The Battle of Okinawa Analysis

The battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were two of the most important American operations in the Pacific Theatre against the Empire of Japan during World War Two. The goal of the two operations was to secure strategically important islands close to Japan to use for bombing campaigns. The battles for Iwo Jima(February-March 1945) and Okinawa f(April-June 1945) killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and helped to win the war for the United States.

With the war in Europe complete the last hurdle to end World War II was the surrender of Japan. Beginning in January 1944, the United States was engaged in a full spectrum air, land and sea, island-hopping campaign across the pacific with the target of Japan. The capture of the island of Okinawa in June 1945 provided the lily pad for the future bombings and invasion of the Japanese home islands. However, heavy losses for both sides on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and the continual build up of defenses and forces on the Japanese homeland foreshadowed the horrific future battles that would be required to force the militaristic and fanatical Japanese into unconditional surrender.

The American forces plan consisted of a “divide and conquer” methodology. The U.S. focused on landing its assault force expediently and quickly and securing Mt. Suribachi and dominant high ground of the island. The Americans expected victory in less than a week. Their forces consisted of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions. The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions were to land on the eastern beaches the 4th on the right and the 5th on the left. The 3rd Marines would either land on the eastern beaches or assume a defensive role, which ever was called (Planning for the Battle of Iwo Jima, n.d.).

Battle of Midway was a great naval battle between the United State and the Empire of Japan during World War II, which was lasted for 5 days (4th – 7th June 1942) and located in the Pacific Theater (see Fig 1). Due to the rampant fanaticism in Japan about expanding territory via colonization, the Empire of Japan aimed to claim the naval supremacy in the central Pacific region, which was also the main aim of this battle. However, this was contrary to America's ideology that threatened its hegemony in the Pacific region. It was a decisive contest for naval authority in the Pacific Theater between the United States Navy and the Japanese Imperial Navy (pacificwar, 2016). (Figure 1: the map of Battle of Midway’s location)

In spite of this declaration, the 5th Marine Division was still fighting to capture Kuribayashi’s final stronghold at the northwest tip of the island. On March 21st, they destroyed the Japanese command post and three days later closed the remaining tunnel entrances in the area. It appeared that the island was fully secure, 300 Japanese launched a final attack near Airfield No. 2 in the middle of the island on the night of March 25th. This force was ultimately contained and defeated by a mixed group of Army pilots, Seabees, engineers, and

Battle Of Okinawa: Summary, Fact, Pictures and Casualties. (2016, August 04). Retrieved April 05, 2017, from http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-okinawa-operation-iceberg.htm

Okinawa, Japan was the site of the largest amphibious battle of World War II. The Battle of Okinawa resulted in the death of over 12,000 American and 100,000 Japanese soldiers, which lasted from late March through June 1945. The Battle of Okinawa was one of the main reasons President Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The main reason for the bombing was to put a stop to the American death toll. Approximately two months later on August 6, 1945, the massive nuclear weapon was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb destroyed about four square miles of the city and also caused the death of 65,000 Japanese citizens. Because of this bombing, the Japanese government surrendered a week later.

Although Allied troops encountered many Japanese kamikaze planes which destroyed some warships, the Allied Air Force successfully supported their troops on the ground. While the Sixth Army landed more troops on the beach, the I Corps protected them and advanced eastward, and the XIV Corps moved south toward Manila. Because of central Luzon’s geographical features—mostly open plains—the XIV Corps was able to quickly advance toward Manila. Around this time, another amphibious landing of the Eighth Army occurred to the south of Manila. From there, the 11th Airborne Division also advanced on Manila. While the XIV Corps was advancing southward, the I Corps switched to defending their left flank. Meanwhile, General Yamashita had his strongest forces deployed in north Luzon and around the Clark Air Base. However, the Japanese were disorganized because of lack of communications and were not prepared for many US attacks. On their southward journey, when the XIV Corps reached Clark Air Base, they battled for control until it was captured on January 29, which also gave the US more supplies found within the base. Following this, the XIV Corps pushed towards Manila and started the attack on January 31 from the north and south of the city. On February 4th the 11th Airborne Division advanced into the city, but met strong Japanese defences. They pushed through and finished capturing the defences on February 11th, and

