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The bloodiest and cruelest campaign of World War II rages on a small island the size of Los Angeles.
Rare uncensored footage and detailed analysis of the brutal 82-day Battle of Okinawa, highlighting strategies, key moments, and its historical impact.
Key Takeaways
- The Battle of Okinawa was a pivotal and extremely costly conflict that shaped the final stages of World War II in the Pacific.
- Japanese defensive strategy focused on delaying the American advance rather than preventing the landing itself.
- The battle demonstrated the brutal nature of island warfare, including kamikaze tactics and harsh environmental conditions.
- Okinawa’s capture was crucial for the US as a staging ground for a potential invasion of mainland Japan.
- The extensive use of archival footage offers unique insight into the realities faced by soldiers and civilians during the battle.
Summary
- The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest campaign in the Pacific during World War II, lasting 82 days in 1945.
- It involved 180,000 American soldiers against 120,000 Japanese troops, with significant civilian involvement.
- The battle was marked by high casualties, kamikaze attacks, and intense mountain warfare.
- Operation Iceberg was the largest assault in the Pacific campaign, aiming to secure Okinawa as a base for invading mainland Japan.
- The Americans landed on Okinawa’s western coast with minimal initial resistance due to Japanese defensive tactics.
- Japanese forces prepared extensive inland defenses, including tunnels along the Shuri line to avoid naval bombardment.
- The battle included significant naval and air engagements, with the US Navy suffering its costliest losses from kamikaze attacks.
- The strategic importance of Okinawa lay in its proximity to Japan and its potential to cut off Japanese supply lines.
- The Japanese objective was to inflict maximum casualties to delay the American advance toward the Japanese mainland.
- Rare archival footage provides a day-by-day immersive experience of the battle’s decisive moments.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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The Battle of Okinawa. As war winds down in Europe, here on this little piece of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the United States and Japan face off in an agonizing conflict that will change the course of history.
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It's gruesome, high casualties. This is really a slugfest, more of a World War I type of battle.
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On the American side, 180,000 soldiers, an armada of battleships, and thousands of fighter aircraft.
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On the other, 120,000 desperate Japanese ready to die for their country.
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You had to be willing to sacrifice your life for the emperor. That meant you were a good Japanese citizen.
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General Buckner leads the American army against General Ushima on the Japanese side. The two officers will fight to the bitter end.
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Almost everything was wiped out. It was a massive destructive battlefield.
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Over three grueling months in 1945, the horror and violence reached their peak.
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April sees massive kamikaze attacks against the American fleet. That's the costliest battle in US Navy history.
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In May, fierce battles rage in the mountains.
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The Americans called the south side of the hill the Bloody Mountain.
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And in June, the rainy season brings new torment to the ground troops.
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You end up with feet of mud that go down and down and down.
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Now, through rare archival footage, you're about to relive the decisive moments of the crucial battles day by day and as if you were there in the trenches.
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How was the landing on the island of Okinawa planned? Which Japanese strategies took the American generals by surprise?
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And what tipped the fate of certain key battles? It's the one big mistake that the Japanese make on the defense of the island.
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This is the story of the Battle of Okinawa. 82 days of combat that turned a small Pacific island into a hell of fire and blood.
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[Music] [Music] East China Sea 5:30 a.m. On this particular Easter Sunday, 1,300 American and British warships, including 12 aircraft carriers and seven battleships, are sailing towards the island of Okinawa. A super powerful air-sea task force is ready to unleash countless
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bombs on the island in order to land and take it from the Japanese.
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[Music] The code name for this mission is Operation Iceberg. It is the largest assault of the entire Pacific campaign.
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Since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese planes in December 1941, the American army has set out to conquer the territories of the Japanese Empire. This includes the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Saipan, and the Philippines. It's been one
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battle after another throughout World War II. For the American command, landing on the main Japanese island is the last step of this relentless conquest. After the Battle of Iwo Jima, the last islands remaining to be seized are in the Okinawa Archipelago, located a
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mere 700 km south of the Japanese coast.
