The Pacific War – 1941-1945

By Louis G. Caporale - Originally Published November 1985

WAR'S END

At 0558 on 30 August 1945, the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines under Maj Frank Carney began landing at Futtsu Saki, across the harbor from the Yokosuka Navy Yard. The battalion had the honor of being the first Allied combat unit to land in Japan. The long desired Pacific victory landing was underway. The 3d Fleet's Task Force 31 continued to pour ashore its 8,800-man landing force throughout the day at Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo. BGen William T. Clement, who had served with the Asiatic Fleet and was ordered out of Corregidor in early 1942, was the landing force commander. The bulk of the landing force was the reinforced 4th Marines under LtCol Fred D. Beans. It was the old 4th Marines that fell to the Japanese at Corregidor on 7 May 1942. The regiment was now being vindicated by the reconstituted 4th, reorganized in February 1944 from men of the four deactivated Raider battalions. Also included in the landing force were 2,000 Marines from ship detachments of 33 3d Fleet ships under LtCol William T. Lantz, 1,960 bluejackets, and 450 British Royal Marines and seamen. The Japanese cooperated fully to make the occupation peaceful and by mid-morning the American flag was in full view at Yokosuka.

Geiger First in Tokyo

On 1 September, LtGen Roy S. Geiger, commanding general, Fleet Marine Force Pacific (CG, FMFPac), who had joined the Pacific War three years earlier at Guadalcanal, was the first of the Allied brass to enter Tokyo. He undertook a solo journey to the emperor's palace a day before the signing of formal surrender terms, thereby winning a $100 bet made earlier in the war with RAdm Richard L. Conolly and an Army general on who would be first to enter the Japanese capital.

Japanese Surrender

The formal signing of the instrument of surrender took place aboard battleship Missouri, the flagship of Adm William F. Halsey's 3d Fleet but now temporarily flying the five-star flag of the Pacific Fleet commander, Fleet Adm Chester W. Nimitz. Observing the historic signing, from under the number two gun turret, was a delegation of general officers that included three Marines, Geiger, Clement, and BGen Joseph H. Fellows of Nimitz' staff. In a ceremonial honor guard role was Missouri's Marine Ship Detachment commanded by Capt John W. Kelly. When Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender terms at 0904 on Sunday 2 September 1945, World War II was over-having sustained for 1,364 days, 5 hours, and 44 minutes from the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Occupation Continues

Marine aviation joined the Yokosuka occupation when Marine Air Group 31 (MAG-31) under Col John Munn arrived from Okinawa. Marines in large numbers became a part of the occupation when V Amphibious Corps (V AC), under MajGen Harry K. Schmidt, began landing at Sasebo Naval Base on Kyushu on 22 September. Comprising V AC were the 2d Marine Division (2d MarDiv) (MajGen LeRoy P. Hunt), 5th MarDiv (MajGen Thomas E. Bourke), and MAG-22 (Col Daniel W. Torrey, Jr.) Like the Yokosuka occupation, the Japanese were cooperative and tranquil on Kyushu. V AC ended its service with the 6th Army on Kyushu in January 1946, but 2d MarDiv remained until June of that year. The major Marine Corps presence remaining today in Japan proper is the Marine Corps Air Station at Iwakuni, homebase for MAGs-12 and -15 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW).

North China Occupation

While V AC enjoyed a relatively easy occupational role in Japan, MajGen Keller E. Rockey's III Amphibious Corps' (III AC) victory occupation into North China was not so serene. Starting on 30 September 1945, III AC went ashore, establishing headquarters at Tientsin, with major units including 1st MarDiv (MajGen DeWitt Peck) at Tientsin and Peiping, 6th MarDiv (MajGen Lemuel C. Shepherd) at Tsingtao, and 1st MAW (MajGen Claude E. Larkin) with units at all three locations. The disarming and repatriation of almost 100,000 Japanese troops did not prove to be a big problem, but carrying out the politically desired assignment of countering the threatening presence of the Communist Chinese Eighth Route Army was a very risky affair that cost the Marines 43 combat casualties, including 10 deaths.

