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![Out Of Hiding]()
17th April 1945: Okinawa civilians returning from hiding places in the hills following the invasion of the island by American soldiers. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
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![Okinawa Refugees]()
Simple medical care for refugees in Okinawa after their liberation from Japanese rule. Two of the women have tattoos on their hands. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Wartime Famine]()
27th April 1945: A severely malnourished girl from Okinawa is given a sponge bath in a refugee camp on the island, which is part of south-west Japan. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Doomed Battleship]()
26th October 1944: The Japanese battleship Yamato is attacked by US bombers during the battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. The largest ship in action during World War II, she was later sunk by US forces on 7th April 1945, during a kamikaze mission to Okinawa. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Okinawa Barrage]()
Spring 1945: Rockets from an American LSM(R) (Landing Ship, Medium (Rocket)) stream towards Okinawa Island of the Ryukyu archipelago (Loochoos) just before the invasion by US 10th Army forces. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![WWII Japanese Prisoners]()
Japanese leaders of prisoner of war platoons line up with large cans to receive soup rations for their men at a prisoner of war camp located near Kadena on Okinawa, Aug. 2, 1945. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
U.S. Military inspect a Japanese "dummy" plane on Okinawa, June 16, 1945. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
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![WWII: Okinawa]()
Possibly the greatest concentration of transport planes ever assembled is gathered on the air fields of Okinawa, Japan on August 28, 1945. The Douglas C-54s will be used in occupation of the Japanese by air-borne units, scheduled to take-off and land. (AP Photo/Frank Filan)
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![WWII US Troops Japan]()
Airborne troops wait on the runway of an Okinawa airfield for the order to board planes for Japan, Aug. 29, 1945. They landed on Atsugi airfield near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Frank Filan)
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![WWII U.S. Okinawa]()
Stray Japs should come along on Okinawa, these marines would be ready with a machine gun and a browning automatic rifle on August 9, 1945. Left to right: Pvt. Edward Grossman, 710 Union St., Hudson, N.Y., and Pvt. Arthur Welborn, 6811 Washington Ave, St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo)
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![Japanese Surrender]()
14th July 1945: His face covered with blood from a head wound, a Japanese naval lieutenant surrendered to American forces after hiding in caves on the island of Okinawa. He decided to make his own 'separate peace' after he heard a Japanese compatriot broadcast from an American landing craft telling of his experience as a prisoner in American hands and recommending it. The broadcast resulted in one of the biggest Japanese mass surrenders of World War Two. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Japanese Surrender]()
14th July 1945: A Japanese naval lieutenant, blood pouring from a head wound surrenders to the American army at Okinawa at the end of World War II. His surrender and that of many his countrymen followed a radio broadcast by a captured Japanese soldier, assuring others of his good treatment at the hands of the enemy. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Assault On Japan]()
8th June 1945: On the slope of a hill on Okinawa a marine gun crew take on Japanese pillboxes across the way. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Pinned Down]()
8th June 1945: A group of 6th Division Marines take cover behind a wall during their fight amid the wrecked homes and rubble of Naha, capital city of the Japanese island of Okinawa. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Last Photograph Of General Buckner]()
The last photograph of American Army Lieutenant general Simon Bolivar Buckner (1886 - 1945) commander of the Tenth Army and the overall invasion of Okinawa, June 1945. Buckner was killed on June 18 by Japanese artillery during a visit to observe the front line. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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![Funeral Service]()
5th June 1945: On the small island of Ie Shima (near Okinawa) in the Ryukyu archipelago an American Army chaplain leads a service over the graves of fallen Americans who had died while fighting the Japanese in World War Two. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Phosphorous Attack]()
31st May 1945: US Marines of the 1st Division wait on the crest of a hill in southern Okinawa, as they watch phosphorous shells explode over Japanese soldiers dug into the hills. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Tank Flamethrower]()
30 May 1945: A flame-throwing tank of the American Army 6th Marine Division lays down a barrage of fire on a hillside on Okinawa as the leathernecks mopped up the opposition on the road to Naha, capital of Okinanwa island, 300 miles south of Tokyo. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Ladders On Okinawa]()
