The Battle of Okinawa killed as many people as both atomic bombings combined

Evidence

Little remembered in the United States, the three-month battle was the Pacific war’s largest and deadliest. American strategists wanted to capture Okinawa for use as the main launching point for an invasion of Japan, while the Japanese military hoped to bog down the Americans on Okinawa for as long as possible to build up the main islands’ defenses and negotiate an advantageous end to the war. U.S and allied naval vessels bombarded Okinawa with around forty thousand shells in what became known as the “typhoon of steel.” Between 100,000 and 140,000 Okinawans—one quarter to one third of Okinawa’s population—likely died during the fighting. Warned by Japanese leaders about savage American soldiers, some committed suicide by throwing themselves off the jagged cliffs along the coast. Others used hand grenades provided by Japanese troops. Some were forced to kill family members. A total of 1,202 cases of forced mass suicide have been documented. Including the 12,520 U.S. troops and the more than 90,000 Japanese troops and Okinawan conscripts killed in action, as many people may have died during the Battle of Okinawa as in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 839

Categorization

• DEFINE: “Typhoon of steel” term explained in passing.