Battle of Okinawa (1945)

76

Chaplain, Marine brave Jap fire to get Pyle’s body

By Jack Hooley, Blue Network war correspondent

IE ISLAND (April 18) – Ernie Pyle died here on Ie Island at 10:15 in the morning. An hour later, word of his death had spread over open water as far as Mi Island, two miles away. Relayed by an artillery officer at the front by radio, by blinker light and by word of mouth, it had spread from Ie to the ships standing off shore – all in that short time.

The facts are quickly told. Ernie Pyle went ashore the evening before. In the morning, having heard that our troops were engaged in heavy fighting for a time below a mountain peak on the tiny island, he set out for the spot with Lt. Col. Joseph Coolidge.

The two men bumped along in a jeep over the narrow road taken by our troops the day before. As the jeep rounded a corner, a sudden burst of fire from a Jap machine gun hidden on a ridge sent both men scrambling for a ditch.

The gunfire stopped. Both had been through this kind of thing before.

Death came instantly

After a few minutes they peered cautiously over the edge. Another burst of fire and Col. Coolidge ducked back. He turned to Ernie.

The veteran correspondent lay on his back, too still for life.

Death had come instantly from three bullet wounds in the temple.

Every bit of movement brought a burst of fire from the hidden Japs, but finally Col. Coolidge managed to crawl to cover and submit his report.

Tank men helpless

For a long while, Ernie’s body was inaccessible. Finally, the chaplain of the outfit asked for volunteers to bring him in.

First three tanks moved up. Their appearance was the signal for the machine-gunner to open up with such a steady fire that the crew men were helpless inside the tanks.

When they retired, Cpl. Alexander Roberts of New York City volunteered to go alone. From the point beyond which the Yanks had retired about 125 yards back of the bend in the road, Cpl. Roberts crawled to the jeep.

He found Pyle’s face beneath the helmet he wore, peaceful in death. In his left hand, Ernie clutched the Marine fatigue cap he always wore.

Preferred cap

“A helmet is a lot of iron for a man like me to carry around,” he said to me recently, “so when I get to a safe place I switch to a cap.”

With the way shown by Cpl. Roberts, the chaplain, who had not wished to risk four lives, crawled over the ground with a litter bearer and they made 80 yards of the return trip before the machine gun opened upon them.

Four hours after his death, Ernie Pyle’s body was inside our lines again.

The boys in the lines out here were thrilled when Ernie Pyle came out to the Pacific. G.I.’s, Marines and youngsters on the ocean knew that he didn’t have to but they were glad he came anyway.

“We had waited for him so long,” said one of them today.

77

U.S. Navy Department (April 20, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 338

After a day of heavy attacks on the enemy’s fortified positions in the Southern Okinawa Sector, the XXIV Army Corps had advanced about 1,000 yards generally by the morning of April 20 (East Longitude Date). The 7th Infantry Division penetrated enemy defenses up to 1,400 yards in its zone of action near the east coast. Heavy naval guns continued to bombard enemy strong points and Marine and Army artillery supported the advancing infantry with carrier aircraft delivering close support. Most of Yonabaru Town was destroyed. The enemy resisted our attacks bitterly in all sectors of the fighting in the south.

On Ie Shima, Tenth Army troops continued to drive eastward against strong resistance from isolated enemy positions on April 20. Simultaneously, operations were began to destroy enemy forces holding Iegusugu Peak. At the end of April 18, 736 of the enemy had been killed on the island.

Patrols of the Marine III Amphibious Corps continued to cover the rugged country in Northern Okinawa on April 20 while operations against small groups of the enemy in Motobu Peninsula were continued.

In the early morning hours of April 20, several small groups of enemy aircraft approached our forces in the Okinawa Area and retired without causing damage.

The following is the complete list of ships sunk by enemy action in the Okinawa operation and the associated attacks on Japan from March 18 to April 18:

Destroyers:

  • HALLIGAN (DD-584)
  • BUSH (DD-529)
  • COLHOUN (DD-801)
  • MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733)
  • PRINGLE (DD-477)

Minecraft:

  • EMMONS (DMS-22)
  • SKYLARK (AM-63)

Destroyer Transport:
DICKERSON (APD-21)

Gunboat:

  • PGM 18
  • LST 477
  • LCI (G) 82
  • LCS (L) (3) 30
  • LCT (6) 876

Ammunition Ships:

  • HOBBS VICTORY
  • LOGAN VICTORY

During the same period the following Japanese ships and aircraft were destroyed by our forces participating in the same operations:

  • 2,569 aircraft destroyed
  • One YAMATO-class battleship
  • Two light cruisers
  • Five destroyers
  • Five destroyer escorts
  • Four large cargo ships
  • One medium cargo ship
  • 28 small cargo ships
  • 54 small craft

Numerous enemy torpedo boats, speed boats and other types of small craft.

Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force on April 19 bombed installa­tions on Truk in the Carolines. On the following day, a search plane of Fleet Air Wing One sank a small sailing vessel in Truk Lagoon.

Army bombers of the 7th AAF also struck Arakabesan and Koror in the Palaus scoring hits on antiaircraft emplacements on April 19. Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed miscellaneous targets in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on the following day.

78

The Pittsburgh Press (April 20, 1945)

Okinawa Japs pounded from air, sea, land

Greatest offensive in Pacific underway

map.042045.up
Heaviest offensive of the Pacific war has been launched by U.S. forces in Southern Okinawa. The Americans pushed to within 3½ miles of the capital, Naha. Tokyo reported a landing attempt southwest of Naha which would flank the capital. The Japs held only small pockets on Motobu Peninsula and Ie Island. U.S. fighters from Iwo airfields raided a Tokyo airfield (inset map).

GUAM (UP) – U.S. troops lunged to within three and a half miles north of Naha, the capital of Okinawa, in the most powerful offensive of the Pacific war today.

Radio Tokyo said other troops attempted to land on the south coast of Okinawa about eight miles southeast of Naha yesterday from a 30-ship invasion fleet, including 20 transports and several battleships.

Such a landing would outflank Naha, a city of 65.000, and clamp a pincer on its garrison of 60,000.

Smash deep bulges

Three Army divisions – possibly 45,000 men – smashed deep bulges into both flanks of the Jap line across southern Okinawa yesterday under cover of the greatest coordinated air, ship and artillery bombardment ever given American troops for the size of the target anywhere in the world.

Front reports said Americans now were less than 6,200 yards north of Naha and approaching Machinato airfield on the west coast and nearing the northern end of Yonabaru airstrip on the east coast. They were 3½ miles from the town of Yonabaru.

A hill overlooking Shuri, two miles inland from Naha, was all but cleared in the center of the line. The town of Machinato, a mile north of the airfield of the same name, was captured in the initial phases of the offensive yesterday.

Key ground won

Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of the XXIV Army Corps, said his forces had made “good gains” in the heart of the enemy’s main line of resistance. Key ground had been won, he said.

Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, commander of the Tenth Army, said the offensive was going “just about as we expected.”

“The Japs have as well an organized line as I have ever heard of anywhere,” Gen. Buckner said. “We all know that we still have to use a blowtorch and corkscrews to get them out of their caves.”

Tokyo radio said the amphibious forces attempted to land on the southern coast at Chinen and Minatokawa, 4½ to 5 miles south of Yonabaru, but were driven off.

Tokyo also claimed that Jap naval units had entered the Okinawa area and shelled two American-held airfields.

A Melbourne dispatch said the Australian Information Department intercepted a Tokyo broadcast that the Jap army and navy had launched a general attack in the Okinawas. The information department was quoted as saying that the broadcast suggested the Jap navy may have gone out for a big engagement.

While the troops were battering through the strong Jap lines on Okinawa, Army Mustang fighters from Iwo heavily raided the Atsugi airfield at Tokyo in the first large-scale fighter attack on the enemy’s capital.

Early reports listed 102 Jap planes as destroyed or damaged in the surprise attack on Atsugi yesterday. Returning American pilots said they sighted rows of from 200 to 300 Jap bombers and fighters lined up on the field.

In the raid, 21 Jap planes were shot down, 22 probably shot down, 26 destroyed on the ground and 33 damaged. A large cargo ship was also sunk off the coast and a medium-sized freighter left burning south of Tokyo.

Lt. Gen. Buckner launched the big offensive on Okinawa with elements of the 7th, 27th and 96th Infantry Divisions early yesterday.

Swarms of carrier planes and the big guns of battleships, cruisers and destroyers off shore also aided the infantrymen.

A Blue Network correspondent described the fighting on Okinawa as the heaviest of the Pacific War and “it is going to be bloodier by the moment.”

Gain on Ie Island

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that Tenth Army troops on nearby Ie Island moved south of Iegusugu Peak, further compressing the small enemy pocket in the southeastern corner. He said the island’s airstrip was already being used by observation planes.

79

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (April 21, 1945)

Der Kampf um die Gruppe der Ryukyu-Inseln

Japanische Einheiten fügen dem Gegner schwerste Verluste zu

Berlin, 20. April – Die harten Kämpfe auf den Ryukyu-Inseln südlich der japanischen Heimatinseln und insbesondere die Kämpfe auf der Insel Okinawa haben die Schlacht auf dem Pazifik wiederum in den Mittelpunkt des allgemeinen Interesses gerückt.

