Seventy years ago this weekend, the Battle of Okinawa drew to a close after two and a half months; it would be the final major land battle of World War II. The Allied invasion of Okinawa, code-named Operation Iceberg, had begun on April 1, 1945, when U.S. forces made the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater. Their strategy was to capture smaller Pacific islands as a base for a full-scale invasion of Japan, and Okinawa was the final stepping stone. More than 100,000 Japanese forces stood in the way, determined to fight until the bitter end to defend their positions. By the time the battle ended on June 22, more than 200,000 people had been killed, including unprecedented numbers of soldiers on both sides as well as at least 40,000 Okinawan civilians.
In the spring of 1945, U.S. troops in the Pacific were nearing the final stages of their
“island-hopping” campaign, a strategy designed to capture smaller islands in the Pacific and set up military bases in preparation for an invasion of Japan. Though the campaign was proving successful so far, it was also extremely costly: The 36-day battle for Iwo Jima in February and March cost the United States more than 6,000 men (Japan lost 20,000).
Okinawa, located 350 miles from Japan’s southernmost island, Kyushu, was the main island in the Ryuku chain. Much of the island, which measured some 70 miles long and seven miles wide, with 463 square miles of area, was heavily cultivated with cane fields and rice paddies. Home to some 450,000 people, Okinawa boasted a larger population than other Pacific islands. Japan had annexed the island in 1879 and attempted to “Japanize” its inhabitants, who were viewed as second-class citizens by many Japanese, including soldiers in the Imperial Army. Okinawans were ethnically diverse, with different cultures, traditions and dialect than their Japanese neighbors. In the period leading up to the U.S. invasion, some civilians were evacuated from Okinawa, but most stayed put.
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Remembering the Battle of Okinawa, 70 Years Ago — History in the Headlines
In the spring of 1945, U.S. troops in the Pacific were nearing the final stages of their
“island-hopping” campaign, a strategy designed to capture smaller islands in the Pacific and set up military bases in preparation for an invasion of Japan. Though the campaign was proving successful so far, it was also extremely costly: The 36-day battle for Iwo Jima in February and March cost the United States more than 6,000 men (Japan lost 20,000).
Okinawa, located 350 miles from Japan’s southernmost island, Kyushu, was the main island in the Ryuku chain. Much of the island, which measured some 70 miles long and seven miles wide, with 463 square miles of area, was heavily cultivated with cane fields and rice paddies. Home to some 450,000 people, Okinawa boasted a larger population than other Pacific islands. Japan had annexed the island in 1879 and attempted to “Japanize” its inhabitants, who were viewed as second-class citizens by many Japanese, including soldiers in the Imperial Army. Okinawans were ethnically diverse, with different cultures, traditions and dialect than their Japanese neighbors. In the period leading up to the U.S. invasion, some civilians were evacuated from Okinawa, but most stayed put.
more
Remembering the Battle of Okinawa, 70 Years Ago — History in the Headlines
