70 years ago this week: the battle for Okinawa

battle-of-okinawa-map/dandelion-films.com

Central Okinawa today, Google earth photo

Military History Online  . . . " The Battle of Okinawa is distinguished among battles, yet often unrecognized when referring to the great battles of the Second World War. Over 250,000 people lost their lives. Approximately 150,000 Okinawans, about a third of the population, perished.[1] At the battle's end, somewhere between a third and half of all surviving civilians were wounded.[2] No battle during the Second World War, except Stalingrad, had as massive a loss of civilian life. The stakes were high. The Japanese, determined to fight to the last man, almost achieved their objective, but in defeat 100,000 Japanese combatants died rather than surrender.[3] In the end, fewer than 10,000 of General Mitsuri Ushijimas's Thirty-Second Army were taken prisoner.[4]" . . . 

Ernie Pyle

 Okinawa: The final battle

151 Okinawa battle photos  Famed correspondent Ernie Pyle lies dead after being killed on April 18, 1945.

 Ernie Pyle Is Killed on Ie Island; Foe Fired When All Seemed Safe      . . . "He joined headquarters troops in the outskirts of the island's chief town, Tegusugu. Our men had seemingly ironed out minor opposition at this point, and Mr. Pyle went over to talk to a regimental commanding officer. Suddenly enemy machine gunners opened fire at about 10:15 A.M. (9:15 P.M., Tuesday, Eastern war time). The war correspondent fell in the first burst."
 

 

"United States loss of life was staggering as well. The United States Navy sustained the largest loss of ships in its history with thirty-six lost and 368 damaged.[5] The Navy also sustained the largest loss of life in a single battle with almost 5,000 killed and an equal number wounded.[6] At Okinawa, the United States Tenth Army would incur its greatest losses in any campaign against the Japanese.[7] The Tenth Army, which initially was made up of 183,000 army, navy, and marine personnel.[8]  During those eighty-two days, the Tenth Army would lose 7,613 men and over 30,000 men would be evacuated from the front lines for a minimum of a week due to wounds.[9]  Moreover, the largest numbers of U.S. combat fatigue cases ever recorded would occur on Okinawa.[10]

  

April 1&2, 1945: Marines landing on Okinawa

The Pacific: Inside The Battle - Okinawa (HBO)

The bloody World War II battle at Okinawa is recalled by U.S. veterans and the team behind the HBO miniseries "The Pacific." 

Battle of Okinawa  "The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg,^[11] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II.^[12][13] The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces."