Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill
On May 12, 1945, the 6th Marine Division was nearing Naha, capital of Okinawa. To the division's front lay a low, loaf-shaped hill. It looked no different from other hills seized with relative ease over the past few days. But this hill, soon to be dubbed, Sugar Loaf, was very different indeed. Part of a complex of three hills, Sugar Loaf formed the western anchor of General Mitsuru Ushijima's Shuri Line, which stretched from coast to coast across the island. Sugar Loaf was critical to the defense of that line, preventing U.S. forces from turbaning the Japanese flank. Over the next week, the Marines made repeated attacks on the hill losing thousands of men to death, wounds, and combat fatigue. Not until May 18 was Sugar Loaf finally seized. Two days later, the Japanese mounted a battalion-sized counterattack in an effort to regain their lost position, but the Marines held.

Ironically, these losses may not have been necessary. General Lemuel Shepherd, Jr., had argued for an amphibious assault to the rear of the Japanese defense line, but his proposal was rejected by U.S. Tenth Army Commander General Simon Bolivar Buckner. That refusal led to a controversy that has continued to this day.

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Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill
On May 12, 1945, the 6th Marine Division was nearing Naha, capital of Okinawa. To the division's front lay a low, loaf-shaped hill. It looked no different from other hills seized with relative ease over the past few days. But this hill, soon to be dubbed, Sugar Loaf, was very different indeed. Part of a complex of three hills, Sugar Loaf formed the western anchor of General Mitsuru Ushijima's Shuri Line, which stretched from coast to coast across the island. Sugar Loaf was critical to the defense of that line, preventing U.S. forces from turbaning the Japanese flank. Over the next week, the Marines made repeated attacks on the hill losing thousands of men to death, wounds, and combat fatigue. Not until May 18 was Sugar Loaf finally seized. Two days later, the Japanese mounted a battalion-sized counterattack in an effort to regain their lost position, but the Marines held.

Ironically, these losses may not have been necessary. General Lemuel Shepherd, Jr., had argued for an amphibious assault to the rear of the Japanese defense line, but his proposal was rejected by U.S. Tenth Army Commander General Simon Bolivar Buckner. That refusal led to a controversy that has continued to this day.

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Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

by James H. Hallas
Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

by James H. Hallas

Hardcover

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Overview

On May 12, 1945, the 6th Marine Division was nearing Naha, capital of Okinawa. To the division's front lay a low, loaf-shaped hill. It looked no different from other hills seized with relative ease over the past few days. But this hill, soon to be dubbed, Sugar Loaf, was very different indeed. Part of a complex of three hills, Sugar Loaf formed the western anchor of General Mitsuru Ushijima's Shuri Line, which stretched from coast to coast across the island. Sugar Loaf was critical to the defense of that line, preventing U.S. forces from turbaning the Japanese flank. Over the next week, the Marines made repeated attacks on the hill losing thousands of men to death, wounds, and combat fatigue. Not until May 18 was Sugar Loaf finally seized. Two days later, the Japanese mounted a battalion-sized counterattack in an effort to regain their lost position, but the Marines held.

Ironically, these losses may not have been necessary. General Lemuel Shepherd, Jr., had argued for an amphibious assault to the rear of the Japanese defense line, but his proposal was rejected by U.S. Tenth Army Commander General Simon Bolivar Buckner. That refusal led to a controversy that has continued to this day.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780275947262
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 03/11/1996
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)
Age Range: 1 Year

About the Author

JAMES H. HALLAS is publisher of the Glastonbury Citizen, a newspaper in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He has published articles in American History Illustrated and Yankee Magazine. He has written two books, Squandered Victory: The American First Army at St. Mihiel (Praeger, 1995) and Devil's Anvil: The Assault on Peleliu (Praeger, 1994).

Table of Contents

Preface
The Reason Why
The Marines Head South
George Company Meets Sugar Loaf
The Push Continues
Night Attack
Counterattack
On the Line
The Bitterest Day
A Hard Day for Easy
Sugar Loaf Falls
Enter the 4th
Bitter Victory
Forgotten Warriors
Sources

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