Wake Island Return

A very satisfying victory occupation came on 4 September 1945 at the scene of the Marines' first historic defense in the war-Wake Island. Col Walter Bayler, who was the last man to leave Wake before its fall, had the honor of being the first to return. He then witnessed the surrender of the 1,200-man Japanese garrison to BGen Lawson Sanderson (CG, 4th MAW).

A RECAPITULATION

Forty-five months before the triumphant victory occupation in Japan, U.S. Marines were first to be under attack by the Japanese in the surprise raid on Oahu, 7 December 1941. The Japanese launched 321 attacking aircraft from 6 carriers, starting at 0600, from a position 200 miles north of Pearl Harbor. The Ewa airfield, then homebase for MAG-21, heard the whine of attacking dive bombers and sounds of machinegun fire two minutes before Pearl Harbor was struck. Thirty-three MAG-21 aircraft were demolished, 12 badly damaged, and the remaining 2 less damaged during the 30-minute raid.

Hardest hit of the 4,500 Oahu-based Marines were the 877 serving aboard ships. This group suffered 102 of the 111 Marine deaths and 49 of the 75 Marine wounded. The Marine detachment aboard Arizona suffered the majority of the Marine casualties. Maj Alan Shapley was thrown 100 feet from the foremast into the water. He survived to serve as a Marine Raider battalion and regimental commander in the Solomons, and later commanded the revived 4th Marines in the Guam and Okinawa campaigns.

Later in the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, at 2135, 2 Japanese destroyers began bombarding Midway, located 1,136 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor. Nineteen Marines were wounded and four killed, including 1stLt George Cannon, commander of Battery H, 6th Defense Battalion. Lt Cannon, though severely wounded, refused evacuation until the communications center was reestablished and his wounded men cared for. He died that night from excessive blood loss. Cannon became the Corps' first Medal of Honor recipient of the war.

On 10 December 1941, 6,000 Japanese troops landed on Guam and with only 153 Marines present, the island governor ordered a surrender.

Wake Island

Wake Island, 2,302 miles west of Hawaii, defended by 447 Marines, proved to be a very difficult and costly conquest for the Japanese. During the naval attack of 11 December the defending 1st Defense Battalion (1st DefBn), Wake Detachment, destroyed the first enemy surface vessel of the war by American forces when the destroyer Hayate was sunk by 5-inch guns. Later in the day, Capt Henry Elrod of Marine Fighter Squadron 211 (VMF-211), flying a F4F Grumman Wildcat, sunk another destroyer, the Kisaragi, and 2dLt David V. Kliewer sank a submarine. The invasion force was withdrawn to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. Elrod died later on 23 December fighting on the ground. He became the first Marine aviator in the war to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Before the fighting was over, the Japanese also had 1 cruiser badly damaged; 2 light cruisers, 2 destroyers, and a transport ship damaged; 21 aircraft destroyed and 51 damaged; and some 700 men killed in action.

The last 2 F4F Grummans took to the air on 22 December, and typical of Marine pilots at Wake, Capt Herbert C. Freuler and Lt Carl L. Davidson attacked a formation of 39 Japanese aircraft, which included 6 of the then new Zero fighters. Freuler downed two of the Zeros before being severely wounded. He crash landed, but survived. Davidson was last seen attacking a formation of 33 bombers and failed to return.

Following continued Japanese raids and naval bombardments, the Maizuru 2d Special Naval Landing Force with 1,000 men succeeded in landing in force on 23 December, and after 11 hours of fighting, the island commander ordered a surrender. The 1st DefBn, Wake Detachment, under Maj James P. S. Devereux, was the first unit to receive the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) in the war.