There were 26,000 casualties and 6,800 dead Americans at Iwo Jima, with 20,000 casualties and 1083 dead Japanese. (1. "Battle for Iwo Jima, 1945." The Navy Department Library) At Okinawa there were 65,000 American casualties and 14,000 dead, while the Japanese lost 70,000 soldiers out of the 130,000 stationed on Okinawa. (2. "Battle of Okinawa." History.com) The bloodshed from these two battles gave the Americans a taste of the militaristic Japanese, and that a battle for the homeland of Japan would be astronomically worse. The Japanese were prepared to use any means necessary to stop the Americans because of “Yamato Damashii”, which was a virtue of the samurai that went hand in hand with the Bushido code, and it made the Japanese value the country and the emperor above all else, and that fighting to the death was greater than surrender. and it came in the form of Kamikaze attacks, suicide troops, and guerilla warfare. At Okinawa, 193 kamikaze attacks were launched at the Americans damaging 368 ships and destroying 36. (3. "The Battle of Okinawa." History Learning Site) The Japanese were prepared to sacrifice everything they had to destroy American ships and troops. The Japanese also used their own people to fight against the Americans.

Japanese losses were estimated at more than 21,000. The American victory at Iwo Jima provided American air units with the first base inside Japanese territory. This allowed American

Okinawa was known as the “longest and largest battle” (157). This time, causing more casualties than previously. As mentioned previously, Okinawa was Japanese territory and they knew the terrain perfectly. This time, not only was there constant rain, but constant shelling. Constant shelling made it very difficult for Americans. It was very difficult for them to get those men who were wounded and needed help. Taking such risk, would sometimes cause the casualties and stretcher-bearers to get hit. As a result, they would have to leave behind the marines who died on Okinawa unlike Peleliu. “From my experience, of all the hardships and hazards the troops had suffer, prolonged shell fire was more apt to break a man psychologically than anything else” (265). The Americans had to be vigilant at all times. “Most nights on Peleliu, we had to keep a sharp lookout in front, rear, right and left. But that night on Okinawa, we had to scan even the dark sky for parachutes” (220). The Japanase wanted to ensure by any means necessary that there was bloodshed, even if they had to literally put their own life on the line. To ensure that, the Japanese had kamikaze and suicide

In the beginning of war, Japanese victory in Pacific terrified West Cost Americans. Partial victory for Americans appeared when Japanese capital Tokyo was bombed. It was less of a material loss but huge in terms of psychological attack. It was followed by the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942 and after that the decisive Battle of Midway Island took place. U.S. aircraft carriers destroyed three out of four Japanese carriers that sabotaged their further plans of invasion and they adopted a defensive strategy.

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

This battle was used to support the case for bringing the war to an end by means other than invading mainland Japan (Willbanks). If the original invasion of Okinawa by the Allies did not go as planned, the war would have dragged on for years and both sides would eventually lose supplies and men to fight with. The extended time period of the war would have brought further damage to Okinawan citizens. Okinawa also influenced the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan after the nation refused to surrender (Willbanks). After the end of the war, the Allies had a continuous presence on the island, which the battle exemplified greatly, for the Japanese could have invaded the island once more, despite the surrender (Padden). The presence of Allied forces on the island created Japanese efforts to reinvigorate its defeated army (Padden). The Battle of Okinawa was by far the costliest battle for the Americans of the Pacific war

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the end of Japanese competiveness in the air. This Battle gave way to the United States’ ability to project its military power further into the heart of Japan with little to no resistance from the Japanese Fleet in the form of aerial warfare. It also left the Japanese desperate to find new ways of fighting American naval forces in ways other than the standard convention. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was “not the decisive battle in World War II”7; however, it did help accelerate the United States’ takeover of the auxiliary islands with the destruction of Japanese conventional air warfare.