Tsukuyo Kushineda
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Tsukuyo Kushineda | |
|---|---|
 Tsukuyo Kushineda in 1939 | |
| Nickname(s) | Kushie |
| Born | 25 May 1917 Osaka, Nihhon-koku |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Lucis Army |
| Years of service | 1933–1957 |
| Rank | Brigadier |
| Commands held | XI Corps 3rd Royal Tank Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Second Europan War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Military Cross Distinguished Service Order Conspicuous Gallantry Medal Second Europan War Victory Medal Mentioned in Dispatches King's Commendation for Valuable Service |
| Relations | Yukio Kushineda Jr. (elder brother) Archibald Sugiyama (spouse) Tatsumi Sugiyama (grandson) Reiko Sugiyama (grandson) Yukiko Sugiyama (granddaughter) Akiko Sugiyama (granddaughter) |
| Other work | Author |
Dame Tsukuyo Kushineda-Sugiyama DLE Rom: Kushineda-Sugiyama Tsukuyo (25 May 1917) is a retired Lucian Officer, General and Author. Kushineda is known for being the wife of Field Marshal Sir. Archibald Sugiyama, having being tutored and trained by him and soon, commanding together the Commonwealth Forces in East Africanna, the Middle East, and in Asianna. She became the youngest Lucian Commander in the field, being a Brigadier by the age of 20. Tsukuyo is known for her reputation of being able to reinforce flanks when it is needed as well as her healthy lifestyle, which mostly consists of drinking tea and consuming large amounts of carrots, which has helped maintained her skin when she celebrated her 90th birthday. She is also the last known living Lucian Commander who served during the Second Europan War. She is well known for her healthy practices and gleeful demeanour that credited her long life.
She is also the first and only veteran in history to reach the age of 120 in 2037. She was present during the commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Sania, where she was welcomed as its patron, along with other surviving veterans of that battle, as well as survivors who witnessed the events of the battle.
Today, Tsukuyo resides in Dorchester, together with her grandchildren, notably Reiko Sugiyama, Tatsumi Sugiyama, Yukiko Sugiyama and Akiko Sugiyama.
Early Life
Kushineda was born at the Kushineda family's ancestral city of Osaka in Nihhon-koku to a Nihhonese father, Gen. Yukio Kushineda Sr., who was an active officer of the Lucis Army and had been a veteran of the Lucio-Domonokian Wars and the Rebellion of the Fists and to a Nihhonese-Lucian socialite Ayame Kushineda. She is the youngest of the 6 siblings and was considered by her family as the most precious one. At the time of her birth, her father and eldest brother was serving in the trenches during the First Europan War. As a result, Kushineda would not meet the 2 until 1920 when the war ended.
She and her 4 elder sisters moved to the UK in order to find it easier to be closer to their father and brother. When her father and elder brother, Yukio Kushineda Jr. returned home following the armistice, her elder brother embraced her tightly and the two would become very close. Their mother had described their relationship to be as strong as a knot.
When Kushineda came of age, she chose to follow in her brother's footsteps, serving within the Lucis Army. However, her father was against this and instead hoped that she would become a lawyer. However, Yukio Jr. understood his younger sister's willingness to serve and as a result, would defend his sister's ambition to join the army. Eventually, their father agreed on the condition that Kushineda would pursue military studies in Nihhon-koku. As a result, Tsukuyo, along with 2 of her elder sisters returned to Nihhon-koku in 1933. While her sisters, Amari Kushineda and Chieko Kushineda pursued law and chemical engineering respectively, Kushineda attended the Sendai Military Academy.
Military Career
Training in Sendai Military Academy
Kushineda attended the Sendai Military Academy in 1933, during which at the time when the political atmosphere in Europa was beginning to be drawn close to war as the Estharian Civil War was taking place. At that time, her elder brother was fighting in Esthar and often wrote letters to Tsukuyo.
Among her class, Tsukuyo was the smartest and was considered a prodigy. According to many of her professors and schoolmates, Kushineda often went to the library to study different tactics that many military generals had utilised at the time. She idolised Arthur Wellington, Johannes Vandemeer, and John Sugiyama. However, she would look at Nihhonese Col. Akina Sumiyoshi as her figurehead and inspiration, understanding that a leader must both be calculating and subtle in strategy. She would read the life of the latter and it was this that drove her even more to excel at her studies and in practical exams.
