The Pacific War
Battle for Okinawa
F4U Corsair fighter firing rockets.
In April 1945, U.S. Marines invaded Okinawa. The battle was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and the battle was the largest amphibious assault. This battle lasted for 82 days from early April to mid-June. The Japanese lost more than 100,000 troops, and the Allied suffered more than 50,000 casualties. The main objective for the mission was to capture a large island only 340 miles away from Japan. The Allies were planning to make Okinawa a base for air operations. The Japanese unleashed more than 1,900 kamikaze attacks on the Allies, sinking 30 ships, damaging more than 300, and killing almost 5,000 seamen. On June 21, 1945, the end of the fighting, more than 7,600 Americans had died, but 110,000 Japanese were taken defending Okinawa. Not only soldiers' lives were taken, many of the Okinawa civilians were killed. An estimated between 40,000 to 150,000 had been killed.
Sometimes the Okinawa soldiers used the civilians as a human shield agains American soldiers and they confiscated food from the civilans and executed those who hid the food. Soldiers from both sides raped Okinawa civilians, but it became common for soldiers to rape women. It is estimated that the U.S. soldiers commited more than 10,000 rapes. After the war, more than 90% of the buildings were destroyed and the tropical landscape turned into a vast field of mud, decay, and maggots.
US Flag raised over Shuri castle on Okinawa