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[Music] In order to win against Japan holistically, they needed to attack the mainland. Whether that was by air, continual bombing would get the job done, or whether they actually had to
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put boots on the ground. In order to do that, they have to get as close as they can.
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Okinawa is important for two reasons. First, its strategic location allows it to be an ideal base for the invasion of Japan. You've got a lot of good space for airfields. It's the right distance to bomb southern portions of Japan.
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You've also got a lot of space to have infantry units train and station. Second reason is that it allows the Americans to cut off Japan from its colonies. Taiwan, China coast, Singapore, Java. All those pieces of real estate are still in Japanese hands
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in 1945. Japan's an island and most of its economy is based on shipping. So, it's easy to hit that with either ships or with planes.
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The 10th American Army is tasked with invading Okinawa, a force of 180,000 men under the command of three-star General Simon Bolivar Buckner.
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[Music] Facing them, Japan has had time to prepare its defense. 80,000 soldiers of the 32nd Japanese Army led by General Ushima Mitsuru are stationed on the island.
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[Applause] The population is also enlisted as 40,000 civilians will fight alongside the soldiers. Japanese troops come over and they mobilize the entire island. And I mean every man, woman, and child is supposed to build fortifications and airstrips
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and all their farming is supposed to feed the troops. And they're supposed to be prepared to fight and enlist to fight.
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The Japanese general staff already knew that their army would be decimated in Okinawa. The main mission of the troops was to buy some time.
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No matter the cost, they had to delay the battle that would soon occur on Japan's main island, even just by one day. The army and the emperor himself were aware that the island of Okinawa would eventually be occupied by the
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American troops, but they needed more time to get ready before fighting the Americans on their own turf.
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[Music] The Japanese wanted to inflict a lot of casualties on the Americans. That was basically their main strategic objective in fighting the battle.
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The American general staff decided to land on the western part of the island on a coast stretching 8 km south of Cape Zanpa near the village of Hagushi.
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[Music] There the reef is shallow and several beaches run along the coastline. During low tide, their width reaches 45 m, which is ideal for troop landing.
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[Music] While 1,200 troop ships approach the coastline, the air and sea force blaze a trail for the soldiers that are ready to land.
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40,000 shells, 30,000 rockets, and air-dropped napalm. The fires of hell are unleashed on Okinawa.
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At 8:30 a.m., the first American soldiers set foot on the beach. But as the soldiers are expecting to meet the fire of Japanese defense, the surroundings are unusually quiet.
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When the Americans landed, there were hardly any Japanese soldiers. They faced no resistance.
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[Music] When the soldiers arrived on April 1st, it almost felt like they were going on a picnic.
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[Music] They landed, they walked in, it was really quiet. Soldiers and Marines alike were like, "Wow, this is relatively easy." There's no resistance there along the beach.
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You literally see soldiers marching inland standing upright. The Americans are getting lodged on the island and they're like, "What is the Japanese general doing?" And the answer is, "I don't know, but we'll take advantage of it."
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[Music] However, the lack of resistance to the American landing is in fact a deliberate tactic on the part of the Japanese command.
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The Japanese air forces were heavily damaged and destroyed. At this point, they really didn't have the fuel to make some of those operations.
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The thing that they decide to do is they're going to defend inland. They're going to defend away from the beaches so the Americans can't use their big guns from their battleships against them.
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So what happens is the landing force lands on the beach and everyone is expecting, you know, horrific casualties and they're literally like, where are the Japanese?
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[Music] The first day of Operation Iceberg is a complete and unexpected success for the American force.
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In just a few hours, an area of 14.5 by 5 km is already secured. While the airfields of Kadena and Yumitan are seized by the infantry,
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[Music] the death toll on the American side amounts to 28. In comparison, the landing in Normandy had caused 10,000 casualties on the first day alone.
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[Music] Nonetheless, the Japanese forces are ready to fight.
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A section is stationed up north, notably on the Motobu Peninsula, while a majority are lying in wait in the southern part of the island along the Shuri line. It's a mountainous area made of hills where the soldiers have dug
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tunnels to hide as they await the enemy. For the Americans,
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[Music] These guys are often flying on their kamicazi missions with 10, 15 hours in the cockpit, which is not a whole lot.