Philippine Defense

The understrength 4th Marines (772 men) arrived at Cavite Naval Base on Luzon in the Philippines from China on 1 December 1941. On 24 December the 4th Marines were released from Asiatic Fleet control to serve with the Army at Bataan and Corregidor. The 1st Separate Battalion with its 755 men was added to the 4th Marines on 26 December. Despite gallant efforts by American and Filipino forces, Bataan fell and a surrender of all Allied forces in the Philippines took place. 4th Marines commander, Col Samuel Howard, had the regimental colors burned. Some 330 of the regiment were killed and 357 wounded in action; 239 later died in prisoner of war camps.

Marine Raiders

Presidential interest in commando units, again due to the influence of European War developments, caused a very reluctant Marine Corps decision in January 1942 to form such units. Four Marine Raider battalions were formed in 1942, prepared to carry out primarily commando-type raiding actions. All four battalions served in the South Pacific. Two companies served at Midway and two companies carried out a raid on Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands in August 1942. But most of the Raider involvement was in amphibious landings and jungle fighting along with regular Marine and Army units in the Solomon Islands, August 1942-January 1944. The Corps always believed that any of its infantry units could carry out raiding actions and did not see a need for an elite organization within an already elite force. By 1 February 1944 all Marine Raider units were deactivated.

The First Offensive

The person most responsible for the start of an Allied offensive against the Japanese was Adm Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations. As early as February 1942, following an American and British military chiefs' decision to beat Germany first, and carry out a defensive strategy in the Pacific, King began efforts to influence President Roosevelt to bring about a Pacific offensive. King realized that the Pacific had a much greater potential as a naval theater of operations than Europe. Following the Japanese seizure of Tulagi, at the southern end of the Solomons in early May 1942, King overcame the Army Chief of Staff Gen George C. Marshall's resistance, and gained a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) directive on 2 July 1942 for the capture of Tulagi and the large nearby island of Guadalcanal. On 5 July reconnaissance reported an airfield under construction on Guadalcanal, leading to a decision for early August landings on the two islands.

The Guadalcanal campaign was America's first wartime combat amphibious operation since the Spanish-American War. The landings on 7 August 1942 caught the Japanese by surprise, but a six- month campaign did develop. The 1st MarDiv (Rein) under MajGen Alexander A. Vandegrift overcame a fanatical fighting opponent, almost 6,000 cases of malaria; an abandonment of the landing force by the Navy; and critical shortages of essential materials, supplies, weapons, reserve forces, and defending aircraft. A turning point in the campaign was reached by mid-November 1942, following the complete failure of Japanese counteroffensives and the dramatic success of the South Pacific Force in stopping a powerful Japanese naval force that was determined to gain air and sea control and land major reinforcements, equipment, and supplies. Victory was assured by the time the 1st MarDiv turned command over to the Army on 9 December 1942. The 2d MarDiv and Marine air units continued to serve with XIV Army Corps until Guadalcanal was declared secured on 7 February 1942. Marines suffered two-thirds of the 5,900 Allied casualties. The Japanese total of 14,800 killed or missing was approximately 9 times that of American combat deaths.

Eleven Marines won the Medal of Honor for the Guadalcanal campaign, including Vandegrift, who later became the Corps' 18th Commandant on 1 January 1944. Vandegrift was given his Medal of Honor on 4 February 1943 in a surprise presentation by President Roosevelt at the White House. The Guadalcanal leader was cited for his tenacity, courage, resourcefulness, and constant risk of life in his leadership role during the campaign. The 1st Mar-Div (Rein) and 1st MAW (MajGen Roy S. Geiger) were awarded PUCs for their heroic performances in making the Allies' first offensive of World War II successful.

