Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi
Surgeon
Died when: 31 years 272 days (380 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi (?? ??, Tatsuguchi Nobuo), sometimes mistakenly referred to as Nebu Tatsuguchi (August 31, 1911 – May 30, 1943), was a Japanese soldier and surgeon who served in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II.
He was killed during the Battle of Attu on Attu Island, Alaska, United States, on May 30, 1943.A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Tatsuguchi studied medicine and was licensed as a physician in the United States (US).
He returned to his native Japan to practice medicine at the Tokyo Adventist Sanitarium, where he received further medical training.
In 1941, he was ordered to cease his medical practice and conscripted into the IJA as an acting medical officer, although he was given an enlisted rather than officer rank because of his American connections.
In late 1942, Tatsuguchi was sent to Attu, which had been occupied by Japanese forces in June 1942.On May 11, 1943, The United States Army landed on the island, intending to retake American soil from the Japanese.
Throughout the ensuing battle, Tatsuguchi kept a diary in which he recorded its events and his struggle to care for the wounded in his field hospital.
He was killed on the battle's final day after the remaining Japanese conducted one last, suicidal charge against the American forces.
Tatsuguchi's diary was recovered by American forces and translated into English.Copies of the translation were widely disseminated and publicized in the U.S. after the battle.
The American public was intrigued by a Christian, American-trained doctor serving with Japanese forces on the island and by his apparent participation in assisting with the deaths of wounded Japanese soldiers in his field hospital during the battle's final days.
Translated excerpts from his diary have been widely quoted in Western historical accounts of the battle, especially his final entry in which he recorded a farewell message to his family.