30 May 1945: American infantrymen of the 77th Division of the 10th Army use spliced ladders to bridge a gulch on the road to the town of Shuri on the island of Okinawa. Despite the dogged Japanese resistance, the Americans are pressing relentlessly, overcoming all obstacles. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Okinawa Generals]()
28th May 1945: Us generals on a rocky ledge observe American troops advancing towards the town of Naha on the island of Okinawa, in the Ryukyu (Loochoo) archipelago, 375 miles (600km) south of Japan. L-R are: Lieut Gen Simon Buckner, commander of the 10th US Army, Maj Gen Lemuel Shepherd, commander of the 6th US Marine Division, and Brig Gen William Clement, assistant to Shepherd. The marines landed on Okinawa on 31st March 1945 and by late May controlled three quarters of the island and were just beginning to break the Japanese southern defensive line. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Anti-Sniper Operations, Okinawa]()
American soldiers use phosphorous and hand grenades to clear the jungle of Japanese snipers during the struggle for Okinawa Island, Japan, Spring 1945. The battle continued for two months and cost 12,000 American lives, 120,000 Japanese military dead, and 42,000 civilians. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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![Amphibious Assault]()
1945: American amphibious tanks and landing craft approach the beach at Aguni Jima, 30 miles west of Okinawa. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Battle For Okinawa]()
1945: American tanks and infantrymen advance under Japanese attack during the Battle for Okinawa. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Battle For Okinawa]()
1945: American Marines advance on trapped Japanese soldiers bombed during the Battle for Okinawa. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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![Guarding Beachhead]()
A US GI guarding a beachhead on the island of Okinawa during war in the Pacific. A dynamited coral reef blows up in the background, to provide a landing place for US supply ships. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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![WWII U.S. Okinawa]()
While moving up forward to the zone of combat on Okinawa on June 7, 1945, these men of the powerful U.S. Tenth Army relax as best they can while keeping their âeagle eyeâ peeled for any dangers from ahead. These men, like many others who have done so in the past, are getting prepared to teach the Nips a lesson they wonât be soon in forgetting. (AP Photo)
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![WWII U.S. MARINE SPOTTER PLANE]()
A U.S. Marine spotter plane flies an artillery control mission over the front lines on Okinawa, Japan on June 2, 1945 during World War II. Below, smoke rises from artillery and mortar fire on enemy strongpoints. (AP Photo/U.S. Marines Corps)
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![WWII U.S. MARINE WOUNDED]()
Medical corpsmen administers blood plasma to a wounded U.S. Marine on the battlefield overlooking Naha, capital of Okinawa, Ryukyu Island, Japan, on June 4, 1945 during World War II. Marines stay alert with rifles at right. In the background at left lies the body of a dead Marine. (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps)
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![World War II]()
During the Marines? all-out assault on Sugar Loaf hill of the outskirts of Naha, the Okinawa capital, June 3, 1945, almost impossible to evacuate the wounded by stretcher parties. Dressed into service and solved the problem by placing the flat portion to the rear of the turret. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, American fires a 30 Caliber water cooled machine-gun to protect advancing Marines in Okinawa, Japan on June 1, 1945. (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps)
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![WWII U.S. Okinawa]()
Hanging their âopen for businessâ sign at the entrance of a Yank designed tea room on Okinawa on June 2, 1945 are four American troops, left to right: HA1/c Walter E. OâNeill, 3459 West Adams St., Chicago, Ill.; PHM3/C David Casey Keating, 2729 North Crosby St., Philadelphia, Pa.; HA1/C Durard Fleming, Route 1, Hendersonville, N.C., and PHM3/C Tony L. Definis, 7252 Hegoman St., Philadelphia, Pa. all are members of a medical battalion. (AP Photo)
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![WWII U.S. Okinawa]()
Greeting comic sheets with smiles on Okinawa on June 2, 1945 in front lines are P1/SGT. John W. Splelse, left, Spartanberg, S.C., and CPL. A. Waddington, St. Louis, Mo. others in picture are not identified. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, a Marine of the Sixth Division stands in his foxhole observation post to check accuracy of rocket fire and relay data to station of rocket firing trucks on Okinawa on June 1, 1945. His partner checks position of trucks which keep moving to present a difficult target for Japanese. Smoke of American rockets lifts over horizon in background. (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps)