Marine Air in the Spotlight

South Pacific action in 1942-44 put Marine aviation in the spotlight. Of the 2,520 Japanese planes downed in the South Pacific by the Allies, Marine air (1st and 2d MAWs) downed 1,520 or 64 percent of the total (2,355) downed by Marines for the entire war. Marine pilots like Gregory Boyington, Joe Foss, Robert M. Hanson, Ken Walsh, Donald Aldrich, John L. Smith, Marion E. Carl, and Wilbur J. Thomas, the Corps' top aces of the war, accounted for 176 aircraft downed, rightfully gained attention and recognition for their South Pacific performances. Most of the Corps' leading air aces for the war, and two-thirds of the 58 Marine squadrons that shot down Japanese aircraft, either gained most or all of their accomplishments in the Solomon Islands. In addition, 9 of the 11 Marine aviators who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in aerial combat in World War II, gained this highest honor in the Solomons.

Bougainville

On 9 July 1943, Vandegrift replaced MajGen Clayton B. Vogel as commanding general of 1st Marine Amphibious Corps (I MAC) at Noumea, New Caledonia, and two days later Adm Halsey announced his decision for I MAC to become a tactical command. On this date I MAC was directed by Halsey to begin planning for the Treasury Island-Bougainville operation.

The Northern Solomons operation started on 27 October 1943 in the Treasury Islands, and the main landing by the 3d MarDiv (MajGen Alien H. Turnage) at Empress Augusta Bay on the west central side of the island began on 1 November. The 1st Parachute Regiment (LtCol Alan Shapley) later reinforced by 37th Infantry Division, also served under I MAC command until it was turned over to XIV Army Corps on 15 December. MajGen Roy S. Geiger relieved Vandegrift as I MAC commander on 9 November, as Vandegrift was ordered to Washington in preparation to becoming Commandant.

I MAC succeeded in accomplishing a secure occupation of the Cape Torokina area and its vital airfield before the command change.

New Britain Campaign

Five days before the end of 1943, the 1st MarDiv (MajGen William H. Rupertus), serving under operational control of Gen Douglas A. MacArthur of the Southwest Pacific Area command, landed at Cape Gloucester on the western end of New Britain. The airfield area was secured by the middle of January 1944 and the western portion of the large island secured by April. Passage of MacArthur's forces into the Bismarck Archipelago and to the Admiralty Islands in the start of the move back to the Philippines was made secure by the Marines' success on New Britain. Japanese area headquarters at Rabaul on the eastern end of New Britain was left isolated, with its 90,000 troops, for the balance of the war.

Tarawa

The Japanese considered Tarawa, a triangular shaped atoll, 12 miles wide and 18 miles long, located some 2,400 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor as impregnable. The Japanese commander, RAdm Keiji Shibasaki bragged that Betio, the main island of the atoll, was so fortified and prepared that a million men would not be able to conquer it in 100 years.

The assault troops (2d Marines, Rein) of the 2d Marine Division (MajGen Julian C. Smith) landed on three adjacent beaches of Betio on 20 November 1943. All 9 of the division's infantry battalions and artillery and support units were eventually committed in the 76 hours of intense and often heroic fighting by both sides. One of the four Medal of Honor recipients was Col David M. Shoup, who commanded the 2d Marines. Though wounded, he was cited for heroic leadership in commanding the initial assault force. Shoup became a four-star general and the 22d Commandant in 1960. Tarawa Atoll was completely secured by 28 November, costing the Marines 3,301 casualties (just under 1,000 killed in action), while Japanese losses were 4,700 killed and 17 wounded.

Marshall Islands

Some 400 miles north and 650 miles west of Tarawa lies the Marshall Islands. Kwajalein, the largest atoll in the world, was the main objective in the second Central Pacific offense. The 4th MarDiv (MajGen Harry K. Schmidt), in its first battle action, landed on the islands of Roi and Namur and other nearby islets at the northeast end of the atoll. With three times the number of amphibious tractors as the 2d Division had at Tarawa, and following two days of heavy naval and air bombardment, the Marines landed on 31 January 1944. 4th Division Marines moved quickly and accomplished all objectives by 2 February. Almost 3,600 Japanese were killed while Marine losses were 313 deaths and 502 wounded.

