Listen to Bill O’Reilly in the clip below as he talks about the famous battle for Okinawa that, in part, convinced then-President Harry Truman to drop the Atom Bomb. The purpose of doing so was to end the war and save lives. The Japanese Kamikaze were willing to die before surrendering, and they were killing a lot of Americans.
Transcript follows.
Transcript
“Well, 81 years ago today, the Armed Forces of the United States defeated the Empire of Japan on the island of Okinawa. The crucial victory accelerated the allies’ advance towards Tokyo.
“And here is the story: Okinawa, a narrow territory between the Japanese homeland and Taiwan, was critical for the American invasion. The Japanese knew they could not repel the Allied landings on the island’s beach. Instead, they conceded the northern half, creating an elaborate interlocking network of caves, tunnels, and fortified ridges on higher ground. On April 1 1945, US Marines arrived in Okinawa.
“For the next two months, they fought for every inch of terrain. Battles took place on the ocean, airfields, dense forests, rugged mountains.
“At sea, the US fleet faced the largest coordinated kamikaze attacks of the war, nearly 2000 suicide pilots sank 36 allied ships and damaged hundreds more, making it the costliest naval campaign in US history. On June 23, the Americans finally vanquished the Japanese.
“The casualty count on both sides was staggering: 12,000 US soldiers killed, 120,000 Japanese died in combat, 120,000 another 150,000 civilians perished. But few know what happened to them. In total, more than 100,000 Americans died in the Pacific theater of World War Two.
“The sheer brutality heavily influenced President Truman’s decision to drop the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And here’s something else you might not know. The Americans controlled Okinawa for decades. The territory was returned to Japan in May 1972 as a gesture of peace and goodwill between the two nations. Today, Okinawa is a thriving place. The island is home to tropical beaches, wealthy tourists, and a booming high-tech economy, but the American military does retain a presence there. Hello, China.”
