As U.S. forces advanced across Okinawa’s main island in late May 1945, Kohei Nohara — who was 14 years old at the time — fled his hometown of Haebaru with his relatives, moving ever farther south in a desperate bid to get to safety.

In June this year, 81 years after the end of the Battle of Okinawa in the closing stages of World War II, Nohara visited Haebaru’s Shonan Elementary School, which was built after the war. The now 95-year-old Nohara told his story about how he experienced the fierce ground battle to some 90 fifth graders at the school.

To help students follow Nohara’s journey, teacher Naoya Arakaki projected Google Maps onto a classroom screen.