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The idea is that the kamicazis will basically find and hit a US ship. Carriers and battleships.
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US aircraft carriers are not particularly wellarmored. There's the USS Franklin which is almost taken out and there is the USS Enterprise.
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Franklin basically is toast. It is ruined as a ship. They took out about 30 destroyers during the battle. 5,000 dead, another 5,000 wounded. That's the costliest battle in US Navy history.
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You're hitting destroyers. Boom, boom, boom, boom. The Navy is going, "Move faster. Move faster. We got to get these guys out of here." So the kamicazis were really, really hitting them hard.
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In some cases, because it was so close, they could actually see the face of the pilot.
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Those images really stayed with people who experienced those attacks firsthand for a very long time afterwards.
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Along with its fighter planes, the Japanese army also uses small suicide boats called shino that are riddled with explosives and maneuvered by a single man.
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>> You tend to think of kamicazi as only being pilot, but kamicazi is a way in which their fight that is the pilots, that is the boats. A lot of it was being aimed at ammunition transports. So you
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can kind of cut off on some of that advantage that the US had in terms of supplies ammunition.
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>> The objective is not suicide. The objective is victory. >> The Japanese army stops at nothing to damage the American war arsenal. Hoping to weaken it furthermore, Emperor Hirohito decides to go allin and hit the Allied fleet stationed off the coast of
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Okinawa with full force by ordering operation Tango. [Music] Only six days into the invasion of Okinawa, an armada of warships leave the coast of Japan and head towards the archipelago.
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Among them is the Yamato, the largest battleship in the world. >> The Yumato was a magnificent ship, and it was something that was also the pride of Japan, too. It's 863 feet, 69,000 tons, and it had nine 18-in guns, which
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is a little bigger than what even the US has. This is about all they have left. So, they send the Yamato down to Okinawa, and the idea was ram it onto the beaches of Okinawa, point its guns out towards
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sea, and shell the crud out of the American invasion fleet. problem with that is we have radar pickets, we have submarines doing picket duty and they see the Yamato coming.
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When the Yamato and its escort pass the Osumi Peninsula while heading south towards Okinawa, Admiral Spruent, the commander-in-chief of the American army in the Pacific, gives the order to launch an immediate counterattack.
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Admiral Raymond Spruent says, "I want to kill that battleship, but I do not want to get in a battleship fight where they might actually win or they might take a couple of my guys with them." So, he basically sends airplanes off his
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carriers. [Music] In just a few hours, the American aircraft carriers hurl some 386 fighter planes towards the Japanese Armada heading towards Okinawa without any air cover.
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[Music] Despite the firepower of the largest battleship of the world, the Yamato cannot withstand the violence of the attack.
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On that day, the entire crew of 3,000 men perish. Biggest, baddest ship never fires a shot in angry.
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Goes down. Completely militarily ineffective. sunk north of Okinawa. >> It sinking was a huge emotional loss to much of Japan, too.
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So much was symbolized in that ship. A whole national effort to build that size vessel.
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>> Operation Tang Go is a complete failure for the Japanese Army. They've sacrificed the jewel of their naval force without causing any damage to the enemy.
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From his beloved second home at Warm Springs, Georgia, the body of Franklin Delano Roosevelt moves on the first stages of its journey to his final resting place. Scores of sufferers from infantile paralysis sorrowfully bid farewell to their great friend and
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>> with the destruction of the Yamato. The American army wins a key victory against Japan. But meanwhile, the United States are struck by the sudden death of President Franklin Roosevelt. The entire world is grieving.
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The troops on Okinawa also pay tribute to the late president. But the Japanese general staff used this event in an attempt to destabilize the troops. They sent to the field a propaganda pamphlet written in English.
