“Today is *Irei no Hi* (Day to Console the Souls) in Okinawa. It is a prefectural holiday (but not a national one), a solemn occasion to remember the nearly quarter million individuals whose lives were prematurely snatched from them because of the Battle of Okinawa which lasted less than three months. Memorial services will be held at the Peace Park in Itoman, *Himeyuri no To*, and many other locales throughout the island to remember the Okinawans, Japanese, Americans, Koreans, Taiwanese, Filipinos, and other national backgrounds who perished in the fighting. The Center for Okinawan Studies joins the people of Okinawa in their time of meditation, reflecting on the expression *nuchi du takara* (life *is* the treasure), and in promoting their aspirations for a more peaceful and just world.”