On April 1, 1945, after losing 116 planes and damaging three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops, led by Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., landed on the southwest coast of Okinawa, a Japanese island located 350 miles south of Kyushu, Japan’s southern main island. The goal was to capture Okinawa as a base for future military operations against mainland Japan. Over 1,300 ships gathered to support the landing, successfully bringing the troops ashore. The Americans quickly took control of two airfields and moved inland to cut across the island. They faced fierce resistance from around 120,000 Japanese soldiers, militia, and labor troops commanded by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima.
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