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To all American officers and men, we must express our deep regret over the death of President Roosevelt. The American tragedy is now raised here at Okinawa with his death. You must have seen 70% of your CVs and 73% of your
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bees sink or be damaged, causing 150,000 casualties. Not only the late president, but anyone else would die in the excess of worry to hear such an annihilative damage. The dreadful loss that led to your late leader's death will make you
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orphans on this island. The Japanese special attack war will sink your vessels down to the last destroyer. You will witness it realized in the near future.
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The numbers are totally whimsical, but the text clearly shows that the Japanese troops are willing to fight till the end, and they make sure their enemy is aware of it.
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On the island, the battles have been raging for nearly 3 weeks. The invasion force faces a fierce resistance from the outposts of the Shuri line, preventing further advance in the south.
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In the north, the progressing troops reach Cape Hedo. The last pocket of resistance is now surrounded on the Mobu Peninsula near Mount Yetake, the Japanese headquarters of the North Sector.
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Harassed by the Marines, their defense is reduced to nothing. With victory in sight, the general staff decided to set out for a new objective.
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The small island of Ewima, located less than 3 km from the coast. This strategic spot has three takeoff runways and radar equipment which are indispensable to establish air domination.
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However, the geography of the island makes its invasion extremely risky. Japanese soldiers have taken refuge inside of tunnels dug deep into the mountain of Euoima.
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The GIS must climb under enemy fire coming from above. One of the most dreaded situations for military men.
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>> The Americans called the south side of the hill the bloody mountain. The Japanese army had been stationed there long before their arrival. This is where the most violent battles took place.
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>> So what you had there in terms of Japanese forces is about 930 950 actual uniformed troops about a battalion size worth. They were augmented by Okanowan conscripts and augmented by a lot of civilians.
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[Music] Several months before the battle began, the Japanese army had undertaken a brainwashing operation of the civil population on all the islands of the Okanawa archipelago.
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Propaganda pamphlets had been distributed with the intention of scaring the residents. The indoctrination was not just about where your loyalty should be in a sense of civic duty, but was also a very strong propaganda piece about how evil
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the Americans were and how death at their hands would be so torturous and painful and drawn out that it is far better to jump off a cliff and get it over quick.
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[Music] We can easily imagine the fear of the civilians who saw American soldiers for the first time. They'd been ordered not to be taken alive.
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[Music] They panicked. Only a few people had received grenades to commit suicide. All the others died decapitated, strangled with ropes, or hit with pieces of wood or rocks. The men couldn't bear the thought of their wife and children being
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captured and humiliated by the American soldiers. They'd rather kill them with their own hands.
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[Music] >> On the island, over 3,500 civilians are prepared to face the invaders. >> On the islands of the archipelago, including Leima, many civilians were mobilized and turned into soldiers, including women. They were given grenades to attack the Americans. In
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Japanese, we call that kirikcomi. It means suicide attack. >> You'd have women running around with spears, women with their children strapped to them, still fighting the battle and defending the caves and all of that, which made it a very shocking
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type of combat for the American soldiers to handle and take over. [Music] [Applause] [Music] To a Japanese person, nothing is worse than shame. Retaining one's dignity is as important as one's life. The people were told that being captured was a
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humiliation and that had to be prevented at all costs. That's what the civilians believed because that's what they were taught.
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[Music] The battles on the small island of Iwima cost the lives of 4,700 Japanese while only 149 are made prisoners [Music] on the field. As the battle enters its fourth week, the American soldiers now realize that the hell of Okinawa has
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just begun. [Music] [Music] On the main island of the archipelago, the north is now entirely occupied by the Americans. But in the south, the battles continue.
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This mountainous sector favors the Japanese who have had time to organize their defense. The Japanese troop arrived in Okinawa between August and September of 1944.
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That's about 6 months before the Americans who got there in April of the following year. During that period, the soldiers dug several tunnels by hand.
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[Music] Every crest of every hill is the theater of fierce battles, and it often takes several days to capture a single position from the enemy.
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They use tanks, mortar rounds, and flamethrowers. And yet, despite the devastating power of the American army, it seems almost impossible to drive the Japanese soldiers out of their hiding places.
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They had enough munitions to hold on for 6 months. This is the best supplied Japanese army unit that the Americans have encountered in the Pacific War.