Als der japanische Widerstand auf Iwojima aushörte, war man in Japan bereit, den direkten Angriff auf die Kerninseln zu erwarten. In eines der wichtigsten Verbindungsglieder der langgestreckten japanischen Inselreihe ist der Amerikaner nun hineingestoßen. Er hat sich damit der Verbindung Formosa-Japan in den Weg gestellt, hat gleichzeitig eine Flankenstellung gegenüber der Jangtse-Mündung und Schanghai bezogen. Durch den Angriff auf die Insel Okinawa der Ryukyu-Gruppe stellen sich die USA zwischen Japan und den Philippinen, außerdem aber auch vor den wichtigen Nachschubhafen der Chinafront.

Die Angriffe gegen Tokio, von denen in den letzten Tagen berichtet wurde, sind nur möglich von einer Landbasis aus, was bisher wegen fehlender Stützpunkte ausgeschlossen war. Nur die Superfestungen mit ihrer größten Reichweite konnten sich den An- und Abflug zum Angriff auf Japan leisten. Von Okinawa aus können jedoch Bomberverbände starken.

Der amerikanische General Nimitz hat die Wichtigkeit der eingeleiteten Operation erkannt und infolgedessen ein gewaltiges Aufgebot seiner Kräfte eingefasst. Große Flugzeugträger-Einheiten, zu denen auch solche der britischen Flotte gestoßen sind, wurden zusammengezogen. Gleichzeitig begannen Luftangriffe gegen wichtige japanische Luftstützpunkte auf den Kerninseln, um die größte Gefahr für die US-Trägerflotte, das Kamikazekorps, auszuschalten. Wenn Japan meldet, dass mehrere Hundert Feindschiffe inzwischen versenkt oder schwer getroffen wurden, ja kann man ermessen, welche Einbußen dem gewaltigen Einsatz der Feindflotte zugefügt wurden. Dennoch versucht der Gegner weiter, seine Landung vorwärtszutreiben, führt Nachschub heran und zieht Trägerflugzeuge um die Inseln; so dass auch den japanischen Luftgeschwadern und Einzelkämpfern neue Ziele geboten werden.

Wahrscheinlich hat die US-Kriegführung im Pazifik angenommen, mit der japanischen Flotte in Berührung zu kommen. Obwohl die Japaner im Seeraum der Ryukyu-Gruppe günstige Voraussetzungen vorgefunden hätten, ist der Zusammenprall unterblieben. Wenn auch die japanische Flotte Regierung amtlich bekannt, dass sie auch das zweite damit ein entscheidendes Mittel aus der Hand ließ, den Sprung des Gegners ans die Okinawa-Gruppe zu verhindern, mögen japanische Überlegungen sehr tiefgreifender Art für die Verschiebung des Zusammenstoßes gegeben sein. Auch Japan steht auf dem Standpunkt, dass erst die letzte Schlacht den Krieg entscheidet.

Der Stil der feindlichen Landungen ist immer derselbe. Er erfordert gewaltige Einsätze. Den Verteidigern stehen Luftstreitkräfte, leichte Flottenteile, wie Schnell- und Torpedoboote, zur Unterstützung zur Verfügung. Diese haben im Verstand der feindlichen Kräfte erheblich aufgeräumt. Der Feind steht jetzt 700 Kilometer vor der japanischen Kernstellung, aber viele Tausend Meilen von seinem Ausgangshafen. Die Vorteile des einen Faktors werden durch die Nachteile des anderen stark aufgewogen. Es besteht jedoch kein Zweifel, dass Japans Kriegsführung sehr achtsam die Entwicklung verfolgt, um kein operatives Übergewicht der Gegenseite aufkommen zu lassen.

80

The Pittsburgh Press (April 21, 1945)

B-29s batter Kyushu bases of Japs’ suicide planes

Yanks on Okinawa gain in drive on Naha – 15 U.S. war vessels lost off island

GUAM (UP) – Upwards of 300 Superfortresses today blasted the Kyushu bases of Jap suicide planes blamed for the sinking of some of the 15 American war vessels lost in the Battle of Okinawa and Japan during the past month.

On Okinawa itself, three U.S. divisions thrust deeper into the enemy’s last-ditch defense line less than 3½ miles north of Naha, capital of the island, on the third day of the greatest ground offensive of the Pacific war.

Advances of up to a mile were reported all along the four-mile line extending across the southern end of the island yesterday. Swarms of planes and the big guns of warships joined massed land artillery in an unprecedented supporting bombardment.

The big fleet of Superfortresses bombed nine airfields on Kyushu, southernmost of the Jap home islands. The raid was the third in five days on the suicide-plane bases, but two of the airfields – Usa, near the northeast coast, and Kushira, in the south – were hit for the first time.

A XXI Bomber Command announcement said the attacks covered the “length and breadth” of Kyushu.

There was no mention of opposition and it was indicated that both fighter and anti-aircraft reaction by the Japs was negligible.

