– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

The bloodiest and crulest campaign of

World War II rages on a small island the

size of Los Angeles.

The Battle of Okinawa.

As war winds down in Europe, here on

this little piece of land in the middle

of the Pacific Ocean, the United States

and Japan face off in an agonizing

conflict that will change the course of

history.

>> It's gruesome, high casualties. This is

really a slugfest, more of a World War I

type of battle.

On the American side, 180,000 soldiers,

an armada of battleships, and thousands

of fighter aircraft.

On the other, 120,000 desperate Japanese

ready to die for their country.

>> You had to be willing to sacrifice your

life for the emperor. That meant you

were a good Japanese citizen.

General Buckner leads the American army

against General Ushima on the Japanese

side. The two officers will fight to the

bitter end.

Almost everything was wiped out. It was

a massive destructive battlefield.

>> Over three grueling months in 1945, the

horror and violence reached their peak.

April sees massive kamicazi attacks

against the American fleet. That's the

costliest battle in US Navy history.

>> In May, fierce battles rage in the

mountains.

>> The Americans called the south side of

the hill the bloody mountain.

>> And in June, the rainy season brings new

torment to the ground troops.

>> You end up with feet of mud that go down

and down and down.

Now, through rare archival footage,

you're about to relive the decisive

moments of the crucial battles day by

day and as if you were there in the

trenches.

How was the landing on the island of

Okinawa planned?

Which Japanese strategies took the

American generals by surprise?

And what tipped the fate of certain key

battles?

It's the one big mistake that the

Japanese make on the defense of the

island.

>> This is the story of the Battle of

Okinawa. 82 days of combat that turned a

small Pacific island into a hell of fire

and blood.

[Music]

[Music]

East China Sea 5:30 a.m. On this

particular Easter Sunday, 1300 American

and British warships, including 12

aircraft carriers and seven battleships

are sailing towards the island of

Okinawa. A super powerful air sea task

force is ready to unleash countless

bombs on the island in order to land and

take it from the Japanese.

[Music]

The code name for this mission is

Operation Iceberg. It is the largest

assault of the entire Pacific campaign.

Since the surprise attack on Pearl

Harbor by Japanese planes in December

1941, the American army has set out to

conquer the territories of the Japanese

Empire. This includes the Marshall

Islands, the Solomon Islands, Saipan,

and the Philippines. It's been one

battle after another throughout World

War II. For the American command,

landing on the main Japanese island is

the last step of this relentless

conquest. After the Battle of Euima, the

last islands remaining to be seized are

in the Okanawa Archipelago, located a

mere 700 km south of the Japanese coast.

[Music]

>> In order to win against Japan

holistically, they needed to attack the

mainland. Whether that was by air,

continual bombing would get the job

done, or whether they actually had to

put boots on ground. In order to do

that, they have to get as close as they

can.

>> Okinawa is important for two reasons.

First, its strategic location allows it

to be an ideal base for the invasion of

Japan. You've got a lot of good space

for airfields. It's the right distance

to bomb southern portions of Japan.

You've also got a lot of space to have

infantry units train and station.

Second reason is that it allows the

Americans to cut off Japan from its

colonies. Taiwan, China coast,

Singapore, Java. All those pieces of

real estate are still in Japanese hands

in 1945. Japan's an island and most of

its economy is based on shipping. So,

it's easy to hit that with either ships

or with planes.

>> The 10th American Army is tasked with

invading Okinawa,

a force of 180,000 men under the command

of three star General Simon Bolivar

Buckner.

[Music]

Facing them, Japan has had time to

prepare its defense.

80,000 soldiers of the 32nd Japanese

Army led by General Ushima Mitsuru are

stationed on the island.

[Applause]

The population is also enlisted as

40,000 civilians will fight alongside

the soldiers.

Japanese troops come over and they

mobilize the entire island. And I mean

every man, woman, and child is supposed

to build fortifications and air strips

and all their farming is supposed to

feed the troops. And they're supposed to

be prepared to fight and enlist to

fight.

The Japanese general staff already knew

that their army would be decimated in

Okinawa.

The main mission of the troops was to

buy some time.

>> No matter the cost, they had to delay

the battle that would soon occur on

Japan's main island, even just by one

day. The army and the emperor himself

were aware that the island of Okinawa

would eventually be occupied by the

American troops, but they needed more

time to get ready before fighting the

Americans on their own turf.