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It's gruesome, high casualties, low yards. In fact, no yards taken in some cases. This is really a slugfest. More of a World War I caliber than a World War II type of battle.
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[Music] On April 24th, after 2 weeks of attempts, the Americans finally succeed in seizing Kakazu Ridge, a crest only 100 m long.
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That day, the entire Machinado line finally falls. It's the first of three Japanese defense lines.
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>> The Japanese had all these defensive positions prepared. So even though they had breached the main line, there's still other ones and other ones and other ones.
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The idea is we're going to make this costly and you're going to die and then your friends are going to die and then their friends are going to die.
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If you want Okinawa, fine. But you're going to pay a very heavy price in lives to take this island.
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>> As the battle soon enters its second month, the American soldiers morale reaches a new low.
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>> In the beginning of May, combat in the hills is raging. The Americans are faced with a fierce resistance that immobilizes both camp's positions on the field.
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However, on the Japanese side, a disagreement arises between General Ushima's two advisers. General Hiroshima Yahara in favor of an ultra defensive strategy recommends that the troops remain in hiding in the island's caves as long as possible.
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Whereas General Isamu Cho encourages them to reassess their strategy. General Cho, the chief of staff of the 32nd Army, was more old school in the sense that he believed in, you know, attack and he didn't like Colonel Yahara's defensive tactics. So he
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convinces Ushiima to launch an offensive attack against the 10th Army. [Music] The counteroffensive is based on two simultaneous moves involving a 3,000men brigade supported by tanks that will hit the center of the American lines while an amphibian assault on the back coasts
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creates a diversion. The Japanese come out of their trenches. They start charging. A little bit of a bonsai charge. They were dug in and they give that up and they're out in the open. And it ends badly for these guys.
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The counterattack is a complete disaster. [Music] [Applause] The Americans managed to destroy dozens of Japanese heavy weapons.
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As for the amphibian troops supposed to attack the coasts, they are annihilated at sea without leaving a single survivor.
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>> It's the one big mistake that the Japanese make on the defense of the islands and it accelerates the Japanese defeat because they were holding. I mean, the Americans are like banging their heads against this, making no progress. Suddenly, the Japanese do the
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Americans a great favor. On May 8th, 1945, victory is declared in Europe. [Music] Populations around the world are celebrating after 7 years of war.
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Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, battles keep on raging in the Pacific. Japan hasn't surrendered. The American soldiers engaged in this fight must try and survive the nightmare of Okinawa.
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>> The end of the war in Europe on May 8th doesn't really matter that much on Okinawa. The guys who are in the front lines are still in the front lines.
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They're still trying to accomplish a military mission. Still trying not to get killed by the other guy.
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[Music] >> On the field, the soldiers are settling in. The slightest truce is an opportunity to regain some sense of a normal life.
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However, quiet moments are short-lived for the soldiers. [Music] Day after day, they must head back to combat.
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Each meter gained in the south gets them closer to victory and their dream of ever coming home.
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[Music] Dakashi, Wana, Sugarloaf Hill, Horseshoe Hill, Half Moon Hill, Konicle Hill. The southern Japanese outposts fall one after the other at the expense of heavy American casualties.
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Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the American forces are now getting closer to the next goal of Naha, the island's capital.
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[Music] In the last few days, the bombing of Naha by the American Air Force has intensified on the field and around the city. The violence of the battle is horrifying.
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[Music] The battle of Okinawa was described by a war correspondent as a succession of days in hell.
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In the hills surrounding Naha as well as downtown, the advantage kept changing sides. One day the American army dominated, the next the Japanese would get back on top.
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The battle was so fierce that many American soldiers went mad. It takes 6 days for the Americans to capture the city.
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On May 17th, the GIS enter the devastated capital after weeks of bombing. But even after the fall of Naha, the soldiers must face a new enemy just as fearsome as it is destructive.
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The rain. [Music] After the capital, the American general staff must tackle the Shuri Castle, the Japanese headquarters of the South Sector.
