The following year, in April of 1945, Okinawa was targeted for its strategic importance. Okinawa was deemed necessary for capture because it would allow US bombers to destroy the
Benson 6 remainder of Japan’s merchant fleet. They also wanted the island for the four airstrips it had which would allow them to launch bombing raids on Japan’s industrial centers. The united states faced the difficult of having very little intelligence on the island of Okinawa. This probably led to their gross underestimated the number of Japanese troops and civilians on the island. The US believed there were about 65,000 Japanese troops on the island. But there were actually over 130,000 soldiers, and 450,000 civilians. The Japanese commander on the island, Lieutenant
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By April 4, the 1st Marine Division had finished its cross-island maneuver, and had nothing left to do. So, they decided to turn back and scout through the land it already secured. At this point, remnant Japanese fighters both civilian and military in origin began attack the 1st in guerrilla style assaults. These fighters, however, were not at all trained for this type of attacking. They were difficult for the marines to initially spot, but once they showed themselves they were quickly defeated. In order to reduce the number of guerrilla fighters faced, the Tenth Army began placing all male Japanese civilians in internment camps on the island starting on April 11. Eventually, Japanese civilians of all ages and genders were interred, thus effectively ending the threat of the guerrilla fighters. However, these guerrilla groups were still encountered throughout the battle on Okinawa, but they proved to be a very little threat (“Battle of Okinawa: Summary”). The 6th Marine Division continued moving north almost completely unopposed. They did encounter any significant resistance until April 13, when they reached Mount Yae Take, which is located at the center of the Motobu Peninsula, in northern Okinawa. The battle at Mount Yae Take lasted four days and involved artillery support and naval gunfire. After the Japanese at Yae Take were defeated, the Americans were able to move all the way north on the island, completing their maneuver. The team that was moving towards the southern point of the island was known as the XXIV Army Corps (“Battle of Okinawa: Summary”). The XXIV Corps consisted of the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry Divisions (Trueman). It was on April 6 that the XXIV Corps met their first true opposition from the Japanese. The defenders were so well fortified and so well organized and so great in number that the current number of American soldiers that were pressing the attack against them
Omaha beach was invaded on June tenth. On Omaha beach, one of the most chaotic parts of the battle, the United States first infantry went through the worst part of the landings out of any of the beaches. Their Sherman tanks had been mostly lost before they reached the shore. The three hundred and fifty second division was some of the best trained on the beaches. Within ten minutes, every officer and Sargent had been wounded or killed. The division had over four thousand casualties.
1. THE FLAG RAISING: Mount Suribachi is a 550 foot volcanic cone at the island’s southern tip. It dominates both possible-landing beaches, from this point Japanese gunners have every inch of the beaches covered. Every marine on the island was in range of Japanese guns.
During the 1900’s, it was common for people to immigrate to America. They saw it as a land of freedom and opportunity. Some thought that this was a great way for the US’ economy to boom, but some thought otherwise. With the shortage of jobs, many believed that the immigrants were stealing their precious jobs. Because of the competition over jobs, immigrants became the new public enemy to many. Immigrants such as the Japanese. The Japanese had already been through some racial discrimination, but it wasn’t until World War II that it got much worse. During the war the US decided it was best to be neutral, but the longer the war went on for, The more the US’ neutrality was on the verge of breaking. It wasn’t until December 7, 1941, that the US
The entire Japanese military and civilian population would fight to the death. American casualties -- just for that initial invasion to get a foothold on the island of Japan would have taken up to an estimated two months and would have resulted in up to 75,000 to 100,000 casualties. And that was just the beginning. Once the island of Kyushu was captured by U.S. troops, the remainder of Japan would follow. You can just imagine the cost of injuries and lives this would take.
The war itself was filled with many battles, deaths, and decisions. Although the state of Japan in 1945 was a defeated nation, they refused to surrender, which was a key reason why Truman dropped the Atomic bombs. There are many important events and reasons as to why President Truman decided to drop the Atomic bombs on Japan. Japan's actions from 1852 to 1945 were stimulated by an extensive aspiration to elude the providence of 19th-century China and also to overtake it as a great power. When Japanese soldiers stormed into Manchuria in 1931, Japan commenced the first in the succession of annexations and conquest throughout the 1930’s that positioned the phase of the war.
Initially, Japanese strategists assumed that the tiny island would be overwhelmed in a matter of hours. However, they underestimated the fighting spirit of the military personnel and civilians stationed on the island. For sixteen days these brave men fought against overwhelming odds, but demonstrated both to the Japanese and to their fellow Americans back at home that the Americans could and would put up a courageous fight.