[Music]

The Japanese wanted to inflict a lot of

casualties on the Americans. That was

basically their main strategic objective

in the fighting the battle.

The American general staff decide to

land on the western part of the island

on a coast stretching 8 km south of Cape

Zanpa near the village of Hagushi.

[Music]

There the reef is shallow and several

beaches run along the coastline.

During low tide, their width reaches 45

m, which is ideal for troop landing.

[Music]

While 1,200 troop ships approach the

coastline, the air and sea force blaze a

trail for the soldiers that are ready to

land.

40,000 shells, 30,000 rockets, and air

dropped napalon.

The fires of hell are unleashed on

Okinawa.

At 8:30 a.m., the first American

soldiers set foot on the beach.

But as the soldiers are expecting to

meet the fire of Japanese defense, the

surroundings are unusually quiet.

When the Americans landed, there were

hardly any Japanese soldiers. They faced

no resistance.

[Music]

When the soldiers arrived on April 1st,

it almost felt like they were going on a

picnic.

[Music]

They landed, they walked in, it was

really quiet. Soldiers and Marines alike

were like, "Wow, this is relatively

easy." There's no resistance there along

the beach.

You literally see soldiers marching in

land standing upright. The Americans are

getting lodged on the island and they're

like, "What is the Japanese general

doing?" And the answer is, "I don't

know, but we'll take advantage of it."

[Music]

However, the lack of resistance to the

American landing is in fact a deliberate

tactic on the part of the Japanese

command.

The Japanese air forces were heavily

damaged and destroyed. At this point,

they really didn't have the fuel to make

some of those operations.

The thing that they decide to do is

they're going to defend in land. They're

going to defend away from the beaches so

the Americans can't use their big guns

from their battleships against them.

So what happens is the landing force

lands on the beach and everyone is

expecting, you know, horrific casualties

and they're literally like where where

are the Japanese?

[Music]

The first day of Operation Iceberg is a

complete and unexpected success for the

American force.

In just a few hours, an area of 14.5x 5

km is already secured. While the

airfields of Kadana and Yumitan are

seized by the infantry,

[Music]

the death toll on the American side

amounts to 28. In comparison, the

landing in Normandy had caused 10,000

casualties on the first day alone.

[Music]

Nonetheless, the Japanese forces are

ready to fight.

A section is stationed up north, notably

on the Motubu Peninsula, while a

majority are lying in weight in the

southern part of the island along the

Shuri line. It's a mountainous area made

of hills where the soldiers have dug

tunnels to hide as they await the enemy.

For the Americans, the battle of Okinawa

is far from over.

[Music]

On the second day of the invasion, the

American soldiers start progressing

inland.

Four army divisions head south, while

the invasion of the north is entrusted

to two marine divisions facing a very

weak resistance.

Before

long, the entire west coast all the way

to Cape Za is occupied and the troops

march towards their next objective, the

Matubu Peninsula.

[Music]

But as the soldiers gain ground in the

open sea, the naval force must face a

relentless and unpredictable threat.

[Music]

The kamicazis.

The kamicazis were basically young,

relatively inexperienced pilots.

They didn't have a lot of aviation fuel

left in Japan and they didn't have a

good way of replacing pilots that they

lost. And when you go into combat,

you're always going to take casualties.

Japan didn't have any more high

performance planes or qualified pilots

at its disposal to conduct traditional

bombing operations.

So the general staff decided to round up

teenagers and asked them to simply crash

on the ships.

Back then it was considered an act of

bravery. one had to be willing to

sacrifice his life for the emperor.

>> That meant you were a good Japanese

citizen. It was utter madness, pure

fanaticism.

[Music]

These guys are often flying on their

kamicazi missions with 10, 15 hours in

the cockpit, which is not a whole lot.

The idea is that the kamicazis will

basically find and hit a US ship.

Carriers and battleships.

US aircraft carriers are not

particularly wellarmored.

There's the USS Franklin which is almost

taken out and there is the USS

Enterprise.

Franklin basically is toast. It is

ruined as a ship.

They took out about 30 destroyers during

the battle. 5,000 dead, another 5,000

wounded. That's the costliest battle in

US Navy history.

You're hitting destroyers. Boom, boom,

boom, boom. The Navy is going, "Move

faster. Move faster. We got to get these

guys out of here." So the kamicazis were

really, really hitting them hard.