A Jap broadcast said approximately 200 B-29s had raided airfields on Kyushu for four hours this morning.

Japs lose 100 ships

A Pacific Fleet communiqué listed for the first time American naval losses in operations off Okinawa and Japan between March 18 and April 18. Against 15 Americans ship sunk, the Americans destroyed at least 100 Jap vessels during the period, all previously announced.

American losses were:

  • Five destroyers: Halligan, Bush, Colhoun, N. L. Abele, Pringle.
  • Two minecraft: Emmons, Skylark.
  • One destroyer transport: Dickerson.
  • Five smaller warships: One gunboat, one LST, one LCI, one LCS, one LCT.
  • Two ammunition ships: Hobbs Victory, Logan Victory.

It is standard Navy policy to notify all next of kin of casualties before using the names of subs sunk or damaged.

The 100 Jap ships sunk included a Yamato-class battleship, two light cruisers, five destroyers, five destroyer escorts, four large cargo ships, 18 medium cargo ships and 28 smaller cargo ships. In addition, 2,569 Jap aircraft were destroyed.

The communiqué said the American losses constituted the “complete list of ships sunk by enemy action” in the month-long period – thus giving the lie to Jap claims that upwards of 100 American vessels had been sunk.

Gain 1,400 yards

American gains in southern Okinawa yesterday averaged 1,000 yards, but the 7th Infantry Division penetrated the maze of enemy defenses on the east coast to a depth of at least 1,400 yards.

The 7th Infantry Division was just north of Yonabaru Airfield and Yonabaru town, the main port on Nakagusuku Bay.

81

Pyle and 5 G.I.’s buried together

Evergreen and wheat used for wreath
By Mac R. Johnson, United Press staff writer

ABOARD ADM. TURNER’S FLAGSHIP, Okinawa – A white cross today marked the grave of Ernie Pyle in a small cemetery 600 yards inland from “Red Beach” on embattled Ie Shima.

The white-haired little man, who rose from obscurity to become the greatest champion of little-known but important G.I.’s, was buried yesterday with five enlisted men who died as he did, in action.

Enlisted men of the Army’s 77th Infantry Division built a crude wooden coffin of boards ripped from K-ration boxes and on it they placed a wreath of Japanese evergreen and a sheaf of ripe golden wheat.

Led by general

The funeral party was led by Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Bruce, commanding general of the 77th Infantry Division. It was halted at the beach when the enemy dropped 100 rounds of mortar fire in the area.

There were no salutes. Taps was not blown. This was a cemetery for combat men in a combat zone and the ceremony was simple. It lasted 35 minutes.

A trench had been bulldozed in the brown soil of an open field. Individual graves had been dug in the bottom of the trench. The bodies of the five enlisted men and Mr. Pyle were placed in the common grave.

Chaplain officiates

Capt. Nathaniel B. Saucier of Coffeeville, Mississippi, a regimental chaplain, read the burial service for all six.

Mr. Pyle’s body was wrapped in a blanket like any officer or G.I. and a dog tag wired around his body.

Five hundred yards away, on the spot where Ernie was killed by Jap machine gun bullets, soldiers erected a sign which reads:

AT THIS SPOT THE 77TH INFANTRY DIVISION LOST A BUDDY
ERNIE PYLE
18 APRIL, 1945

82

U.S. Navy Department (April 21, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 339

The XXIV Army Corps pressed its attack against the enemy in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 20 and 21 (East Longitude Dates) making small gains through heavily defended areas. On the approaches to Hill 178, the high ground changed hands several times on April 21 in the bitterest kind of fighting. Small gains were made by our forces in other segments of the lines. Naval guns and Army and Marine artillery continued to bombard enemy emplacements with heavy fire and carrier aircraft attacked troop concentrations in the southern part of the island.

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps reduced the remaining pockets of enemy resistance on Motobu Peninsula on the afternoon of April 20 and brought the entire area under their control.

Tenth Army troops placed the United States Flag on the summit of Iegusugu Peak on Ie Shima on the morning of April 21 after overcoming bitter resistance from caves, pillboxes and other strongpoints. Our forces are engaged in mopping up operations on the island which is now in our possession.

On the night of April 20-21, enemy aircraft attacked Yontan and Kadena airfields causing minor damage. Carrier aircraft from the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked air installations in the Sakishima group on April 19 and 21, shooting down one plane and strafing several others on the ground.

Hellcat and Corsair fighters of 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus on April 21.

83

U.S. Navy Department (April 22, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 340

The XXIV Army Corps continued to attack the enemy’s fortified positions in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 22 (East Longitude Date) meeting bitter resistance in all areas of the fighting. Our troops were supported by heavy artillery, naval guns, and carrier and land‑based aircraft. No substantial changes had been made in the lines by 1700 on April 22. A total of 11,738 of the enemy have been killed and 27 taken prisoner in the Twenty Fourth Corps zone of action.

