YANKS HOLD OKINAWA FORTRESS
Old Glory flies above Shuri Castle
Marines plow through mud and rain, try to encircle town
GUAM (AP) – Old Glory, rippling from the shattered ramparts of ancient Shuri Castle, today signalized capture of that centuries-old fortress and recent headquarters of the Japanese commander of Okinawa.
Marines of Maj. Gen. Pedro A. del Valle’s 1st Division hoisted the colors at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday while marines and infantrymen, slogging through mud and Tain, threatened to encircle Shuri town.
Advance units of Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepheard’s 6th Marine Division on the west flank and Maj. Gen. Archibald V. Arnold’s 7th Infantry Division on the east were, at last reports, less than two miles apart. Their expected juncture about a mile south of Shuri will ting the second city of Okinawa and halt apparent Japanese efforts to withdraw troops.
Reinforcements reach castle
Associated Press correspondent Vern Haugland reported the 5th Marine Regiment sent patrols 100 to 200 yards east of Shuri Castle without encountering material opposition. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’s communiqué said marine reinforcements reached the castle.
Frontline dispatches said the Marines were mopping-up scattered Japanese pockets within Shuri Castle, stone-walled 16th-century home of the Ryukyu kings. The medieval fortress was first reached Tuesday in a swift dash by Company A of the 5th Regiment, led by Capt. Julius Dusenberry of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Shuri’s defenders, apparently a stand-and-die garrison, fought fiercely northeast of the town. The stiffest resistance was encountered by Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Bruce’s 77th Infantry Division. Japanese efforts to slow the Yank advance through deep mud was described not only as strong but fanatical.
Naha in American hands
Naha, the Okinawa capital on the west coast, was wholly in American hands except for isolated groups of Japanese.
Sixth Division units advanced eastward from Naha 100 to 300 yards toward the Kobakura hills where mortar and machine-gun fire was encountered from an estimated 350 troops, mostly Koreans. The Marines neared the Kokuba River, which empties into Naha Harbor.
On the east flank, 7th Infantry doughboys expanded their holdings by moving onto high ground near Yonawa town, adjacent to captured Yonabaru, and sent patrols far to the west toward an imminent juncture with the 6th Division Marines south of Shuri.
Rain and mud, sometimes knee-deep, slowed ground operations and posed further supply problems for advance troops.
Two more U.S. light vessels were damaged in small Japanese air attacks carried out on the Okinawa area Tuesday despite bad weather. Eight Japanese planes were shot down.