In some cases, because it was so close,

they could actually see the face of the

pilot.

Those images really stayed with people

who experienced those attacks firsthand

for a very long time afterwards.

Along with its fighter planes, the

Japanese army also uses small suicide

boats called shino that are riddled with

explosives and maneuvered by a single

man.

>> You tend to think of kamicazi as only

being pilot, but kamicazi is a way in

which their fight that is the pilots,

that is the boats. A lot of it was being

aimed at ammunition transports. So you

can kind of cut off on some of that

advantage that the US had in terms of

supplies, ammunition.

>> The objective is not suicide. The

objective is victory.

>> The Japanese army stops at nothing to

damage the American war arsenal. Hoping

to weaken it furthermore, Emperor

Hirohito decides to go allin and hit the

Allied fleet stationed off the coast of

Okinawa with full force by ordering

operation Tango.

[Music]

Only six days into the invasion of

Okinawa, an armada of warships leave the

coast of Japan and head towards the

archipelago.

Among them is the Yamato, the largest

battleship in the world.

>> The Yumato was a magnificent ship, and

it was something that was also the pride

of Japan, too. It's 863 feet, 69,000

tons, and it had nine 18-in guns, which

is a little bigger than what even the US

has.

This is about all they have left. So,

they send the Yamato down to Okinawa,

and the idea was ram it onto the beaches

of Okinawa, point its guns out towards

sea, and shell the crud out of the

American invasion fleet.

problem with that is we have radar

pickets, we have submarines doing picket

duty and they see the Yamato coming.

When the Yamato and its escort pass the

Osumi Peninsula while heading south

towards Okinawa,

Admiral Spruent, the commander-in-chief

of the American army in the Pacific,

gives the order to launch an immediate

counterattack.

Admiral Raymond Spruent says, "I want to

kill that battleship, but I do not want

to get in a battleship fight where they

might actually win or they might take a

couple of my guys with them."

So, he basically sends airplanes off his

carriers.

[Music]

In just a few hours, the American

aircraft carriers hurl some 386 fighter

planes towards the Japanese Armada

heading towards Okinawa without any air

cover.

[Music]

Despite the firepower of the largest

battleship of the world, the Yamato

cannot withstand the violence of the

attack.

On that day, the entire crew of 3,000

men perish.

Biggest, baddest ship never fires a shot

in angry.

Goes down. Completely militarily

ineffective. sunk north of Okinawa.

>> It sinking was a huge emotional loss to

much of Japan, too.

So much was symbolized in that ship. A

whole national effort to build that size

vessel.

>> Operation Tang Go is a complete failure

for the Japanese Army. They've

sacrificed the jewel of their naval

force without causing any damage to the

enemy.

From his beloved second home at Warm

Springs, Georgia, the body of Franklin

Delano Roosevelt moves on the first

stages of its journey to his final

resting place. Scores of sufferers from

infantile paralysis sorrowfully bid

farewell to their great friend and

>> with the destruction of the Yamato. The

American army wins a key victory against

Japan. But meanwhile, the United States

are struck by the sudden death of

President Franklin Roosevelt. The entire

world is grieving.

The troops on Okinawa also pay tribute

to the late president.

But the Japanese general staff used this

event in an attempt to destabilize the

troops. They sent to the field a

propaganda pamphlet written in English.

To all American officers and men, we

must express our deep regret over the

death of President Roosevelt. The

American tragedy is now raised here at

Okinawa with his death. You must have

seen 70% of your CVs and 73% of your

bees sink or be damaged, causing 150,000

casualties. Not only the late president,

but anyone else would die in the excess

of worry to hear such an annihilative

damage. The dreadful loss that led to

your late leader's death will make you

orphans on this island. The Japanese

special attack war will sink your

vessels down to the last destroyer. You

will witness it realized in the near

future.

The numbers are totally whimsical, but

the text clearly shows that the Japanese

troops are willing to fight till the

end, and they make sure their enemy is

aware of it.

On the island, the battles have been

raging for nearly 3 weeks. The invasion

force faces a fierce resistance from the

outposts of the Shuri line, preventing

further advance in the south.

In the north, the progressing troops

reach Cape Hedo.

The last pocket of resistance is now

surrounded on the Mobu Peninsula near

Mount Yetake, the Japanese headquarters

of the North Sector.

