 The upper four-fifths of Okinawa are already in our hands. The principal remaining Japanese strength of more than 50,000 troops has managed to stalemate both the 24th Army Corps and the Marine 3rd Amphibious Corps, which has arrived from the north to support them. From the capital city of Naha, the enemy defense line runs unbroken for four miles like a stone wall to the east coast. Along this line, Marine troops face the concentrated fire of Japanese artillery, which has been the most effective yet encountered in any Pacific operation. Volcanic outcroppings and coral knobs enable the enemy to withdraw from one fortified ridge to another. His tripside emplacements and observation points command most of the negotiable terrain, comprising a stubborn rat-hole defense system which must be posed and overcome point by point point of the enemy's defense line, the Garrison Village of Shuri, which is too heavily fortified for frontal assault. Justing for weeks, forced curtailment of our artillery action due to the difficulty in maintaining ammunition supply. Virtually all vehicular transport is bogged down by roads that are two to three feet deep in mud. As the rain continues, many organizations manage to maintain at least a minimum of supply by manhandling small units of food, ammunition and parts up to the forward area. And where there's no other means of supply, delivery is made by regular parachute airdrops. With the main road west of Shuri, severely damaged by shell fire, and apparently rendered impassable by weeks of rain, the Japanese have withdrawn most of their strength to the eastern side of Shuri that's what a possible flanking movement from that direction. However, a marine unit proceeding without heavy support through the ravines and gullies succeeds in breaking the lightly held western flank, opening the way for a successful reduction of the fortress. Fortification on Okinawa was Shuri Castle. This medieval structure with walls more than five feet thick with stood over 25 direct hits from our naval gunfire. The citadel with the keystone of the Shuri defense area, 120 acres of village and barracks installation which were totally destroyed. Outflanked and almost encircled, many of the garrison had been evacuated, leaving a skeleton force which was completely wiped out. With the fall of this garrison, the eastern flank of Nahar is exposed and the main Japanese defense line begins to crumble into pockets. Simultaneous with the solvents Shuri, we were pushing the attack against the western anchor of the enemy defense line, the sea and airport city of Nahar. What was soon to develop into a drawn-out siege opens with intense bombardment of the approaches to the city. Within the city proper, our troops advance to secure positions within the suburbs and on the outskirts of the capital. We are denied entry into the downtown districts by the mudflats of the Isato River and the effective observation and fire of the Japanese artillery, P and battery positions, as well as troop concentrations, aids in making untenable the high ground commanding Nahar from which the enemy is directing his defense of the city. Troops fight their way through the suburban perimeter of the island capital. With the elimination of Japanese observation points, the mudflats of the Isato River, the only other barrier, are bridged and our advance units enter the downtown area of Nahar, but relatively ineffectual remnants of the garrison that had successfully stopped our advance for more than a month. Falling to our troops at the same time as Shuri, it is the largest city ever taken by the Marine Corps. And with its capture, the enemy's cross-island defense line has ceased to exist. To the south of Nahar, clearing weather permits an early morning amphibious landing on the Oroku Peninsula behind the enemy lines. Here is contained a large pocket of Japanese controlling the strategic Nahar airfield, the largest and best air installation on Okinawa. Making a surprise landing from these LVTs, the Marine Amphibious Force quickly exploits its beachhead against initially light opposition, directed at securing the high ground approaching and overlooking the airfield, making overland from Nahar south across the neck of Oroku, as sealed off all enemy escape quarters from the peninsula, Okinawa, and forces Japanese aviation to operate from other islands in the Ryukyu's. The southern tip of the island now becomes the assigned objective of the third amphibious corps. Here, south of Nahar, our advance is confronted by fairly flat open terrain, not easily defensible by the Japanese, whose resistance area is being compressed down to 15 square miles. The interim command of the entire 10th Army is assumed by Marine General Roy S. Geiger, two months of fighting to hold Okinawa. The enemy now occupies only seven of the entire 921 square miles. And although individual units put up desperate opposition, almost all organized resistance is at an end. The Cub Plains of Airly Azon are utilized to transport wounded from the forward zones to rear area medical facilities. At a time of 10 minutes, this air evacuation service enables frontline casualties to be treated at Division Field Hospital within an hour and a half from the time they are picked up by Navy Corpsman, has developed into a sporadic but difficult mopping up action. Many Japanese soldiers like these prefer to commit suicide rather than surrender to help mop up stubborn resistance in areas that were bypassed. These enemy units are often located in caves and mountain galleries, which are accessible only to firebombs. To be covered as too large for a small patrol to investigate quickly and safely, a flamethrowing tank is employed to mop up enemy holdouts. Personnel are captured during the last phase of the operation. Subcontinues, swelling the total of combatant prisoners to close to 8,000, a record number for a Pacific operation. Of the entire Japanese garrison of 100,000 troops, at least 90,000 were killed. The vast majority of these prisoners did not give up until the action was almost over. And then only when they had exhausted every possible means of resistance. After more than 80 days of continuous fighting, the island of Okinawa is completely in the hands of the 10th Army. The Marine 3rd Amphibious Corps has completed its mission in the operation. An operation that has given the American forces a vital sea and air base in the East China Sea. A base that planks the enemy's supply route to the South, and one that is only 400 miles from the mainland nerve center of the Japanese Empire.