Final major objective in the Marshalls was Eniwetok Atoll at the northwest edge of the island chain. A two-regiment brigade, Tactical Group I of V AC, under Marine BGen Thomas E. Watson, began landing on 17 February 1944. Included in the force was the 22d Marines (Rein) (Col John T. Walker) who captured Engebi in a day, then joined 106th Infantry at Eniwetok, and finally assaulted and conquered Parry Island on 22 February. Some 2,700 Japanese were killed by the 22d Marines while Marine losses were 254 killed and 555 wounded in a quick moving and smooth running operation that gave the Pacific Fleet an advanced base with large anchorage facilities and an established airfield.

The 4th Marine Base Defense Wing (BGen Lewie G. Merritt) moved from Tarawa to Kwajalein 9 March 1944, and with three air groups became responsible for air operations against the numerous bypassed islands in the Marshalls. Marine air contributed 60 percent of the bomb tonnage by all Services against these bases.

Marianas Campaign

The successful capture of three strategic islands of the Marianas (Saipan, Guam, Tinian) in mid-1944 brought the Japanese homeland within distance of daily air strikes by B-29 Superfortresses carrying up to 10 tons of bombs. The campaign also brought out the Japanese fleet leading to the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" where the Japanese were soundly beaten, suffering the loss of 476 aircraft and 3 aircraft carriers (CVs), with 2 other carriers heavily damaged. American losses were 130 aircraft. Leading war promoter Hideki Tojo and his entire cabinet resigned following the loss of Saipan.

The Marianas campaign ranks as the Marine Corps' largest amphibious assault and involved both the III & V ACs, reinforced by two Army divisions. The 140,000 ground troops, of which some 90,000 were Marines, were led by Holland M. Smith, now wearing 3 stars. The 60,000 Japanese defenders fought ferociously, determined to fight for every foot of ground, and in battle lost 54,000 men. American deaths totaled just over 4,600.

Saipan proved to be the toughest operation in the Marianas. V AC began landing 15 June with 2d MarDiv (MajGen Thomas E. Watson), 4th MarDiv (MajGen Harry K. Schmidt), and the 27th Infantry Division followed. It took 24 days of hard fighting to defeat over 32,000 fanatical, banzai-charging defenders of the 14-mile-long island. The capital and largest town of Garapan was captured on 2 July. With the defeat of a 2,500-man banzai attack 4 days later, the island was declared secured on 9 July, American battle deaths were just under 1,200. Almost 30,000 Japanese perished.

Guam Regained

Americans returned to Guam on 21 July 1944, when III AC went ashore on the west central portion of the 28-mile-long peanut shaped island. III AC included 3d MarDiv (MajGen Allen H. Turnage), 1st Marine Provisional Brigade (BGen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.), and the 77th Infantry Division. Organized resistance ended on 10 August, but the next day LtGen Hideyo Obata, commander of all Japanese Army forces in the Marianas was killed while trying to rally the remaining Japanese. More than 18,300 Japanese died fighting on Guam. American casualties included 1,750 deaths and 6,055 wounded. Among the four Medal of Honor winners for the Guam campaign was Capt Louis H. Wilson, commander Company F, 2/9. Wilson, though wounded 3 times, was cited for heroic leadership in action at Fonte Hill that included hand-to-hand fighting in a 10-hour battle that left 350 Japanese dead. Wilson's battalion commander was LtCol Robert E. Cushman who earned the Navy Cross at this time. Gen Cushman became the Corps' 25th Commandant in 1972. After service as CG, FMFPac, Louis Wilson succeeded Cushman as Commandant 1 July 1975. He gained the distinction of being the first Marine to become a full-fledged member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1978.