Harassed by the Marines, their defense

is reduced to nothing.

With victory in sight, the general staff

decided to set out for a new objective.

The small island of Ewima, located less

than 3 km from the coast. This strategic

spot has three takeoff runways and radar

equipment which are indispensable to

establish air domination.

However, the geography of the island

makes its invasion extremely risky.

Japanese soldiers have taken refuge

inside of tunnels dug deep into the

mountain of Euoima.

The GIS must climb under enemy fire

coming from above. One of the most

dreaded situations for military men.

>> The Americans called the south side of

the hill the bloody mountain.

The Japanese army had been stationed

there long before their arrival. This is

where the most violent battles took

place.

>> So what you had there in terms of

Japanese forces is about 930 950 actual

uniformed troops about a battalion size

worth. They were augmented by Okanowan

conscripts and augmented by a lot of

civilians.

[Music]

Several months before the battle began,

the Japanese army had undertaken a

brainwashing operation of the civil

population on all the islands of the

Okanawa archipelago.

Propaganda pamphlets had been

distributed with the intention of

scaring the residents.

The indoctrination was not just about

where your loyalty should be in a sense

of civic duty, but was also a very

strong propaganda piece about how evil

the Americans were and how death at

their hands would be so torturous and

painful and drawn out that it is far

better to jump off a cliff and get it

over quick.

[Music]

We can easily imagine the fear of the

civilians who saw American soldiers for

the first time. They'd been ordered not

to be taken alive.

[Music]

They panicked. Only a few people had

received grenades to commit suicide. All

the others died decapitated, strangled

with ropes, or hit with pieces of wood

or rocks. The men couldn't bear the

thought of their wife and children being

captured and humiliated by the American

soldiers. They'd rather kill them with

their own hands.

[Music]

>> On the island, over 3,500 civilians are

prepared to face the invaders.

>> On the islands of the archipelago,

including Leima, many civilians were

mobilized and turned into soldiers,

including women. They were given

grenades to attack the Americans. In

Japanese, we call that kirikcomi. It

means suicide attack.

>> You'd have women running around with

spears, women with their children

strapped to them, still fighting the

battle and defending the caves and all

of that, which made it a very shocking

type of combat for the American soldiers

to handle and take over.

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

To a Japanese person, nothing is worse

than shame. Retaining one's dignity is

as important as one's life. The people

were told that being captured was a

humiliation and that had to be prevented

at all costs. That's what the civilians

believed because that's what they were

taught.

[Music]

The battles on the small island of Iwima

cost the lives of 4,700 Japanese while

only 149 are made prisoners

[Music]

on the field. As the battle enters its

fourth week, the American soldiers now

realize that the hell of Okinawa has

just begun.

[Music]

[Music]

On the main island of the archipelago,

the north is now entirely occupied by

the Americans. But in the south, the

battles continue.

This mountainous sector favors the

Japanese who have had time to organize

their defense.

The Japanese troop arrived in Okinawa

between August and September of 1944.

That's about 6 months before the

Americans who got there in April of the

following year. During that period, the

soldiers dug several tunnels by hand.

[Music]

Every crest of every hill is the theater

of fierce battles, and it often takes

several days to capture a single

position from the enemy.

They use tanks, mortar rounds, and

flamethrowers. And yet, despite the

devastating power of the American army,

it seems almost impossible to drive the

Japanese soldiers out of their hiding

places.

They had enough munitions to hold on for

6 months.

This is the best supplied Japanese army

unit that the Americans have encountered

in the Pacific War.

It's gruesome, high casualties, low

yards. In fact, no yards taken in some

cases. This is really a slugfest. More

of a World War I caliber than a World

War II type of battle.

[Music]

On April 24th, after 2 weeks of

attempts, the Americans finally succeed

in seizing Kakazu Ridge, a crest only

100 m long.

That day, the entire Machinado line

finally falls.

It's the first of three Japanese defense

lines.

>> The Japanese had all these defensive

positions prepared. So even though they

had breached the main line, there's

still other ones and other ones and

other ones.

The idea is we're going to make this

costly and you're going to die and then

your friends are going to die and then

their friends are going to die.

If you want Okinawa, fine. But you're

going to pay a very heavy price in lives

to take this island.

>> As the battle soon enters its second

month, the American soldiers morale

reaches a new low.

>> In the beginning of May, combat in the

hills is raging.

