008 - Sidebars - Marine Artillery at Okinawa and Marine Tanks at Okinawa

The battle of Okinawa, a grueling three-month conflict spanning a 700-mile stretch from Formosa to Kyushu, involved over a million combatants, including Americans, Japanese, British, and native Okinawans. This monumental clash was not only the largest but also the most costly single operation of the Pacific War, rivaling the Normandy invasion that had occurred just months earlier. Throughout its 82 days of intense combat, the battle claimed an average of 3,000 lives daily—both from the fighting forces and tragic non-combatants. (Joseph H. Alexander)