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The troop's progression on the western and eastern fronts allows the Americans to surround the location.
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Ashuri Castle is an extremely protected fortress sitting on top of a mountain riddled with tunnels and the extreme weather conditions considerably slow down the soldiers progression.
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When you have steep areas that are very muddy, it becomes difficult for vehicles to move, tanks to move, personnel to move.
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But it's a lot more than just being wet. The ground itself becomes extremely saturated and never totally dries out.
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So you end up with feet of mud that go down and down and down and down.
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supply becomes extremely difficult to get through. The Marines actually are hand carrying supplies in because they cannot get the trucks to transport in there by any means.
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[Music] Of course, it affects the air. You're not going to be flying in terrible, rainy, awful electric weather.
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[Music] If you happen to be holding a cave, which the Japanese are, that again affords them an advantage.
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For several days, while Shuri Castle is surrounded by the American army, both camps are paralyzed by mud. Any attack would be doomed to failure.
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Confronted with this desperate situation, General Ushima orders his troops to fall back in the south.
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Thanks to a lull, American surveillance aircrafts are able to spot the maneuver. General staff launch the final assault on Shuri Castle, now deserted by the Japanese.
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[Music] [Music] On May 29th, the site is captured and the American flag finally flies over one of the most protected places of Okinawa.
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General Buckner, commander of the American invasion forces, decides to reach out to his Japanese rival directly.
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>> Late May, General Simon Bolver Buckner Jr., the commanding general of the 10th Army, sends a letter to General Ushima.
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Basically says, "General, let's end the bloodshed. I've taken the key parts of the island. There's really no reason to keep fighting.
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>> In this unprecedented letter in the history of war, General Buckner offers an honorable exit to General Ushima, hoping to end a battle the latter cannot win.
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But for the Japanese commander, victory was never the goal. Strategy always had been to inflict as many casualties on the Americans as possible. If they want to take Okinawa, they're going to take it. We don't have the resources to drive them off, but
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we're going to increase this cost bit by bit, forcing them to take every ridge and every line.
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[Music] He ignores the letter. There's no response. Following General Ushiima's refusal to surrender, the Americans start chasing the Japanese troops across the vast plains in the south of the island.
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Almost all of central and southern Okinawa were destroyed. Buildings farmlands trees almost everything was wiped out. It was a massive destructive battlefield.
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[Music] In June, when the troops started to retreat to the south, the entire Japanese organization started to collapse.
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At that point, the soldiers were only trying to survive. [Music] The people of Okinawa, who had been recruited by the army, also tried to run away. It's understandable because they weren't even soldiers in the first place.
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They had no military training. At that point, they realized they didn't want to die in this never- ending battle.
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Abandoned by their own country's military, the civilians are left to their own devices. They're faced with three options. Follow the orders given by the army and commit suicide to avoid being taken prisoner. run away and risk to die of hunger or sickness or
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surrender to the Americans. [Music] >> The Japanese troops were forcing civilians to come out of their caves.
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They took their food and those who refused to leave were simply killed by the soldiers.
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Even those that were spared by the Japanese army were forced to leave and found themselves defenseless.
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They were exposed to the American bombings facing a certain death. [Music] There was mud everywhere which made it very difficult to walk. Most of the testimonies gathered from the residents say they had no other choice than to leave the wounded and the elderly behind
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as they couldn't keep up. The American army tries to convince the civilians and the soldiers to surrender by dropping leaflets by plane. They contain testimonies allegedly written by Japanese soldiers saying that those who accept to stop fighting won't be harmed.
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[Music] Hundreds of soldiers have surrendered, including high-ranking officers. There's no reason to be ashamed. Instead of killing or mistreating us, the Americans treat us the same way they do their own soldiers. Once peace is restored, your family will be happy to know you're
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still alive. [Music] Unfortunately, those instructional leaflets weren't always believed or trusted. Even if somebody may have been influenced by it and wanted to do it, for whatever reason, they hesitated from doing it. And that's because of propaganda against them earlier that the
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Americans are all rapists and they'll murder you. Several thousand residents are made prisoners anyway. They realize that those they were conditioned to fear are actually helping them.
