NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Akira Hamamatsu, 75, recalls Emperor Hirohito's surrender broadcast on Aug. 15, 1945, as little more than a garbled voice mixed with static.

"Defeat meant nothing to me," said the hospital administrator born in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, who was serving at a Tokyo military base at the time.

Organized resistance by Japanese troops in Okinawa had officially ended on June 23, 1945, 80 days after the Allies landed.