Episode 189: 10th Army Invasion of Okinawa

By mid July, 1945 the U.S. 10th Army began to move quickly in an attempt to take down the last pocket of the Japanese resistance on the Southern part of the Island. The pace and diligence of the U.S. military scared many soldiers in the Japanese resistance. This lead to many of them committing suicide instead of honorably surrendering.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to World War Two Chronicles aweekly tribute to Americas fighting men and women
in commemoration of the Second World War. These programs are narrated by Ed Hurlahy
and are based on the news broadcastsof the war period from the recorded sound
collection of the National Archives in Washington, d C. With muddy, rainy

(00:30):
conditions on the island of Okinawa theweek of July tenth, nineteen forty five,
General Joe Stilwell's US tenth Army surgedforward. Stilwell took command after General
Simon Bolivar Buckner was killed in combat. Sadly, Buckner never got to see
victory only days away. Continued rainon Okinawa transforms the dusty terrain into soupy,

(00:53):
sticky mutt. Men and vehicles fightdoggedly to deliver armor and supplies to
the front lines where their comrades arebattling fiercely to wipe out the last remnants
of fanatic Jeff detachments who are benton suicide rather than honorable surrender. Artillery
flamethrowers, automatic rifles, grenades,and demolition charges pundled the enemy. After

(01:19):
the artillery, the troops take over, driving Jeff snipers from their caves in
the hills. Many Native Okanamans werediscovered in hiding, and collaborationists who thrived
and captured American supplies were weeded outfrom the native population. Captured American cigarettes
are found on civilians, proving theycollaborated with our enemies in tournament. Is

(01:42):
their reward. Although reluctantly, Japanesesoldiers began to stream into a prisoner stockade
where they received gi chow and medicalattention, not exactly what they expected.
Most propaganda told these men that Americanswould torture and kill them, but they
surrendered to a just full by realizingthe hopelessness of their position and disregarding the

(02:07):
admonitions of their emperor, they continueto live, and by laying down their
arms, spared the lives of couplessAmerica. I'm in hurli, He joined
me next time for World War TwoChronicles. World War Two Chronicles was produced
by the American Veterans Center and RadioAmerica in cooperation with the National Archives.

(02:31):
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