The three-month-long battle of Okinawa covered a 700-mile arc from
Formosa to Kyushu and involved a million combatants--Americans,
Japanese, British, and native Okinawans. With a magnitude that rivaled
the Normandy invasion the previous June, the battle of Okinawa was the
biggest and costliest single operation of the Pacific War. For each of
its 82 days of combat, the battle would claim an average of 3,000 lives
from the antagonists and the unfortunate non-combatants.” (Joseph H. Alexander)
Formosa to Kyushu and involved a million combatants--Americans,
Japanese, British, and native Okinawans. With a magnitude that rivaled
the Normandy invasion the previous June, the battle of Okinawa was the
biggest and costliest single operation of the Pacific War. For each of
its 82 days of combat, the battle would claim an average of 3,000 lives
from the antagonists and the unfortunate non-combatants.” (Joseph H. Alexander)
LibriVox recordings are public domain in the United States; copyright status may differ elsewhere.
Chapters
- Chapter 1
The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa
05:38 - Chapter 2
Countdown to 'Love-Day'
21:19 - Chapter 3
Sidebars - The Senior Marine Commanders and The Japanese Forces
12:05 - Chapter 4
L-Day and Movement to Contact
27:09 - Chapter 5
The Air and Sea Battles
16:15 - Chapter 6
Sidebars - The U.S. Army at Okinawa and Marine Air at Okinawa
10:37 - Chapter 7
Assault on Shuri
34:15 - Chapter 8
Sidebars - Marine Artillery at Okinawa and Marine Tanks at Okinawa
12:58 - Chapter 9
Closing the Loop
26:21 - Chapter 10
Sidebar - Subsidiary Amphibious Landings
05:17 - Chapter 11
Legacy and Sidebar: For Extraordinary Heroism
09:47