The Battle of Okinawa was an allied victory and the largest water invasion of the Asian-Pacific war. It was also one of the longest running land-sea-air battles in history beginning in late March 1945 and finally commencing in June of that same year. Not only were more ships, troops and supplies utilized during this war, but the loss of human life was enormous, especially for the Japanese. Because of the intense gunfire inflicted on the Japanese during this war by the US and its allies, The Battle of Okinawa became known as the ‘Typhoon of Steel’ or ‘Violent Wind’ or ‘Rain of Steel’ as it is translated into English.

The United States was actually planning an additional invasion – ‘Operation Downfall’ – on the Japanese islands after the Battle of Okinawa because neither the US and its allies, nor the Japanese, expected this to be the last confrontation of this war. But the Japanese ended up surrendering after the two atomic bombs were dropped, the first being in Hiroshima and the second in Nagaski.

At Okinawa, the American land battle was managed by the Tenth Army under the command of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. This division had several other corps under them on both land and sea. At the very end of the crusade, Lieutenant Buckner was killed by ricocheting shell fragments, just four days before the war ended. His death was ranked as the most senior US casualty in the entire war.

The Japanese land defense was conducted by its strong 32nd Army. It consisted of the 9th, 24th and 62nd Divisions and also the 44th Independent Brigade. Their force resistance in the South was led by General Mitsuru Ushijima who actually committed suicide at the end at the Okinawa Battle. Their defenses in the North were led by a lesser-known General named Takehido Udo.

At some battles during this war like Iwo Jima, for example, there hadn’t been any civilian casualties. But because of Okinawa’s large population, the Japanese lost about one third of their inhabitants on that island which was at least 150,000 people. About 90% of their buildings were destroyed as well. In addition to the civilian losses, around 100,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and approximately 7,000 were captured. The United States Armed forces also had huge casualties totaling over 72,000 with around 12,500 of those soldiers being killed or reported missing.

Something very sad to know about this battle is that the Japanese government had convinced its people that Americans were barbarians who would do horrible things to them. So residents began killing their own families to avoid the torture they were so adamantly sure they faced if captured by US soldiers and their allies.