June 22, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa

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June 22, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa

Postby Apex » Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:35 am

June 22, 1945 marked the end of organized resistance at the Battle of Okinawa.

'Okinawa: The Last Battle' was first published by the U.S. Army in 1948. I have a copy of the original publication, which is also available online in pdf format.

My interest is personal as my father was with the Army 27th Division 102nd Combat Engineers at Okinawa.

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/okinawa/
http://history.army.mil/html/books/005/ ... index.html

From the introduction:
'Okinawa: The Last Battle' was written by U.S. Army historians who participated in the Ryukyus campaign as members of a group organized to accompany the American forces to the Ryukyus and secure at first hand the materials for a history of their operations. This group was formed in Hawaii as a section of the 1st Information and Historical Service, which was attached to Tenth Army in January 1945.

From 'Okinawa: The Last Battle': (All text below is verbatim, my edits for clarity are in [brackets]):

The death of General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho [on June 21], marked the end of the Okinawa campaign and the 32d Army. Organized fighting on Okinawa had lasted eighty-three days, for it was not until 22 June that Hill 85 between Medeera and Makabe fell to the [Army 77th Division] 305th Infantry.

At Tenth Army headquarters on the same morning, 22 June, representatives of the Tenth Army, the two corps, and the divisions stood in formation, the band played "The Star Spangled Banner," and the color guard raised the American flag over Okinawa. Near the top of the pole a sudden breeze swept the flag out full against a blue and quiet sky.

On 23 June 1945 Tenth Army began a thorough and coordinated mop-up campaign to eliminate the disorganized remnants of the 32d Army in southern Okinawa.

The mop-up was successfully completed on 30 June.

American battle casualties between 23 and 30 June came to 783, most of which were incurred in the first three days of the mop-up. On 2 July the Ryukyus campaign was declared ended.

As soon as the fighting ended, American forces on Okinawa set themselves to preparing for the battles on the main islands of Japan, their thoughts sober as they remembered the bitter bloodshed behind and also envisioned an even more desperate struggle to come. The sequel to Okinawa, however, was contrary to all expectation. In the midst of feverish preparations on the island in August 1945, with the day for the assault on Kyushu drawing near, there came the almost unbelievable and joyous news that the war was over. The battle of Okinawa was the last of World War II.
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Re: June 22, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa

Postby Webb » Mon Jun 22, 2015 8:06 pm

The war was hardly over.

Fortunately, the Trinity "gadget" test of July 16 was successful.

On July 26 the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration.

We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.


You know the rest.
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!" - Sen. John Blutarsky

You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I don't understand what's gone wrong with it. - George Hanson, 1969

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