Garand picture of the day - Marines Okinawa June 1945

[Mark in Rochester]

Marine supplies the troops with all the necessary battle gear. Here he repairs a tommy gun in his gear-littered tent in Southern Okinawa. June 1945

[Mark in Rochester]

Chapter I
Operation ICEBERG
On 3 October 1944 American forces in the Pacific Ocean Areas received a directive to seize positions in the Ryukyu Islands (Nansei Shoto). Okinawa is the most important island of the Ryukyu Group, the threshold of the four main islands of Japan. The decision to invade the Ryukyus signalized the readiness of the United States to penetrate the inner ring of Japanese defenses. For the enemy, failure on Okinawa meant that he must prepare to resist an early invasion of the homeland or surrender.

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