USS Cassin Young DD-793 - Battle of Okinawa: 1 April – 22 June 1945
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead.
The commanding generals on both sides died in the course of this battle: American general Simon B. Buckner by artillery fire, Japanese general Ushijima Mitsuru by suicide.
Other U.S. losses in ground combat included 7,374 killed, 31,807 wounded, and 239 missing in action. The navy suffered 4,907 killed or missing aboard 34 ships sunk and 368 damaged; 763 aircraft were lost. At sea and in the air, the Japanese expended roughly 2,800 aircraft, plus a battleship, a light cruiser, and four destroyers, with losses that can be estimated at upwards of 10,000.
Buckner Bay - Nakagusuku Bay is a bay on the southern coast…
American soldiers nicknamed the bay Buckner Bay, after General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. The bay covers 220 square kilometers (85 Sq mi) and ranges between 10 meters (33 ft.) to 15 meters (49 ft.) deep.
Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. - He was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to have been lost to enemy fire during World War II.