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps occupied Taka Banare Island east of Okinawa on April 22 and landed on Sesoko Island west of Motobu Peninsula on the same date. Our troops on Sesoko were reported to be halfway across the island in the early afternoon.

During the night of April 21-22, a few enemy aircraft approached our forces around the Okinawa area and four were shot down by carrier planes and aircraft of the Tactical Air Force. On the afternoon of April 22, a substantial group of Japanese planes attacked our forces in and around Okinawa causing some damage and sinking one light unit of the fleet. Forty-nine enemy planes were shot down by our combat air patrols and anti-aircraft fire.

Carrier aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked airfields and other installations in the Sakishima Group on April 21 and 22.

Army Mustangs of the VII Fighter Command attacked Suzuka airfield 32 miles southwest of Nagoya on April 22 inflicting the following damage on the enemy:

  • 9 aircraft shot out of the air
  • One probably shot down
  • 17 aircraft destroyed on the ground
  • 20 aircraft damaged on the ground
  • A 6,000-ton ship exploded in Ise Bay south of Nagoya
  • Two small oilers sunk
  • One small tanker sunk
  • One coastal cargo ship damaged

Carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked airfields and ground installations in the Amami Group of the Northern Ryukyus during April 18 to 20, inclusive, damaging or destroying numerous airfield structures. On April 21 and 22, carrier planes operating in the Northern Ryukyus shot down 16 enemy planes and burned 10 more on the ground.

A search plane of Fleet Air Wing One attacked a small cargo ship east of the Ryukyus on April 22 leaving it burning and dead in the water.

Runways and installations on Marcus Island were bombed by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force on April 21. Helldiver bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked the airstrip on Yap in the Western Carolines on April 21.

During the twenty-four hours ending at 1800 on April 20, 60 Japanese were killed and 64 were captured on Iwo Island. A total of 23,049 of the enemy have been killed and 850 captured since February 19.

Communiqué No. 338, paragraph five, is corrected as follows: Delete “One LST 477” from the list of ships sunk.

84

CINCPOA Press Release No. 86

For Immediate Release
April 22, 1945

Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Bruce, Commanding General, 77th Infantry Division, whose forces captured Ie Shims, has sent the following message to FADM C. W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, and to the Governor of Texas:

After a bitter fight from pillbox to pillbox, cave to cave, and house to house, the 77th Infantry Division placed the American flag on top of the heavily defended pinnacle on Ie Shima on April 21, 1945. A Texas flag was placed on the bloody ridge below the fortress by the Texans of the Division in honor of those gallant Texas men who gathered at Corregidor to remember San Jacinto Day on April 21, 1942, exactly three years ago.

FADM Nimitz is a native of Fredericksburg, Texas.

Maj. Gen. Bruce is a resident of Temple, Texas.

85

The Pittsburgh Press (April 22, 1945)

Yanks push on yard by yard on Okinawa

Bitter battle rages on hill guarding airfield

GUAM (UP) – American infantrymen on Southern Okinawa were locked in a bitter struggle for Hill 178 guarding approaches to Yonabaru Airfield Saturday and made small gains along the entire line.

On Ie Island, the U.S. flag was raised on Iegusugu Peak.

Several times the infantrymen were thrown off the high ground around the strategic hill. But each time they came back and pressed their assault.

Third day of barrage

For the third day the thundering barrage thrown into the southern Okinawa sector by guns of Pacific Fleet battleships, cruisers and destroyers and massed Army and Marine artillery continued to support the advancing 7th, 27th and 96th Infantry Divisions.

Carrier aircraft made constant pinpoint attacks against the strong pillboxes, blockhouses and cave positions through which the tank-led infantrymen slowly pushed their way.

On the approaches to Hill 178, overlooking Shuri, a city of 60,000 population in the center of the line, U.S. and Jap forces were locked in the bitterest type of warfare, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said.

Gain not revealed

Adm. Nimitz gave no indication of the distance gained through Saturday. On the western coast, U.S. troops had pushed to within a mile and a half of Machinato Airfield, two miles above Naha.

On the east, they were last reported only 2½ miles from Yonabaru town. The Yonabaru airfield is less than a mile from the most advanced infantry forces in that sector.

The Jap fortifications were superior to those the Marines encountered on bloody Iwo Jima, front dispatches said. Many will be reduced only by hand-to-hand action.

Mopping up on Ie

Tenth Army troops on Ie Shima, three miles west of Okinawa’s Motobu Peninsula, raised the American flag on Iegusugu Peak Saturday morning after overcoming stiff resistance from enemy troops in caves, pillboxes and other fortifications. Mopping-up operations are now underway on Ie.

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps on Motobu eliminated the remaining Jap pockets and brought the entire area under U.S. control.