The Americans are faced with a fierce

resistance that immobilizes both camp's

positions on the field.

However, on the Japanese side, a

disagreement arises between General

Ushima's two advisers.

General Hiroshima Yahara in favor of an

ultra defensive strategy recommends that

the troops remain in hiding in the

island's caves as long as possible.

Whereas General Isamu Cho encourages

them to reassess their strategy.

General Cho, the chief of staff of the

32nd Army, was more old school in the

sense that he believed in, you know,

attack and he didn't like Colonel

Yahara's defensive tactics. So he

convinces Ushiima to launch an offensive

attack against the 10th Army.

[Music]

The counteroffensive is based on two

simultaneous moves involving a 3,000men

brigade supported by tanks that will hit

the center of the American lines while

an amphibian assault on the back coasts

creates a diversion.

The Japanese come out of their trenches.

They start charging. A little bit of a

bonsai charge. They were dug in and they

give that up and they're out in the

open. And it ends badly for these guys.

The counterattack is a complete

disaster.

[Music]

[Applause]

The Americans managed to destroy dozens

of Japanese heavy weapons.

As for the amphibian troops supposed to

attack the coasts, they are annihilated

at sea without leaving a single

survivor.

>> It's the one big mistake that the

Japanese make on the defense of the

islands and it accelerates the Japanese

defeat because they were holding. I

mean, the Americans are like banging

their heads against this, making no

progress. Suddenly, the Japanese do the

Americans a great favor.

On May 8th, 1945, victory is declared in

Europe.

[Music]

Populations around the world are

celebrating after 7 years of war.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away,

battles keep on raging in the Pacific.

Japan hasn't surrendered. The American

soldiers engaged in this fight must try

and survive the nightmare of Okinawa.

>> The end of the war in Europe on May 8th

doesn't really matter that much on

Okinawa. The guys who are in the front

lines are still in the front lines.

They're still trying to accomplish a

military mission. Still trying not to

get killed by the other guy.

[Music]

>> On the field, the soldiers are settling

in. The slightest truce is an

opportunity to regain some sense of a

normal life.

However, quiet moments are short-lived

for the soldiers.

[Music]

Day after day, they must head back to

combat.

Each meter gained in the south gets them

closer to victory and their dream of

ever coming home.

[Music]

Dakashi, Wana, Sugarloaf Hill, Horseshoe

Hill, Half Moon Hill, Konicle Hill. The

southern Japanese outposts fall one

after the other at the expense of heavy

American casualties.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the

American forces are now getting closer

to the next goal of Naha, the island's

capital.

[Music]

In the last few days, the bombing of

Naha by the American Air Force has

intensified

on the field and around the city. The

violence of the battle is horrifying.

[Music]

The battle of Okinawa was described by a

war correspondent as a succession of

days in hell.

In the hills surrounding Naha as well as

downtown, the advantage kept changing

sides.

One day the American army dominated, the

next the Japanese would get back on top.

The battle was so fierce that many

American soldiers went mad.

It takes 6 days for the Americans to

capture the city.

On May 17th, the GIS enter the

devastated capital after weeks of

bombing.

But even after the fall of Naha, the

soldiers must face a new enemy just as

fearsome as it is destructive.

The rain.

[Music]

After the capital, the American general

staff must tackle the Shuri Castle, the

Japanese headquarters of the South

Sector.

The troop's progression on the western

and eastern fronts allows the Americans

to surround the location.

Ashuri Castle is an extremely protected

fortress sitting on top of a mountain

riddled with tunnels

and the extreme weather conditions

considerably slow down the soldiers

progression.

When you have steep areas that are very

muddy, it becomes difficult for vehicles

to move, tanks to move, personnel to

move.

But it's a lot more than just being wet.

The ground itself becomes extremely

saturated and never totally dries out.

So you end up with feet of mud that go

down and down and down and down.

supply becomes extremely difficult to

get through. The Marines actually are

hand carrying supplies in because they

cannot get the trucks to transport in

there by any means.

[Music]

Of course, it affects the air. You're

not going to be flying in terrible,

rainy, awful electric weather.

[Music]

If you happen to be holding a cave,

which the Japanese are, that again

affords them an advantage.

For several days, while Shuri Castle is

surrounded by the American army, both

camps are paralyzed by mud. Any attack

would be doomed to failure.