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![WWII BATTLE OF OKINAWA]()
In this image provided by the U.S. Marines, with the pilot visible, a U.S. Navy Chance-Vought F4U Corsair fighter plane is firing its load of rocket projectiles on the run against a Japanese stronghold on Okinawa island, in June 1945 during World War II. Battle smoke is seen rising up in the lower background, as U.S. Marine Corps ground forces follow up with the invasion. (AP Photo/U.S. Marines, David D. Duncan)
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![WWII KAMIKAZE CRASH OKINAWA]()
Seen from a U.S. carrier, a Japanese suicide bomber crashes into the sea as he is shot down by antiaircraft fire, off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, in June 1945. (AP Photo)
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![WWII BATTLE OF OKINAWA]()
U.S. Marines of the 1st Division head for the front lines on Okinawa, on May 21, 1945, during the U.S. invasion of the island in southwestern Japan. ( AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
American Medical Corps men treat an Okinawan civilian, who was badly wounded in the jaw and arms during the fighting of the Japanese island on May 20, 1945. The nativeâs wife supports him as he sits on a litter. He is wearing the Japanese army jungle shoes, with their characteristic separation for the big toe. (AP Photo/Pool)
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![WWII U.S. MARINES BLAST JAPANESE CAVE]()
A dynamite blast showers debris high into the air as the U.S. Marines demolition crew eliminates Japanese resistance in a cave on Okinawa on the Ryukyu Islands on May 21, 1945 during World War II. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, a First Marine Division machine gun crew on Okinawa watches while a flame-throwing tank, left, puts a Japanese pillbox out of action on May 19, 1945. The machine gunners had previously âspottedâ the position with their weapons. (AP Photo/U.S. Marine Corps)
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![WWII BATTLE OF OKINAWA]()
A Japanese suicide bomber goes down next to a U.S. Navy destroyer, during the Battle of Okinawa, on May 16, 1945. (AP Photo)
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![WWII U.S. BATTLE OF OKINAWA]()
An unknown U.S. Navy carrier in the background is attacked by salvos from a Japanese warship, while the flight deck crew aboard the U.S. carrier in the foreground rushes to launch their fighter planes, during a battle off Okinawa island, on May 16, 1945. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
First Division Marines advance past burning buildings in Naha, capital of Okinawa, in the fight to wrest the Ryukyu island from the Japanese on May 14, 1945. The building was set afire to dislodge Japanese snipers. (AP Photo)
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![World War II]()
Exploding in a bright ball of flame during its death dive, a Japanese kamikaze plane pays unintended tribute to the Marksmanship of Navy gunners in task force 58, May 14, 1945, aboard the U.S.S. hornet off Okinawa, the debris of the shattered plane plummets from the cloud into the pacific. Men of the hornet line the flight beck to watch in jubilant intensity as the Kamikaze disappears. The U.S.S. Bennington (center) was the intended target of the Jap. (AP Photo)
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![WWII U.S. Okinawa]()
While American cities were going wild on an unconfirmed report of Germanyâs unconditional surrender, American soldiers and marines were dying on Okinawa and showing checking of the identification of the dead on May 9, 1945, were being enacted. Resistance continues to be savage on this island in Japanâs front yard. (AP Photo/Sam Goldstein)
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![USS BUNKER HILL KAMIKAZE ATTACK]()
In the morning of May 11, 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, the USS Bunker Hill is heavily hit by two Japanese kamikaze planes off the coast of Kyushu, Japan. Several explosions took place and the ship suffered 372 dead and 264 injured. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Ryukyu Islands]()
Wrecked town and burning houses as 6th Marines advance on Motobu peninsula on Okinawa, Japan on April 26, 1945. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
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![WWII Ryukyu Islands]()
Scene of wrecked town with Japanese landing barges in foreground and cruiser firing in background at Okinawa, Japan on April 26, 1945. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
A U.S. soldier inspects a damaged Japanese fighter plane on the airfield at Okinawa, April 16, 1945. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
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![WWII Okinawa]()
U.S. Marines clean out cave on Okinawa, Japan on April 16, 1945. (AP Photo/Charles P. Gorry)
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![WWII BATTLE OF OKINAWA]()
Sitting on a tank, these U.S. infantrymen are seen on their way to take the town of Ghuta on Okinawa, on April 1, 1945. (AP Photo)
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![WWII Color]()
U.S. cruiser fires her main batteries at Japanese positions on the southern tip of Okinawa, Japan in 1945. (AP Photo)