Typhoon of Steel

The Battle of Okinawa, fought from April to June 1945, was the last and bloodiest major battle of World War II. Often called the “Typhoon of Steel,” it pitted American and Allied forces against Japanese troops in a brutal fight for control of the island. The Allies needed Okinawa as a staging area for a potential invasion of mainland Japan, and the Japanese were determined to make that cost as high as possible.

Over 180,000 Allied troops landed, and the fighting dragged on for nearly three months through dense forests, steep hills, and fortified caves. Mounted and portable flame throwers were required to neutralize Japanese troops who would not surrender, hiding in underground tunnels and caves. What made Okinawa especially tragic was the high number of civilian casualties—tens of thousands of local Okinawans were caught in the crossfire, some forced to fight or commit suicide by the Japanese military. In the end, more than 200,000 people died. The details of the battle are too horrific for me to recount here, but I do hope you will find some resources on the Internet that will give you some perspective on the horrors of this battle.

The battle’s horrifying scale helped convince U.S. leaders to use atomic bombs to avoid another invasion like this. Today, Okinawa is peaceful and lush, but reminders of that terrible chapter remain—monuments, museums, and solemn memorial parks all speak to the island’s painful past.

In every museum we have visited and every World War II monument we have seen, the dominant message is, “We who are alive today can never let a war like this occur again.”

The Japanese want peace.

Desperately.Read more