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Prime Minister Attends the Memorial Ceremony to Commemorate the Fallen on the 62nd Anniversary of the End of the Battle of Okinawa Saturday, June 23, 2007 JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the Memorial Ceremony to Commemorate the Fallen on the 62nd Anniversary of the End of the Battle of Okinawa, held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture. Under the clear blue sky of Okinawa after the end of the rainy season, Prime Minister Abe paid his respects at the National Cemetery for the War Dead in Okinawa located in the Peace Memorial Park on Mabuni Hill in Itoman City. The Prime Minister, together with Ms. Chikage Oogi, the President of the House of Councillors, Mr. Hirokazu Nakaima, the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, and others offered flowers for the war dead who rest in peace there. After offering a silent prayer for the war dead at noon, Prime Minister Abe delivered a guest speech, saying, "The largest ground battle in Japan in World War II took place here in Okinawa. The Okinawan people's peaceful lives were suddenly turned into a scene of hell, and 200,000 precious lives were lost. The peace and prosperity of Japan today is founded on the precious sacrifice of the war dead. We must never again repeat the tragedy of war."