civilians.

By all accounts, the Okinawan people endured tremendous pain and hardship during and after the Battle of Okinawa.  At the beginning of the battle, they were told by the Japanese military to go south, away from the advancing American forces.  Okinawans were also warned by their military that the American soldiers would rape and/or kill them.  So they fled south, taking refuge in caves, abandoned buildings, and makeshift structures.  As the Japanese army also retreated south, the civilians were driven out of even these meager living quarters so that the soldiers could use them.  Laura Lacey, in her account of the battle on Military History Online, notes that even at the start of the battle, 75% of civilian homes had been destroyed.  The Okinawan people, she writes, "were covered in lice and unclean, starved and injured from bombing, shelling, and bullets."  When American forces closed in, many civilians committed suicide rather than face the torture they feared from the Americans.

Thus, a land and it's people destroyed by battle is what my uncle and his fellow Seabees encountered when they arrived in Okinawa to construct roads, living quarters, work and communication centers for the American military that would establish a presence there for nearly thirty years.  Below are some more photos from Uncle Nolan's album that offer some visual details about what the Seabees found in Okinawa.

Nolan A. Lane (seated on left) & other USN Seabees in front of one of the
numerous caves used by Japanese civilians and soldiers during the
Battle of Okinawa, 1945

After doing this research, I wonder if my my colleague, Japanese teacher Nathan Patton, was on the right track about the owner of the mysterious passport.  Was Maka Kanehawa a casualty of the Battle of Okinawa?  That certainly seems possible.  Did she flee her home leaving her passport behind where my uncle found it among the ruins?  Did my uncle find the passport while searching through one of the caves where civilians hid, or maybe he found it simply laying on the ground where it had been dropped?

While doing my research, I also ran across several references to the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa, Japan.  Part of the park is a memorial which contains the names of all those who perished during the Battle of Okinawa.  I've found a contact email address for the park, and my next step will be to submit my passport story to someone there in hopes that they can help me discover Maka's story and actually return the passport to her family.  Stay tuned. . .


Sources:

Laura Lacey, "The Battle of Okinawa," Military History Online, 2003

John Prados, "Battle of Okinawa," The Reader's Companion to Military History, Houghton, Mifflin, Harecourt Publishers, 1996, on History.com

Nicholas Kristof, "The Darker Side of Okinawa," The New York Times, Jan. 21, 1996, on New York Times.com

"Okinawa Story," on Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum.com

Nolan Andrew Lane

Nolan Andrew Lane
c. 1916

My Granny and Papaw Lane had their fifth child, Nolan Andrew Lane, on July 22, 1911, in Clairfield, Tennessee.  He was named in part after Papaw's older and much admired brother, Andrew Lane. Nolan spent most of his childhood moving with the family from one mining town to another throughout Claiborne County, Tennessee.  I know very little else about his early life, but by age nineteen he was working as a baker in Lafollette, Campbell County, Tennessee.

Nolan A. Lane (right)
c. 1930

He met his first wife, Mildred Rhea Jacobs, in Lafollette, and they married there on April 26, 1935.  They had their first and only child, a daughter, in 1939.  Rosemary Lane was a beautiful little blonde, and by all accounts was the apple of her daddy's eye.

Mildred Jacobs Lane and Nolan Lane
c. 1937

Nolan Lane and daughter Rosemary Lane
c. 1941

Some time before 1943, Nolan received vocational training and became an electrician.  As I mentioned in my recent Miltary Monday post, he enlisted in the United States Navy on October 15, 1943.  He became one of the Navy's Fighting Seabees and saw active military duty in the Pacific during WWII, mostly in Okinawa, Japan.  Uncle Nolan was honorably discharged from the Navy on November 27, 1945.

Naval Service Card of Nolan A. Lane

At some point after returning home from the war, Uncle Nolan and Mildred divorced.  Rosemary continued to live with her mom in Lafollette, while Uncle Nolan took a job with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and moved to Lenoir City, Tennessee.  For reasons that I don't know, Uncle Nolan sadly would never see or speak to his daughter Rosemary again.  He attempted to do so, but Mildred first and then Rosemary herself chose to break all ties to him and eventually to the Lane family.

In 1956 on October third, Uncle Nolan married Martha Marie Sims in Cumberland, Tennessee.  Uncle Nolan and Aunt Marie lived in Lenoir City where Uncle Nolan continued to work for the TVA for about the next twenty years.

Nolan and Marie Lane
1961

After he retired from TVA, the two of them moved to Brooksville, Florida, where they lived the rest of their lives.  They never had children of their own.  Marie died in Florida on November 29, 1982, and Uncle Nolan passed away soon after on March 17, 1983.  Uncle Nolan had battled heart problems for a number of years, and his death was due to a massive heart attack.

Nolan and Marie Lane
c. 1980

I remember my Uncle Nolan well as a tall (about 6' 4"), rather quiet, and gentle man. He was an animal lover who always had a cat or dog as a pet, and he would often send us photos of them and talk of their antics.  Fishing was his favorite pastime, and he pursued this diligently especially during his retirement years in Florida. He was adored by his family, and as I was growing up I heard countless wonderful stories about him from his sisters, Betty (my mom), Ruth, Gladys, and Edith.  I remember his deep, gruff voice and a sweet, slight smile which crossed his face only occasionally. Spending time with Uncle Nolan was always a joy.

Big Catch
Nolan Lane
c. 1980

Nolan Lane and best buddy
1958

A Visit to Florida
Nolan Lane, Beth  Lee, Marie Lane
1978

Sources:

1920 U. S. Federal Census
1930 U. S. Federal Census
1940 U. S. Federal Census
Tennessee State Marriages 1780-2002
Florida Death Index, 1877-1998
U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

Military Monday: Nolan Andrew Lane

Nolan Andrew Lane
c. 1943

My uncle, Nolan Andrew Lane, was the fifth child of William B. Lane and Martha A. Pierce.  He was born in Clairfield, Tennessee, on July 22, 1911, and died at age 72 on March 17, 1983, in Brooksville, Florida.  Today, I remember Uncle Nolan's military service during World War II.  He served in the Pacific Theatre as a Chief Electrician's Mate in the United States Navy Seabees, enlisting on October 23, 1943, and being honorably discharged on November 27, 1945.  Thank you, Uncle Nolan.

Nolan Andrew Lane
c. 1943