Okinawa Island is where the Caine encounters a kamikaze late in the war, and where Willie Keith’s fear of imminent death turns his suppressed longing for May Wynn into a decisive recognition. The island’s narrative importance lies in this collision of wartime danger with a private choice: the day after the encounter, Willie writes May an eight-page letter begging her to marry him.

Setting and Mission

In late June 1945, the Caine was rounding Okinawa’s southern end en route to Nakagusuku Wan to collect mail for the mine fleet. The morning was gray and cloudy, the sea calm, and no air-raid warning had been given. Willie was in the chart house marking bearings along the course line when the attack began.

The Kamikaze Attack

A small, obsolete-looking Japanese plane descended toward the Caine, absorbing the fire of the ship’s guns as it approached. Willie ran from the wheelhouse to the starboard wing and saw the pilot through the cockpit bubble before taking cover on the deck. The aircraft struck the ship and set the old Caine ablaze; the pilot’s identity remained unknown to Willie.

Significance in Willie’s Story

As Willie crouched on the deck, believing he might die, his terror was overshadowed by regret that he would never see May again. Since leaving her, he had tried to dismiss his returning thoughts of her as weakness; the prospect of death made his longing feel like a truth he could no longer evade. Okinawa thus marks a turning point in the relationship: the day after encountering the pilot, Willie wrote May an eight-page letter asking her to marry him.