Butaritari Island in Kiribati commemorated the 80th anniversary of Te Kaukinangananga, the Battle of Butaritari (Makin), on Tuesday 21 November 2023 at Ukiangang. The event was attended by a visiting U.S.A Battlefield Tour group, U.S Embassy, Suva, Fiji personnel, officials from the Office of te Beretitenti (OB), Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives (MTCIC), government officials, and the people of Butaritari.
The event began with a March parade led by the Kiribati Police Service (KPS) and included pre- and primary school students and local communities. The children of Ukiangang Primary School then performed an re-enactment of the raid by the U.S. Army in November 1943.
In his official address to the Parade, U.S Army Lieutenant Colonel John-Paul Smock expressed how supremely impressed he was with the people of Ukiangang on their spirit of remembrance in keeping the memory of this important part of the island’s history alive.
Mr. Glenn Frizzell, 85 years old from the U.S.A, shared his impressions of the event. “I first attended this event 7 years ago and I am impressed at how involved the children of Butaritari honor the memory of the war,” he said.
Mr. Maretino Kamaunea, of Butaritari Island, shared his personal experience of the battle. “I was only 13 years old when the Americans raided our island in their assault on Japanese Forces in 1943,” he recalled. “We were made to dig caves to hide in. We remained in the cave for over 24 hours until we were certain that the fighting between the Americans and the Japanese had stopped.” He added, “there was only a small gap in which we could peek out from and we could tell the Japanese from the Americans by their boots.”
The event concluded with a sumptuous feast prepared by the people of Ukiangang.