Confronted with this desperate

situation, General Ushima orders his

troops to fall back in the south.

Thanks to a lull, American surveillance

aircrafts are able to spot the maneuver.

General staff launch the final assault

on Shuri Castle, now deserted by the

Japanese.

[Music]

[Music]

On May 29th, the site is captured and

the American flag finally flies over one

of the most protected places of Okinawa.

General Buckner, commander of the

American invasion forces, decides to

reach out to his Japanese rival

directly.

>> Late May, General Simon Bolver Buckner

Jr., the commanding general of the 10th

Army, sends a letter to General Ushima.

Basically says, "General, let's end the

bloodshed. I've taken the key parts of

the island. There's really no reason to

keep fighting.

>> In this unprecedented letter in the

history of war, General Buckner offers

an honorable exit to General Ushima,

hoping to end a battle the latter cannot

win.

But for the Japanese commander, victory

was never the goal.

Strategy always had been to inflict as

many casualties on the Americans as

possible. If they want to take Okinawa,

they're going to take it. We don't have

the resources to drive them off, but

we're going to increase this cost bit by

bit, forcing them to take every ridge

and every line.

[Music]

He ignores the letter. There's no

response.

Following General Ushiima's refusal to

surrender, the Americans start chasing

the Japanese troops across the vast

plains in the south of the island.

Almost all of central and southern

Okinawa were destroyed.

Buildings, farmlands, trees,

almost everything was wiped out. It was

a massive destructive battlefield.

[Music]

In June, when the troops started to

retreat to the south, the entire

Japanese organization started to

collapse.

At that point, the soldiers were only

trying to survive.

[Music]

The people of Okinawa, who had been

recruited by the army, also tried to run

away. It's understandable because they

weren't even soldiers in the first

place.

They had no military training.

At that point, they realized they didn't

want to die in this never- ending

battle.

Abandoned by their own country's

military, the civilians are left to

their own devices. They're faced with

three options. Follow the orders given

by the army and commit suicide to avoid

being taken prisoner. run away and risk

to die of hunger or sickness or

surrender to the Americans.

[Music]

>> The Japanese troops were forcing

civilians to come out of their caves.

They took their food and those who

refused to leave were simply killed by

the soldiers.

Even those that were spared by the

Japanese army were forced to leave and

found themselves defenseless.

They were exposed to the American

bombings facing a certain death.

[Music]

There was mud everywhere which made it

very difficult to walk. Most of the

testimonies gathered from the residents

say they had no other choice than to

leave the wounded and the elderly behind

as they couldn't keep up.

The American army tries to convince the

civilians and the soldiers to surrender

by dropping leaflets by plane. They

contain testimonies allegedly written by

Japanese soldiers saying that those who

accept to stop fighting won't be harmed.

[Music]

Hundreds of soldiers have surrendered,

including high-ranking officers. There's

no reason to be ashamed. Instead of

killing or mistreating us, the Americans

treat us the same way they do their own

soldiers. Once peace is restored, your

family will be happy to know you're

still alive.

[Music]

Unfortunately, those instructional

leaflets weren't always believed or

trusted.

Even if somebody may have been

influenced by it and wanted to do it,

for whatever reason, they hesitated from

doing it. And that's because of

propaganda against them earlier that the

Americans are all rapists and they'll

murder you.

Several thousand residents are made

prisoners anyway. They realize that

those they were conditioned to fear are

actually helping them.

[Music]

family members survive and then they're

angry when they discover that the

Americans are actually decent, giving

him food, medical supplies.

[Music]

Since the capture of Shuri Castle, the

Japanese forces have been retreating. A

major section is stationed on the Oroku

Peninsula, while the rest occupies a

defense line at the base hills of Yaju,

Yuza, and Misado.

[Music]

The Japanese positions are getting

weaker with each passing day. The

progression of the American army is

inexurable.

The Aroku Peninsula is finally captured

on June 13th. Mount Yijup on the 14th

and Mount Yuza on the 16th. The very

last of the Japanese forces are hiding

in the natural caves in the far south of

Okinawa, notably on the Kinishi ridge

and the hill of Mabuni.

[Music]

On June 18th, as the American army feels

victory within its grasp, General

Buckner comes to look over his troops on

the front line.

These are the last images of the

American commander.

>> A few seconds later,

>> he's hit by shrapnel from Japanese

artillery fire.