A few Jap aircraft attacked Yontan and Kadena airfields on Central Okinawa Friday night, causing minor damage. Carrier aircraft of the Pacific Fleet struck again at air installations in the Sakishima Islands southwest of Okinawa, shooting down one plane and strafing several others on the ground.

Ordered to keep fighting

The infantry on Okinawa was driving on “Skyline Ridge,” backbone of the Jap line, under orders to “keep advancing.”

Front dispatches said the immediate objective was Machinato Airfield.

“The 96th Division is in the thick of this vicious battle,” reported a United Press front correspondent. “Troops are driving up the face of ridges exposed to enemy fire in one of the most courageous attacks imaginable. Our mortars are virtually drilling holes in the hills to get at the dug-in Japs.”

Resistance was extremely well organized, but U.S. troops were slowly neutralizing the Jap positions.

In heart of defenses

“We are in the heart of the enemy’s position,” Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of the XXIV Army Corps, told United Press writer E. G. Valens.

A Tokyo broadcast said the fighting on Southern Okinawa was “gaining in intensity” and claimed that “fierce counterattacks” had been launched by the defenders.

86

Foot of class for Jap spellers

OKINAWA (UP, April 21) – Four Jap soldiers learned the hard way here that Tokyo schools teach English that is pretty good, but not good enough.

Marine patrols stopped four men who produced the following note: “There men are Okinawans – not soldiers. Treat them good.”

It was signed, “Commanding Officer – Marign Regiment.”

The Martine patrol investigated. Beneath the flowering Okinawan kimonos were concealed Jap Army boots, puttees and khaki breeches.

The four bad spellers were put at the foot of the class.

87

U.S. Navy Department (April 23, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 341

Naval guns and carrier aircraft continued to support troops of the XXIV Army Corps attacking the enemy’s fortified line in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 23 (East Longitude Date).

Planes from carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked 25 enemy aircraft about to take off from an airfield on Miyako in the Sakishima group on the evening of April 22 destroying 15 on the ground and shot down five more in the air. Four planes were shot down over Ishigaki in the same group. On April 23, three aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Kume Island in the Okinawa group by our fighters and a single enemy plane was shot down north of Okinawa by a Marine plane.

No further information is available on the progress of the fighting in southern Okinawa.

Carrier aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet bombed and strafed air installations in the Sakishima group on April 16 and 17. Four enemy planes were shot down and one was destroyed on the ground.

Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus on April 23.

On April 22, Marine Corsairs continued neutralizing raids on enemy bases in the Marshalls.

88

The Pittsburgh Press (April 23, 1945)

126 Jap planes blasted in battle

Marines land on two isles off Okinawa

GUAM (UP) – U.S. aerial forces destroyed or damaged 126 Jap planes and six ships in two days of battles along an 850-mile front from Japan to the Southern Ryukyus.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced the heavy toll of Jap aircraft today. He also revealed that U.S. Marines had landed on two more islands off Okinawa and disclosed that Army troops had killed 11,738 Japs and captured 27 on Southern Okinawa.

The Jap planes, of which 105 were destroyed, were accounted for by Mustang fighters from Iwo and carrier planes from the U.S. task force in the Ryukyus. In addition, a large force of B-29 Superfortresses from the Marianas may have destroyed many others in a raid on Kyushu’s airfields.

Flying a 1,500-mile roundtrip mission from Iwo, the Army Mustangs destroyed or damaged 47 planes in an attack yesterday on Suzuka Airfield, 32 miles southwest of Nagoya on the principal Jap home island of Honshu.

Of the planes destroyed, nine were shot down and 17 wrecked on the ground. The others were damaged or probably destroyed. The Mustangs also swept over Ise Bay, south of Nagoya, to sink two small oilers, one small tanker and a 6,000- to 8,000-ton ship and damaged one coastal vessel.

Carrier planes shot down 49 planes from a “substantial” Jap force which attacked American ground and naval forces in the Okinawa area yesterday afternoon. The Japs succeeded in sinking one light fleet unit, Adm. Nimitz said. Further identity of the craft was not disclosed. The raid followed one on a smaller scale Saturday night, when four Jap planes were shot down.

Other carrier aerial forces extended the offensive against Jap airfields at Amami in the Northern Ryukyus to the fifth consecutive day Sunday.

The last two days on Amami, 16 enemy planes were shot down and 10 others destroyed on the ground. A small cargo ship was also hit east of the Ryukyus and left burning and dead in the water.

Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay’s Marianas-based Superfortresses raided airfields on Kyushu, southernmost of the Jap home islands, yesterday for the second time in 24 hours in an attempt to knock out the sites from which the Japanese have been attacking Okinawa.

Five airfields, including two never hit before, were raided by the big B-29s, all of which returned safely to their bases.

