Eagle Scout project memorializes 14,000 soldiers who fought in the Battle of Okinawa

The Francis family moved to Okinawa Island a few years ago when Mark Francis took the helm as the Scout executive for the Far East Council. The kids joined units there, including Avonlea with Troop 109.

When Avonlea earned the Life Scout rank, she began brainstorming ideas for her Eagle Scout project.

“I wanted to do something that not only benefitted the many Americans who live in Okinawa but was also respectful to the Japanese people here,” the 15-year-old says.

A family visit

She found what she wanted to do when her extended family visited the Francis family last year. During the visit, everyone went to the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. The museum memorializes those who died in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. More than 200,000 people died during the campaign, with about half of those casualties being civilians.

The Francis family had been to the museum before, but this visit was different.

“My cousin’s great-uncle passed away during the battle, and we went to find his name,” Avonlea says.

There they ran into some friends who were working on a project.

“They wanted to digitize all of the Japanese and American names listed on the stones so that the memorials could be visible to people around the world,” Avonlea says. “I asked if there was anything I could do to help, and they asked if I could coordinate digitizing the American names.”

An impactful project

An Eagle Scout project requires that Scouts assemble a team and lead them to accomplish the project. Avonlea recruited not only her fellow Scouts but also friends and family from around the world, using requests posted on social media. In total, she had more than 80 volunteers to help her.

“I sent each volunteer a photo from the memorial, and they transcribed the names into a spreadsheet then uploaded the info to Find a Grave,” she says. “Each photo took an hour or two of work. Some volunteers did one photo; others did several. I kept track of the photos and progress on a large chart.”

Her troop devoted time during meetings to work on her project.

“It took lots of brainpower and computers, but we made progress little by little,” Avonlea says.

After four months, the team had compiled more than 14,000 American names with photos and updated profiles on findagrave.com.

Remembering loved ones

Not everyone has the opportunity to go to the museum on Okinawa. But thanks to websites like Find a Grave, people can look up their loved ones, see their photos, and upload memories and information as well. Avonlea’s project helped many families connect to those memorialized in Okinawa.

Avonlea finished her project toward the end of last year and earned the Eagle Scout rank this year.

“It’s been 80 years since that terrible battle, and now more people can visualize and connect with those who gave their lives,” she says. “I just hope — especially this memorial year — that we never forget what happened here.”