thedrifter
05-28-07, 06:25 PM
Remembering bloody Okinawa
Chester e. smolski
THIS IS A REVIEW of the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War.
On April 1, 1945, the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific War took place when 16,000 troops landed in the first hour virtually unopposed on Hagushi Beach on the southwest flank of Okinawa, largest island of the Ryukyu chain of islands, southwest of the Japanese home islands.
By nightfall 60,000 U.S. troops were on the island, on which 102,000 Army troops of the 7th and 96th divisions and 88,000 men of the 1st and 6th Marine divisions ultimately were to engage the enemy of more than 100,000 men. When it was over, the 82-day “Operation Iceberg” claimed the lives of nearly a quarter million people.
The battle did not receive all of the public attention that it might have because of a series of events that took place during this three-month operational period. On April 12 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died; on April 28 Mussolini was killed at Lake Como; Hitler committed suicide on April 30; the surrender of Germany came on May 7; and during this period and drawing the public’s attention at home were the war-bond tours of the three survivors of the flag raising on Iwo Jima who toured the nation for the war effort.
Okinawa, which had earlier been controlled by, among others, the Chinese, became part of Japan in 1879. Japan viewed it as a less than equal 47th district of the country. And so it remained for this humble population, predominantly made up of farmers. A fourth of the population was killed during the battle.
Okinawa dominates the about 140 islands comprising the Ryukyu Islands, which extend for nearly 800 miles. Okinawa has a subtropical climate, which explains the monsoon rains of late May 1945 that almost halted all movement of the military with a quagmire of mud and incessant rain.
Sixty miles long and 2 to18 miles wide, with an area one-half the size of Rhode Island, Okinawa is surrounded by coral reefs. The northern two-thirds of the island is extremely mountainous while the southern third is heavily wooded upland and extensively terraced and cultivated. It was here that the bulk of the Japanese defensive positions were concentrated and where most of the fighting took place.
Preparation for the landing started on October 10, 1944, with a very heavy naval and air bombardment, followed by sporadic attacks in January and almost daily attacks in February and March. The Kerama Islands, 15 miles west of Okinawa, were occupied six days before the attack on Okinawa.
Finally, three hours before the 0830 scheduled landing on D Day, more than 200 ships of the 1,300 ships involved in the operation let loose with what was the heaviest concentration of naval gunfire ever to support a landing of troops.
The landing forces met little opposition on the beaches and quickly reached the Katchin Peninsula, on the east coast, on the third day, thus splitting the island in two. The Marines subdued the rugged northern two-thirds in the next two weeks while the Army tackled the more heavily defended southern third, which, with help from the Marines who were diverted from the north, took two months to win.
Japanese Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Army, had concentrated his forces here to defend the space to the death and buy time so that the dreaded kamikaze planes could take a toll on the American fleet. It proved to be a formidable strategy. Okinawa is remembered as having the greatest U.S. naval losses in a single battle for its entire history — 36 ships sunk and 368 damaged, and nearly 10,000 naval casualties.
Getting supplies of food, ammunition and equipment for 100,000 men across a fringing reef up to 400 yards wide onto land where roads were poor and now pockmarked by bomb craters and debris was a problem. Supply ships could cross the reef only at high tides so they had to be unloaded onto smaller amphibious vehicles to reach the beach. And once on the land, preparations had to be made for planes to land.
Small spotter planes were able to land on the second day and fighter planes in a week, thanks to the SeaBees and Army personnel.
The SeaBees were also a godsend for the Marines, of which I was one. The Marines were limited in the food and water they could take, yet just over the hill was a SeaBee camp where hot chow and water were always available. And when we sneaked into the chow line for some real food, there was never any question of who we were and how much food we took. Thank God for those great SeaBees.
The Japanese has started fortifying Okinawa in June 1944, with the greatest concentration in the south centered just north of Shuri, Naha and Yonabura. This was the Shuri Line, with pillboxes, blockhouses, caves and elaborate tunnels placed at strategic locations. Okinawa’s above-ground burial tombs also provided for gun emplacements. These were put to use at Sugar Loaf Hill, with nearby Horse Shoe and Half Moon Hills providing crossfire, one of the most terrible battles of the entire campaign.
With 14 changes of the crest over a 10-day period in early May, the 6th Marine Division suffered 2,662 killed and wounded and with 1,289 cases of battle fatigue, now called post-traumatic stress disorder. This is where Rhode Islander Harry Kizirian won his Navy Cross and became the highest decorated Marine in the state. Now deceased, his name is honored at the former Camden Avenue School and at the main Providence Post Office, where he served as postmaster.
Heavy fighting continued until the very end, which officially was declared on July 2. This final battle of the war was the most costly of any campaign against the Japanese. The 12,300 dead comprised 4,600 in the Army, 2,800 in the Marines and 4,900 in the Navy, while 37,000 were wounded, with an additional 26,000 classed as non-battle casualties, totaling in excess of 75,000 of the more than 200,000 troops in the campaign. Among the dead were the commanding general of the battle, Simon Buckner, and the beloved journalist Ernie Pyle.
These numbers shocked Congress and President Truman and influenced their views on the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, when troops on the island were gearing up for an invasion of the home islands with a projected casualty figure of one million Americans. Needless to say, the troops were very happy with the outcome.
Chester E. Smolski is a retired professor of geography at Rhode Island College. He served with the 1st Marine Division on Okinawa. He was wounded and evacuated from the island.