[Music]

He dies from his injuries shortly after.

[Music]

He is the highest ranking American

officer to be killed in combat during

World War II.

[Music]

3 days later, American soldiers discover

the body of General Ushuima in a cave of

the Mabuni Hill.

The Japanese general had resorted to a

ritual suicide known in Japan as sepuku.

[Music]

The Japanese army was going to be

defeated. It was inevitable. Given the

situation, there was no way he could

return to Japan alive. That was the rule

in the Japanese army. To surrender was

unimaginable.

He was hiding in a tunnel on the side of

the hill and the Americans were closing

in. He was stuck.

[Music]

In those days, army commanders committed

suicide to avoid dishonor.

If they died by their own hand, they

could somehow save face. That's why he

opted for the sapuku.

[Music]

He disembowled himself and asked one of

his men to cut his head off.

But before he died, he ordered his men

to fight until the end and to not get

caught alive.

While the last remaining resistance

pockets fall into the hands of the

Americans, the two generals who led the

battle of Okinawa are dead. as if fate

had decided that this nightmare now had

to come to an end.

On June 22nd, 1945, after 82 days of

combat of gruesome violence, the Battle

of Okinawa is officially over.

There was obviously an immense amount of

pride and relief that it had been

seized.

Maybe slightly off schedule, but it had

been seized

and that the US was in the prime

position to be able to strike out

against mainland Japan.

[Music]

10th Army staff is starting to look at

maps of Honshu and figuring out how can

we land, where can we land, getting

ready for the next big operation.

And at that point in time, the invasion

Japan is scheduled to basically be

November of 1945.

So you only have about 2 months to get

ready.

[Music]

[Music]

The conquest of the island has claimed

the lives of 12,500 Americans and

wounded 35,000 more. Confronted with a

death toll of this magnitude and the

pressure of a country refusing to

withstand more casualties, the general

staff start reconsidering their invasion

plans of Japan.

>> There is a sad irony about the Battle of

Okinawa.

It implanted the correct idea that a

landing on mainland Japan is going to be

so destructive and it's going to take

possibly a million forces to land and

seize that it's just going to be so

horrific that maybe the use of the

atomic bomb was necessary.

45 days after the capture of Okinawa,

the United States end the war with Japan

by dropping two atomic bombs on the

cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Music]

The Battle of Okinawa is therefore the

last one of World War II.

It has destroyed 90% of the island's

buildings and cultural heritage while

costing the lives of 150,000 residents.

[Music]

After the end of the war, the Americans

remain on the island in order to

establish their main Pacific bases and

implement a system allowing the people

to regain a normal life.

[Music]

Okinawa is later returned to Japan in

1972,

but the Americans continue to maintain

at least some presence.

>> Okinawa represents only about 0.6% of

Japan's total territory.

It's not even 1% yet 70% of US military

bases in Japan are concentrated there.

The residents still feel like victims

and their memories of war remain quite

vivid.

In a way, the battles that devastated

Okinawa are not over for them.

[Music]

On Okinawa, the scars left by 82 days of

gruesome battles will likely never

disappear.

[Music]

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
campaign /kæmˈpeɪn/ B2	noun - a series of military operations
battle /ˈbætl/ A2	noun - a fight between armed forces verb - to fight
casualties /ˈkæʒuəltiz/ B2	noun - people killed or injured in a war
soldiers /ˈsoʊldʒərz/ A2	noun - people in an army
aircraft /ˈerkræft/ B1	noun - a vehicle that flies
desperate /ˈdespərət/ B2	adjective - feeling or showing great hopelessness
sacrifice /ˈsækrifaɪs/ B1	verb - to give up something important noun - an act of giving up something
officers /ˈɒfɪsərz/ B1	noun - people holding a position of command
massive /ˈmæsɪv/ B2	adjective - very large
destructive /dɪˈstrʌktɪv/ B2	adjective - causing great damage
grueling /ˈɡruːəlɪŋ/ B2	adjective - very tiring and difficult
horror /ˈhɒrər/ B2	noun - extreme fear
violence /ˈvaɪələns/ B1	noun - physical force intended to hurt
strategic /strəˈtiːdʒɪk/ B2	adjective - relating to the planning of war
invading /ɪnˈveɪdɪŋ/ B1	verb - entering a country by force
territories /ˈterɪtɔriz/ B1	noun - areas of land under the control of a country