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps occupied Taka Banare Island, east of Okinawa, and seized half of Sesoko Island, west of Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa yesterday.

Bitter fighting continued on Southern Okinawa north of the capital city of Naha for the fourth straight day and Adm. Nimitz said there had been little changes in the American positions.

89

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (April 24, 1945)

Feindverluste auf Okinawa

Ostasiendienst des DNB

Tokio, 23. April – Die Kämpfe auf den Ryukyu-Inseln nahmen im Verlauf der letzten Tage an Heftigkeit zu.

Der Feind führte Luftangriffe mit etwa 600 Flugzeugen gegen das gesamte Gebiet der Gruppe und vor allem gegen das Hauptinsel Okinawa durch und ging mit etwa 10,000 Mann im Süden Okinawas zum Angriff über. In den erbitterten Kämpfen konnte jedoch der feindliche Ansturm überall vor den vordersten japanischen Linien zum Stehen gebracht werden. 40 Panzer wurden zusammengeschossen. Die feindlichen Verluste waren hoch. Indessen haben die Nordamerikaner weitere Truppen gelandet. Der Kampf um diesen wichtigen Außenposten im japanischen Verteidigungsring geht mit aller Macht weiter. Zu den Kämpfen in Burma erfahren wir: In Burma find heftige Kämpfe zwischen den Engländern und den japanischen Verteidigern im Gange. Die Stoßrichtung des englischen Angriffs liegt an der Straße nach Rangun.

90

U.S. Navy Department (April 24, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 342

The XXIV Army Corps continued the attack against enemy lines in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 23 (East Longitude Date). Elements of the 7th Infantry Division captured an important enemy position on high ground west of Ishin Village. Enemy opposition was heavy along the entire front.

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps were engaged in mopping up remnants of the enemy on Yagachi Island north of Motobu Peninsula on April 23. On the same date, III Corps troops occupied Heanza Island east of Katchin Peninsula and Kouri Island, north of Motobu Peninsula, finding no opposition.

On April 24, ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet delivered heavy gunfire in support of the attacking troops in the XXIV Corps sector. Numerous caves were closed and blockhouses, pillboxes, trenches and gun emplacements were destroyed. Adverse weather reduced air operations and there was no enemy aircraft activity over the area during the day.

Search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One sank two small cargo ships and one motor torpedo boat and damaged two torpedo boats east of the Ryukyus on April 23. On the following day, search planes of the same Wing strafed building and radio installations in the northern Ryukyus and damaged a num­ber of small craft.

Carrier aircraft from units of the British Pacific Fleet strafed and bombed runways, airfield structures, barracks and other installations on islands of the Sakishima group on April 20 encountering no enemy air opposition.

On April 23, Liberators of the Strategic Air Force bombed installations on Marcus Island. Iwo based Mustangs of the same force bombed and strafed storage dumps on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on April 24.

91

The Pittsburgh Press (April 24, 1945)

All but fourth of Okinawa seized

Yanks converting isle into key base

GUAM (UP) – U.S. forces have captured three-quarters of Okinawa and have been converting it into a key base for the next stage of the American march on Japan and the China coast, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said today.

Even as he spoke, U.S. B-29 Superfortresses were continuing their softening-up bombardment of Japan proper. A fleet of 150 from the Marianas hit the Hitachi aircraft factory at Tachikawa, 14 miles west of Tokyo, for the first time.

Adm. Nimitz revealed that development of Okinawa into a major American base was underway at a press conference on the island following an inspection tour.

He said:

The acquisition of Okinawa will permit us to project our sea and airpower to the China coast and Japanese homeland and will greatly facilitate and speed up operations in the future.

The operations here are going along as planned and development of the island already has started.

Adm. Nimitz said the remnants of the Jap surface fleet are still capable of attacking American shipping, but cannot be regarded as a “serious threat.” He said they would be hunted down as soon as the Okinawa airfields are ready to handle all the available planes.

The American ground offensive on Southern Okinawa appeared to have stalled temporarily in the powerful network of Jap defenses shielding Naha.

Superfortresses which bombed the Hitachi aircraft plant today were striking at the Tokyo area for the first time this week. They attacked from medium altitude and good results were expected.

The plant, which covers one million square feet, is only 19 miles from the Imperial Palace and one of the few aircraft engine factories not attacked previously by Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay’s Marianas-based Superfortresses.

In the fighting on Okinawa, Adm. Nimitz announced that warships and carrier planes continued the heavy bombardment of Jap positions in the southern part of the island.

Three U.S. divisions of the XXIV Corps have been attacking the Japs since Thursday but the drive stalled temporarily 3½ miles north of Naha.

The communiqué disclosed that 28 Jap aircraft were destroyed by carrier planes and fighters throughout the Ryukyus Sunday and Monday.

