Though it has been discussed here previously a conversation with friends and some younger uninformed 21st century "peacelovers" ranted that the atomic bomb should not have been used on Japan. These "exact" figures which I did not have at that time (the figures I quoted then were less than the actual) were emailed to them as requested to support my statement. I thought I would not waste them and have posted them here. To take the Japanese mainland, Allied military casualties, based on Okinawa were assessed at over one million. The continued incendiary radar bombing of Japanese cities would have killed 10 times more Japanese civilians alone than those who died immediately and post August 1945. This inceniary bombing would have also meant the devastion of every city of any sizeable proportion. Then there would have been the Soviet invasion however that it is another story. Yes, I still say the atomic bomb saved Japanese lives! The price paid for Okinawa was dear. The final toll of American casualties was the highest experienced in any campaign against the Japanese. Total American battle casualties were 49,151, of which 12,520 were killed or missing and 36,631 wounded. Army losses were 4,582 killed, 93 missing, and 18,066 wounded; Marine losses, including those of the Tactical Air Force, were 2,938 killed and missing and 13,708 wounded; Navy casualties totaled 4,907 killed and missing and 4,824 wounded. Nonbattle casualties during the campaign amounted to 15,613 for the Army and 10,598 for the Marines. The losses in ships were 36 sunk and 368 damaged, most of them as a result of air action. Losses in the air were 763 planes from 1 April to 1 July.The high cost of the victory was due to the fact that the battle had been fought against a capably led Japanese army of greater strength than anticipated, over difficult terrain heavily and expertly fortified, and thousands of miles from home. The campaign had lasted considerably longer than was expected. But Americans had demonstrated again on Okinawa that they could, ultimately, wrest from the Japanese whatever ground they wanted.The cost of the battle to the Japanese was even higher than to the Americans. Approximately 110,000 of the enemy lost their lives in the attempt to hold Okinawa, and 7,400 more were taken prisoners. The enemy lost 7,800 airplanes, 16 ships sunk, and 4 ships damaged. More important, the Japanese lost 640 square miles of territory within 350 miles of Kyushu.The military value of Okinawa exceeded all hope. It was sufficiently large to mount great numbers of troops; it provided numerous airfield sites close to the enemy's homeland; and it furnished fleet anchorage helping the Navy to keep in action at Japan's doors. As soon as the fighting ended, American forces on Okinawa set themselves to preparing for the battles on the main islands of Japan, their thoughts sober as they remembered the bitter bloodshed behind and also envisioned an even more desperate struggle to come.The sequel to Okinawa, however, was contrary to all expectation. In the midst of feverish preparations on the island in August 1945, with the day for the assault on Kyushu drawing near, there came the almost unbelievable and joyous news that the war was over. The battle of Okinawa was the last of World War II.
I am in complete agreement with Spidge on this. There is no way that an invasion of Japan would be anything but costly in terms of Human Life, and on both sides. Those figures are startling Spidge, especially the number of Japanese aircraft lost.
The figures certainly are startling. I would also agree with spidge and say that overall the atomic bombs saved lives (both Allied and Japanese).
We'll probably never know how many Japanese perished on Okinawa. Estimates range from 80,000 to 110,000. What is known is that Lt. Gen. Ushijima's entire 32nd Army was destroyed. Ironically, Okinawa witnessed the first Japanese surrender of any size of the entire war. Just as terrible were the number of Okinawans killed - an estimated 80,000 to 100,000, most of them civilians. So the death toll was about 200,000, a mere preview of what was to come in an invasion of the Japanese home islands. The opinions of the men facing that invasion is perhaps best expressed by one American infantryman who said, "Thank God for the atomic bomb." JT
I omitted to enter that two US Generals were killed on successive days on Okinawa and the best known war correspondent of the Pacific war, Ernie Pyle died from a Japanese machine gun bullet to the temple. Among those killed was Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, commanding general 10th army. Early in the afternoon of 18 June, General Buckner stopped at a forward observation post of the 8th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, near the southwest tip of Okinawa. While General Buckner watched the progress of the fighting, at 1315, a shell from a Japanese dual purpose gun exploded directly above the observation post. A fragment of coral, broken off by the explosion, struck General Buckner in the chest. He collapsed immediately and died ten minutes later. Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger, senior commander on Okinawa, assumed command of Tenth Army. He was succeeded on 23 June by Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. Brig. General. Claudius M. Easley, assistant commander of the 96th Division, was killed the day after General Buckner's death. General Easley, known by all as a front-line soldier, was pointing out the location of a machine gun when two bullets from the gun struck him in the forehead. The lives of these two generals were added to more than 7,000 others of the Tenth Army as part of the cost of victory on Okinawa.
SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, JR. General, USA General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., graduated from West Point in 1908 and was commissioned in the Infantry. He served as an instructor at Fort Benning and at the Command and General Staff School-from which he graduated in 1925 as a distinguished student. Later duties included service as an instructor, Assistant Commandant, and Commandant of West Point. In the early days of World War II General Buckner directed operations against Japanese forces on the Aleutian Islands and subsequently converted those islands into an invasion-proof stronghold. In 1945 General Buckner was given command of the newly-formed Tenth U.S. Army and with it the task of invading and neutralizing Okinawa. During the fighting he repeatedly exposed himself to danger by touring the frontlines to encourage his men. His dogged determination for triumph prompted the men to nickname him "The Bull." Four days prior to the victory he sought LTG Buckner was mortally wounded while directing his forces from an advanced observation post. He was the highest ranking officer to lose his life in the Pacific Theatre. In 1954 Congress posthumously promoted him to the rank of General. Service at Fort Leavenworth 1924-28.
Claudius Miller Easley Brigadier General, United States Army Courtesy of Robert Aylward - December 1998 and the United States Army Maarkmanship Unit Claudius Miller ("Speck") Easley was born at Thorp Spring, Texas, on July 11, 1891, the eldest son of Claudia Miller and Alexander Campbell Easley. At the age of four he moved with his family to Waco, Texas, where he grew up and was graduated from Waco High School in 1911. While in highschool he enlisted in the Texas National Guard and began a career in rifle-marksmanship by competing in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1910. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on his 21st birthday. He worked his way through the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, and was graduated in 1916 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering. Upon graduation he went at once into active service with the Texas National Guard on the Mexican border until he was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1917. It was while serving on the border that he met his future wife, Inez Wickline of Woodville, Texas. They were married in 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri, and had one son, Claudius M. Easley, Jr. Inez Wickline Easley was born at Village Mills, Texas on November 14, 1895, the younger daughter of Annie Vilular Collier and Henry Hutchinson Wickline. Soon after her birth her family moved to nearby Woodville where she grew up, was graduated from Tyler County High School, earned her State Teaching Certificate, and taught in the high school. She also worked in her father’s bank. Between World Wars I and II, General Easley was a member of the first Basic Class of the newly established Infantry School in 1919 and, over the years, also was graduated from the Advanced Course of the Infantry School, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. He served with the 37th U.S. Infantry Regiment on the Mexican border and at Fort Wayne, Michigan, the 31st in Manila, Philippine Islands, the 4th at Fort George Wright, Washington, and the 30th at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. He was an instructor in the Weapons Section of the Infantry School 1930-1934, commander of the Los Angeles District of the Civilian Conservation Corps 1936-1938, and captain of the Infantry Rifle and Pistol Teams in 1937, ‘38, and ‘39. He had one tour of duty on the War Department General Staff 1940-1942. Soon after the United States’ entry into World War II, General Easley took command of the 325th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Infantry Division. He left that unit to become the Assistant Division Commander of the 96th Infantry Division at the time of its activation in August, 1942, at Camp Adair, Oregon. The division gained the connotation of the "Deadeyes" because of the high level of marksmanship it achieved through the training directed by General Easley. Meanwhile, Mrs. Easley was contributing many hours per week as a Red Cross volunteer and in canteens where she helped with refreshments and played the piano for songfests. General Easley went overseas to the Pacific Theater of Operations with the division in the summer of 1944, and Mrs. Easley returned to her permanent residence in Washington, D.C. "For Exceptionally meritorious conduct" General Easley was awarded the Legion of Merit at the close of the Leyte campaign during which he had been wounded by sniper fire and awarded the Purple Heart. On May 8, 1945, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Okinawa Island. On June 19, 1945, he was killed in action while directing fire on the last enemy positions on the island. Reburial services were held in Arlington National Cemetery on February 23, 1949. On April 21, 1946, his college awarded General Easley, posthumously, the degree of Doctor of Laws. Mrs. Easley went to College Station to receive the degree which was presented by General of the Army Eisenhower. On March 26, 1951, the Infantry School named EASLEY RANGE in honor of General Easley’s contributions to the development and improvement of small arms marksmanship. Inez Easley died on June 24, 1979, in Washington, D.C., and was laid to rest beside her husband. Brigadier General Claudius Easley showing the correct form. He gave the 96th Division its name, "the Deadeyes." He was later killed in the battle of Okinawa. Photo courtesty of Benton County Historical Society & Museum. Picture contributed by a member of the divison, Don Dencker Photo courtesy of Russell C. Jacobs, March 2006 Updated: 18 November 2000 Updated: 1 December 2001 Updated: 5 March 2003 Updated: 27 April 2004 Updated: 26 March 2006 Updated: 5 May 2006
The Battle of Okinawa was notable as the convergence point of the two theaters of operations in the Pacific - the Southwest under Gen. MacArthur and the Central under Adm. Nimitz. Gen. Buckner's Tenth Army landed two marine and two army divisions on the west-central beaches, while another marine division, the Second, demonstrated on the southeast coast (which proved a futile exercise as the Japanese did not contest the landings). Unlike the Saipan operation, army-marine relations at the command level on Okinawa were smooth and cooperative. Gen. Buckner and his senior marine commander, Maj. Gen. Roy Geiger, respected each other's abilities. Both were "front-line" generals Gen. Buckner's father was a well-known Civil War commander (CSA). Wasn't Gen. Geiger the first marine to command an American army? JT