Ellie
Chester e. smolski
THIS IS A REVIEW of the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War.
On April 1, 1945, the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific War took place when 16,000 troops landed in the first hour virtually unopposed on Hagushi Beach on the southwest flank of Okinawa, largest island of the Ryukyu chain of islands, southwest of the Japanese home islands.
By nightfall 60,000 U.S. troops were on the island, on which 102,000 Army troops of the 7th and 96th divisions and 88,000 men of the 1st and 6th Marine divisions ultimately were to engage the enemy of more than 100,000 men. When it was over, the 82-day “Operation Iceberg” claimed the lives of nearly a quarter million people.
The battle did not receive all of the public attention that it might have because of a series of events that took place during this three-month operational period. On April 12 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died; on April 28 Mussolini was killed at Lake Como; Hitler committed suicide on April 30; the surrender of Germany came on May 7; and during this period and drawing the public’s attention at home were the war-bond tours of the three survivors of the flag raising on Iwo Jima who toured the nation for the war effort.
Okinawa, which had earlier been controlled by, among others, the Chinese, became part of Japan in 1879. Japan viewed it as a less than equal 47th district of the country. And so it remained for this humble population, predominantly made up of farmers. A fourth of the population was killed during the battle.
Okinawa dominates the about 140 islands comprising the Ryukyu Islands, which extend for nearly 800 miles. Okinawa has a subtropical climate, which explains the monsoon rains of late May 1945 that almost halted all movement of the military with a quagmire of mud and incessant rain.
Sixty miles long and 2 to18 miles wide, with an area one-half the size of Rhode Island, Okinawa is surrounded by coral reefs. The northern two-thirds of the island is extremely mountainous while the southern third is heavily wooded upland and extensively terraced and cultivated. It was here that the bulk of the Japanese defensive positions were concentrated and where most of the fighting took place.
Preparation for the landing started on October 10, 1944, with a very heavy naval and air bombardment, followed by sporadic attacks in January and almost daily attacks in February and March. The Kerama Islands, 15 miles west of Okinawa, were occupied six days before the attack on Okinawa.
Finally, three hours before the 0830 scheduled landing on D Day, more than 200 ships of the 1,300 ships involved in the operation let loose with what was the heaviest concentration of naval gunfire ever to support a landing of troops.
The landing forces met little opposition on the beaches and quickly reached the Katchin Peninsula, on the east coast, on the third day, thus splitting the island in two. The Marines subdued the rugged northern two-thirds in the next two weeks while the Army tackled the more heavily defended southern third, which, with help from the Marines who were diverted from the north, took two months to win.
Japanese Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 32nd Army, had concentrated his forces here to defend the space to the death and buy time so that the dreaded kamikaze planes could take a toll on the American fleet. It proved to be a formidable strategy. Okinawa is remembered as having the greatest U.S. naval losses in a single battle for its entire history — 36 ships sunk and 368 damaged, and nearly 10,000 naval casualties.
Getting supplies of food, ammunition and equipment for 100,000 men across a fringing reef up to 400 yards wide onto land where roads were poor and now pockmarked by bomb craters and debris was a problem. Supply ships could cross the reef only at high tides so they had to be unloaded onto smaller amphibious vehicles to reach the beach. And once on the land, preparations had to be made for planes to land.
Small spotter planes were able to land on the second day and fighter planes in a week, thanks to the SeaBees and Army personnel.
The SeaBees were also a godsend for the Marines, of which I was one. The Marines were limited in the food and water they could take, yet just over the hill was a SeaBee camp where hot chow and water were always available. And when we sneaked into the chow line for some real food, there was never any question of who we were and how much food we took. Thank God for those great SeaBees.
The Japanese has started fortifying Okinawa in June 1944, with the greatest concentration in the south centered just north of Shuri, Naha and Yonabura. This was the Shuri Line, with pillboxes, blockhouses, caves and elaborate tunnels placed at strategic locations. Okinawa’s above-ground burial tombs also provided for gun emplacements. These were put to use at Sugar Loaf Hill, with nearby Horse Shoe and Half Moon Hills providing crossfire, one of the most terrible battles of the entire campaign.
With 14 changes of the crest over a 10-day period in early May, the 6th Marine Division suffered 2,662 killed and wounded and with 1,289 cases of battle fatigue, now called post-traumatic stress disorder. This is where Rhode Islander Harry Kizirian won his Navy Cross and became the highest decorated Marine in the state. Now deceased, his name is honored at the former Camden Avenue School and at the main Providence Post Office, where he served as postmaster.
Heavy fighting continued until the very end, which officially was declared on July 2. This final battle of the war was the most costly of any campaign against the Japanese. The 12,300 dead comprised 4,600 in the Army, 2,800 in the Marines and 4,900 in the Navy, while 37,000 were wounded, with an additional 26,000 classed as non-battle casualties, totaling in excess of 75,000 of the more than 200,000 troops in the campaign. Among the dead were the commanding general of the battle, Simon Buckner, and the beloved journalist Ernie Pyle.
These numbers shocked Congress and President Truman and influenced their views on the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, when troops on the island were gearing up for an invasion of the home islands with a projected casualty figure of one million Americans. Needless to say, the troops were very happy with the outcome.
Chester E. Smolski is a retired professor of geography at Rhode Island College. He served with the 1st Marine Division on Okinawa. He was wounded and evacuated from the island.
Ellie