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[Music] family members survive and then they're angry when they discover that the Americans are actually decent, giving him food, medical supplies.
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[Music] Since the capture of Shuri Castle, the Japanese forces have been retreating. A major section is stationed on the Oroku Peninsula, while the rest occupies a defense line at the base hills of Yaju, Yuza, and Misado.
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[Music] The Japanese positions are getting weaker with each passing day. The progression of the American army is inexurable.
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The Aroku Peninsula is finally captured on June 13th. Mount Yijup on the 14th and Mount Yuza on the 16th. The very last of the Japanese forces are hiding in the natural caves in the far south of Okinawa, notably on the Kinishi ridge
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and the hill of Mabuni. [Music] On June 18th, as the American army feels victory within its grasp, General Buckner comes to look over his troops on the front line.
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These are the last images of the American commander. >> A few seconds later, >> he's hit by shrapnel from Japanese artillery fire.
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[Music] He dies from his injuries shortly after. [Music] He is the highest ranking American officer to be killed in combat during World War II.
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[Music] 3 days later, American soldiers discover the body of General Ushuima in a cave of the Mabuni Hill.
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The Japanese general had resorted to a ritual suicide known in Japan as sepuku. [Music] The Japanese army was going to be defeated. It was inevitable. Given the situation, there was no way he could return to Japan alive. That was the rule
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in the Japanese army. To surrender was unimaginable. He was hiding in a tunnel on the side of the hill and the Americans were closing in. He was stuck.
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[Music] In those days, army commanders committed suicide to avoid dishonor. If they died by their own hand, they could somehow save face. That's why he opted for the sapuku.
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[Music] He disembowled himself and asked one of his men to cut his head off.
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But before he died, he ordered his men to fight until the end and to not get caught alive.
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While the last remaining resistance pockets fall into the hands of the Americans, the two generals who led the battle of Okinawa are dead. as if fate had decided that this nightmare now had to come to an end.
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On June 22nd, 1945, after 82 days of combat of gruesome violence, the Battle of Okinawa is officially over.
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There was obviously an immense amount of pride and relief that it had been seized.
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Maybe slightly off schedule, but it had been seized and that the US was in the prime position to be able to strike out against mainland Japan.
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[Music] 10th Army staff is starting to look at maps of Honshu and figuring out how can we land, where can we land, getting ready for the next big operation.
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And at that point in time, the invasion Japan is scheduled to basically be November of 1945.
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So you only have about 2 months to get ready. [Music] [Music] The conquest of the island has claimed the lives of 12,500 Americans and wounded 35,000 more. Confronted with a death toll of this magnitude and the pressure of a country refusing to
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withstand more casualties, the general staff start reconsidering their invasion plans of Japan. >> There is a sad irony about the Battle of Okinawa.
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It implanted the correct idea that a landing on mainland Japan is going to be so destructive and it's going to take possibly a million forces to land and seize that it's just going to be so horrific that maybe the use of the
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atomic bomb was necessary. 45 days after the capture of Okinawa, the United States end the war with Japan by dropping two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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[Music] The Battle of Okinawa is therefore the last one of World War II. It has destroyed 90% of the island's buildings and cultural heritage while costing the lives of 150,000 residents.
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[Music] After the end of the war, the Americans remain on the island in order to establish their main Pacific bases and implement a system allowing the people to regain a normal life.
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[Music] Okinawa is later returned to Japan in 1972, but the Americans continue to maintain at least some presence.
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>> Okinawa represents only about 0.6% of Japan's total territory. It's not even 1% yet 70% of US military bases in Japan are concentrated there.
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The residents still feel like victims and their memories of war remain quite vivid. In a way, the battles that devastated Okinawa are not over for them.
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[Music] On Okinawa, the scars left by 82 days of gruesome battles will likely never disappear.
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Topics:Battle of OkinawaWorld War IIPacific WarOperation Icebergkamikaze attacksUS ArmyJapanese ArmyWorld War II documentariesarchival footagemilitary history