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan ("Battle of Okinawa," 1996). The Battle of Okinawa remembered more for its iconic photograph of US Marines raising the US flag on Okinawa more so than any other war or battle ever fought. Okinawa the largest of the Ryukus islands played a major role in the American forces overall strategic efforts to advance to the mainland’s of Japan. Because it was the last major battle of WWII, the battle of Okinawa used lessons learned and TTP’s from all previous battles with the Japanese to successfully employ combined striking power of the services and techniques of amphibious operations.
Continuing on, the bombing of Japan was also unnecessary due to the unacceptable terms of the Potsdam Declaration. After Germany’s surrender on May 7, 1945, the U.S. created a treaty, called the Potsdam Declaration, with terms of surrender for Japan (Lawton). Among those terms was one which stated, “We call upon the government of Japan to ...
During the growth of America many Japanese people immigrated to Hawaii and mainland America as did many other immigrants to gain/earn a better life/living. Many of these immigrants helped in wars and worked in factories to help the economy grow and to help America when it is suffering. The United States decided to stay neutral in many wars including World War II. It wasn't until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japan attacked the United States over economic sanctions and trade embargoes - which hindered trade and natural resources that Japan need from the US. As a result of the attacks on the US, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Order 9066, which gathered all Japanese-American citizens in military
On October 20th, American forces invaded Leyte Island as part of a strategy to remove Japan from the countries it had occupied in southeast Asia. The Japanese Navy moved almost all of its remaining naval vessels in attempt to defeat the allied invasion, they were stopped by the US Navy’s 3rd and 7th fleet. Due to this, the Japanese Navy suffered many casualties and surviving ships remained at their base for the rest of the war.
World War II consisted of many devastating battles in both the European and the Pacific Theater. The Battle of Okinawa was fought in the Pacific theater. In the beginning of the battle there was little opposition from the Japanese soldiers but as the American troops traveled more inland the more resistance they met. Eventually, the 10th Army came against the fierce challenge of the intricate defense lines the Japanese held up. Many caves and pillboxes in the hills created a formidable challenge for American troops. Slowly though the Allies gained ground and continued to push back the defensive lines of General Ushijima and his troops. The Japanese tried to use kamikaze air and land attacks as successful offensive measures, these continued to produce little effect and failed each time. Finally, the Allies started to gain ground quite quickly. The Japanese had to move their defensive lines several time because the Americans were boxing them in. At las,t General Ushijima ordered everyman to fight till the death and the fighting became very disorganized. On June 21, all the loss ends were tied up. America had won Okinawa.
The case of Okinawa reversion is not as same as the one of the American Occupation of Japan. Before Okinawa was officially returned to Japanese government by the United States in 1972, the anti-security movement took place between May and June in 1960. This movement was held by the Japanese public to express oppositions to the ratification of the U.S-Japan security treaty. In addition, they did not want their country to have any military link with the United States and they wanted the U.S military bases to be eliminated (Reischauer, 1960-1961). Despite this wide opposition to the security treaty, Prime Minister Kishi coercively made the New Security Treaty into effect on June 19, 1960 (ibid, 12). As the voices of Japanese public were not heard
The United States entered WW II immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. entry was a major turning point in the war because it brought the strongest industrial strength to the Allied side. The Americans helped the Allies to win the war in Europe with the surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. However, the war in the Pacific continued. The war with Japan at this point consisted primarily of strategic bombings. America had recently completed an atomic bomb and was considering using this weapon of mass destruction for the first time. The goal was to force the “unconditional surrender” of the Japanese. Roosevelt had used the term “unconditional surrender” in a press conference in 1943 and it had since become a central war aim. Truman and his staff (still feeling bound by FDR’s words) demanded unconditional surrender from the Japanese. Consequently on July 26, 1945 Truman issued an ultimatum to Japan. This ultimatum stated that Japan must accept “unconditional surrender” or suffer “utter devastation of the Japanese Homeland”. This surrender included abdication of the throne by their emperor. Japan was not willing to surrender their dynasty and ignored the ultimatum. On August 6th and August 9th, atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
(McInnis, 1945) Though the public did not know this, the allies, in fact, did. Through spies, they had learned that both Japan's foreign minister, Shigenori Togo and Emperor Hirohito both supported an end to the war (Grant, 1998). Even if they believed such reports to be false or inaccurate, the leaders of the United States also knew Japan's situation to be hopeless. Their casualties in defending the doomed island of Okinawa were a staggering 110,000 and the naval blockade which the allies had enforced whittled trade down to almost nothing.
Living on Okinawa can be a great experience, you just have to get out and learn about the practices and customs. Okinawa, the principle island of the Okinawa Prefectures is referred to as the, “Keystone of the Pacific”. The climate compares to the Unites States southeastern coastal areas. The name Okinawa means, “Rope in the sea”. It is a fairly good description of this long stretch of islands between mainland Japan and Taiwan. Okinawa consists of forty-one inhabited islands. Okinawa is also a major tourist destination. Okinawa’s customs and environment are beautiful and appealing to all.