In 1935, at the age of 18, Kushineda would lead a command of a regiment during a practical exam. She was heavily outnumbered as some of her professors wanted her to fail (at the time, no woman had ever been in a commanding role and was seen as somewhat of a taboo subject) and thus, they ordered her formation handicapped. However, Kushineda outsmarted the opposing team by waging entrapment and guerilla warfare, in which she utilised the swift nature of her infantry whilst minimising her own losses. As a result, her professor were left no choice but to pass her. She graduated early in 1936 at the age of 19 with a rank of Captain.
Transfer to RA Base Dorchester
Following her graduation, she returned to the UK, reuniting with her family. However, she found herself employed within the Lucis Army as a Captain. She was given a command of a small Home Army force and was subsequently promoted to Major because of her background and record in Nihhon-koku. Kushineda oversaw training of militia and defence units in preparation for a possible invasion of the Lucis Isles. She found herself being stationed at RA Base Dorchester, which was commanded by her father.
Her father was given the option of commanding army units overseas but instead chose to remain in the UK and muster as much troops as he could to aid the war effort and to bolster defences. Kushineda often performed routine tasks such as overseeing infantry training and weapons maintenance. She also made sure that all guns were functioning in the event of a raid. Her role would continue until in early 1937, when she was ordered by high command to be transferred to Basel-Ebel to act as a liaison officer for then-General Archibald Sugiyama.
Arrival in Basel-Ebel, Meeting with General Sugiyama
Kushineda arrived in Basel-Ebel in late January 1937 and met with General Sugiyama. Here, she would serve as his liaison officer in-charge of overseeing that his orders are efficiently carried out. She also reunited with her elder brother, in which her brother was leading the LRDG and carrying out raids and reconnaissance for Sugiyama's forces. In 15 February 1937, the Battle of Keren began. Sugiyama lacked field officers on the ground and this gave Kushineda the opportunity to serve in the front. Tsukuyo volunteered to serve as a field officer. At first, Sugiyama hesitated, being skeptical of a woman commanding a unit. But when Kushineda demanded a regiment to command, Sugiyama gave her.
Kushineda's regiment performed a crucial task during the battle, in which they were able to fend off Archadian reinforcements long enough for Sugiyama to send in the ZANAKs under Brigadier Edward Samegawa to reinforce him at Keren. This led to the collapse of the Archadian defences around Keren, which thus paved a highway to the port of Massawa. Sugiyama, impressed by Kushineda's feat, decided to promote her to Colonel and serve in the field as one of his officers on the ground.
Sugiyama and Kushineda's love blooms
"The War Couple"
End of the War, Retirement
Writing Career
Personal Life
Kushineda was initially assigned as a liaison officer for her future husband, Archibald Sugiyama. Their professional relationship would also extend further into a personal intimacy when Sugiyama and Kushineda started to date in 1934. She come along with Sugiyama in Basel-Ebel when the Second Europan War started. In 1938, they were married in Johannesburg. They have 4 children.
In 2014, during the Exercise TRIOC in Quenmin; Kushineda reunited with former enemy, Kiều Dũng Quang. The two have since reconciled and are now friends.
Kushineda personally established the Archibald and Tsukuyo Sugiyama Veterans Health Association to gather funds to preserve lives of both non-veterans and veteran or retired soldiers alike. In 2015, with her association's charity support, she gathered more than 5,000 Lucian Gil (75,000 Quenminese Tien) for payment of Kieu's heart surgery.
Health
Tsukuyo has a reputation for consuming enormous amounts of carrots in her meals, whether if it was raw, juiced or steamed (although she would eat meat from time to time). She, however, dislikes having her carrots cooked because according to her, it will lose its nutrients when cooked. She is also a tea hobbyist and drinker. Her health practices also contributed greatly to her slow aging process, which she looked a lot more of a 70 year old woman when she turned 90. Today, she still carries her habits but mostly juices her carrots and maintaining her life more.
In an interview in 2018, Kushineda revealed her secrets to long life; Eating raw vegetables, drinking tea, keeping yourself busy, and spending time with your grandchildren. Kushineda still enjoys dancing and singing as her past time. She also does gardening and baking. She would often visit Field Marshal Kiriya Kitagawa to have tea. She also frequently visited by the former King Regis Lucis Caelum CXII and Queen Alicia Reize Arnor to have tea with her. She is also a keen and fond reader and loves solving arithmetic problems. She enjoys playing Monopoly and other games with her family. Her grandson, Tatsumi Sugiyama mentioned that she was undefeated at the game of Chess and continued to be so.