The Pittsburgh Press (May 2, 1945)
U.S. forces only 1½ miles north of Naha
Strong Jap defenses pierced on Okinawa
GUAM (UP) – U.S. armored forces punched through strong Jap defenders on Southern Okinawa today to within a mile and a half of Naha, capital of the island.
The drive southward along the west coast by the 27th Infantry Division paced a general advance of American troops on a five-mile front across the island.
On the east coast, troops of the 7th Infantry Division pushed to the northern end of strategic Yonabaru Airfield and other elements of the same division stormed into Kuhazu village on a hill overlooking the coastal side of the airfield.
Near Shuri
At the same time, tank units of the 96th Infantry Division, moving down the center of the island, approached Shuri, Okinawa’s second largest city three miles northeast of Naha.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’s aerial forces raided enemy installations in the Sakishima Islands, southwest of Okinawa, and in the Northern Ryukyus.
The Sakishimas were hit both Sunday and Monday by carrier planes which exploded ammunition dumps, wrecked radio facilities and destroyed several Jap aircraft on the ground.
Blast four ships
Four Jap cargo vessels were sunk or damaged in shipping attacks through the East China Sea, along the Ryukyus to Miyake Island south of Tokyo.
Adm. Nimitz also disclosed that Army Mustang fighters had escorted Superfortresses in a previously announced attack on Tokyo Monday. The Mustangs probably shot down one Jap plane and set fire to three picket boats off the coast.
A Tokyo broadcast claimed that a Jap “submarine unit” sank two unidentified Allied warships yesterday south of Oki-no-Daito, about 125 miles southeast of Okinawa.