92

Truman believed deciding where to go after Okinawa

Issue apparently is whether to invade Japan first or encircle enemy by drive in China
By Marshal McNeil, Scripps-Howard staff writer

WASHINGTON (SHS) – President Truman, as Commander-in-Chief, may now be in process of deciding what military steps shall be take in the Pacific after Okinawa is ours, some congressmen close to the armed forces believe.

The new President will have an important hand in the strategy decision because it involves not merely military matters in the Pacific but also problems that touch on the home front deeply.

The issue is apparently whether there shall be a headlong assault on the Jap home islands, or an encircling movement aimed at Japan through China.

Invasion of Japan costly

About two weeks ago, these same congressional sources said that our military experts had not then decided upon which way to move after Okinawa is captured.

A frontal assault on the Jap home islands might cost dearly, but it would end the Pacific war more quickly. An encircling movement toward the China coast probably would be less costly but mean a longer war. This was said to be the view of military experts two weeks ago, despite the fact that months ago Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz indicated that the China coast was one of our important goals.

Involves home front

Today, according to the congressional sources, President Truman is probably facing the decision as to which course should be taken. This would involve the question not only of home front production of military goods, but of home front morale in the face of heavy casualties, or less heavy casualties and a prolonged conflict.

In connection with Mr. Truman’s problem, it was the new President himself, who, in his first address to Congress last week, pointed out how important a role President Roosevelt played in our European planning.

Cites commanders

Mr. Truman said:

The grand strategy of a United Nations’ war has been determined – due in no small measure to the vision of our departed Commander-in-Chief. We are now carrying out our part of that strategy under the able direction of Adm. Leahy, Gen. Marshall, Adm. King, Gen. Arnold, Gen. Eisenhower, Adm. Nimitz and Gen. MacArthur… This direction must and will remain unchanged and unhampered.

Some feeling is developing among some of our military experts, these same congressional sources say, that after victory in Europe, Japan may fold up more quickly than has heretofore been expected.

They point out:

When victory day comes in Europe, the whole world will be arrayed against Japan, and this will finally be so impressed upon the Japs that they cannot help but be more ready for unconditional surrender.`

93

With machine-gun on hip, Yank rakes banzaiing Japs

Doughboy fires until barrel burns his hand as troops turn back attack on Okinawa
By Edward Thomas, United Press staff writer

WITH THE 96TH DIVISION, Okinawa (UP) – One Doughboy yanked a heavy machine-gun from its tripod and, with a belt of .50 caliber shells behind him, shot from the hip at the advancing Japs until the barrel burned his hand.

The Japs were trying another Banzai charge.

Thirty minutes later it was over, and 150 of the 250 enemy soldiers who had charged the 382nd Infantry Regiment were dead. The others 100 fled in confusion.

The Yanks were pretty busy during those 30 minutes.

Toss grenades chain style

They buried one of their comrades quickly on the ridge because they thought they were going to have to retreat, and didn’t want to leave his body behind.

They tossed grenades chain style from one man to another from the bottom to the top of the ridge, where the last soldier pulled the safety pin and hurled them at the oncoming Japs.

Scout mortars fired until the Japs had advanced so far that they seemed like they were firing straight up in the air, and had to cease for fear of hitting their own troops.

Fire 569 shells

A Marine battalion of 75s sent 569 projectiles crashing into advancing Japs in less than 10 minutes.

Men ducked back across open fields under enemy fire stole precious ammunition from other units and staggered back up the ridge loaded down “like pack mules.”

The company didn’t move an inch, and when it was over they recovered the body of the Doughboy they had buried, and he was brought back for decent burial with the others who died.

94

Marine trades ear for life of Jap lieutenant

ABOARD A USCG ATTACK TRANSPORT AT OKINAWA (UP) – Coast Guard correspondent John Walker McCain Jr. told today a story of a Marine who traded his left ear for the life of a Jap lieutenant.

The Jap leaped into the Leatherneck’s foxhole one dark night on Okinawa and sank his teeth into the Marine’s ear. The Marine plunged his knife into the intruder’s belly. The Marine won the ensuing death struggle but in his dying throes the Jap tore off his ear.

Aboard a hospital ship, the Marine displayed two souvenirs of his experience, a Jap sword and a silver cigarette case. The latter bore the name and emblem of a British bombardier. The Japanese had probably taken it from a British flier in a previous Pacific engagement.

95

Oberdonau-Zeitung (April 25, 1945)

In Frontmeldungen aus Ostasien muss die amerikanische Presse eingestehen, dass die amerikanischen Angriffe bei Okinawa keine Fortschritte machen. Es gelang den Japanern, einige Ortschaften und eine Stadt zurückzuerobern. Die Berichte sprechen davon, dass der Vormarsch im Süden Okinawas auf große Schwierigkeiten stößt.