On April 1, 1945 the U.S. Tenth Army, consisting of an Army corps and a corps of Marines, started coming ashore on Okinawa after a lengthy period of naval bombardment of the island and its 130,000 Japanese defenders. Operation ICEBERG was underway. This was the last great island battle of the Pacific War. The Americans wanted air fields on Okinawa from which they could attack the main islands of Japan. Of course, the defenders fought tenaciously to stop them. Theirs was a losing effort. The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 brutal days during which 77,000 Japanese died. They took with them 14,000 Americans.
On April 1, 1945 the U.S. Tenth Army, consisting of an Army corps and a corps of Marines, started coming ashore on Okinawa after a lengthy period of naval bombardment of the island and its 130,000 Japanese defenders. Operation ICEBERG was underway. This was the last great island battle of the Pacific War. The Americans wanted air fields on Okinawa from which they could attack the main islands of Japan. Of course, the defenders fought tenaciously to stop them. Theirs was a losing effort. The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 brutal days during which 77,000 Japanese died. They took with them 14,000 Americans.
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