Combat· World War II
Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was the largest and costliest single operation of the Pacific War and the intended springboard for invading Japan.
Lieutenant General Ushijima's Thirty-second Army built a defense in depth across the island's south, anchored on the Shuri Line, pairing a near-passive underground ground defense with the most intense kamikaze air offensive of the war. The Tenth Army was a joint force: the 1st, 2d, and 6th Marine Divisions of III Amphibious Corps fought alongside four Army divisions of XXIV Corps. The Marines seized the northern two-thirds of the island, anchored the western flank of the Shuri assault, and conducted the campaign's amphibious operations. When the Army commander was killed near the end, a Marine general, Roy Geiger, assumed command, becoming the only Marine and only aviator ever to command a field army.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 110