Tinian

Tinian, due to its flatness would provide the largest B-29 base in the Pacific. Tinian was a shore-to-shore operation as Saipan was only 2 ½ miles away. V AC, now under MajGen Schmidt, had the 4th MarDiv (Rein) (MajGen Clifton B. Cates) make a surprise landing at 2 narrow beaches at the northern end of the 12-mile-long island on 24 July. The 2d MarDiv followed ashore for a two-division drive that ended Japanese organized resistance on 1 August. Just over 6,600 Japanese died, while Marine casualties were 327 killed and 1,770 wounded. 4th MarDiv (Rein) was awarded the PUC for its outstanding valor and accomplishments during the Saipan-Tinian action. Ten Marines won the Medal of Honor in the tough fighting in the Marianas, four at Saipan and Guam, and two at Tinian,

Peleliu

An American presence in the Palau Islands was considered necessary to safeguard the planned fall invasion of the Philippines in 1944. At the southern end of the Palaus, an island group between the Marianas and the southern Philippines, was Peleliu. The 6- by 2-mile island with a large airfield was the objective of the 1st MarDiv (Rein); still commanded by MajGen Rupertus. Landings took place on 15 September. Instead of an anticipated 4-day battle, it took 27 days to end organized resistance, and then 6 weeks of hard fighting to clear the Umurbrogol Ridges. Fighting 11,000 well-fortified and determined Japanese defenders often in above 110-degree heat (using over 500 caves) the 1st MarDiv (with 10,994 III AC troops attached) deservedly earned its second PUC of the war. Marine casualties were 6,526, including 1,252 deaths. Only 300 Japanese of the entire defending force survived the fighting. Eight Marines received Medals of Honor; four of these were from the 7th Marines. MajGen Geiger, CG, III AC, commanded all operations in the Palaus, including 81st InfDiv operations until 20 October. MAG-11 (Col Caleb T. Bailey) provided air support for both divisions starting the last week in September. The 2d MAW (MajGen James T. Moore) flying out from Peleliu neutralized Japanese bases in the Western Carolines from early October to mid-December 1944.

Participation in Gen MacArthur's promised return to the Philippines included V AC artillery (BGen Thomas E. Bourke); 4 air groups-16 squadrons of the 1st MAW and 1 squadron of 2d MAW (senior group commander was Col Clayton C. Jerome); 2 fighter squadrons serving on USS Essex with Task Force 38 (LtCol William Millington); and ship detachment Marines of the 3d and 7th Fleets. The 1,500 artillerymen served at Leyte October-December 1944, while the Marine air groups (MAG-12, -14, -24, -32) provided coverage for numerous landings and won much praise for outstanding support of group operations in the northern and southern Philippines from December 1944-August 1945. The balance of 1st MAW (MajGen Ralph J. Mitchell) continued operations against Japanese bypassed locations in the northern Solomons and Bismarcks. All of the 1st MAW and headquarters moved to the Philippines in August 1941 under MajGen Claude E. Larkin.

Iwo Jima

In spite of 74 days of daily bombing by bombers and 3 days of heavy naval bombardment and carrier air strikes the campaign for Iwo Jima was extremely difficult and costly. A total of 71,245 Marines of V AC (MajGen Schmidt) went ashore starting on 19 February 1945, 5,941 lost their lives and 17,372 suffered wounds. Over 19,000 of the 21,000 Japanese defenders lost their lives. Assaulting forces included 4th MarDiv (MajGen Cates), 5th MarDiv (MajGen Keller E. Rockey), two thirds of the 3d MarDiv (MajGen Graves B. Erskine), V AC artillery (Col John S. Letcher) and Corps troops (Col Alton A. Gladden). Marine Col Vernon E. Megee commanded the Air Support Control Unit.

The 8 square mile island, 670 miles from Tokyo, was not secured by V AC until 26 March. The Marines had to overcome concrete blockhouses and pillboxes, underground tunnel systems, volcano ashes, sulphur wells, minefields, 1,500 defended caves, machineguns pits, well-concealed and fortified trenches, a 556-foot high extinct volcano turned into a fortress, and as usual, a highly disciplined and fanatical fighting foe. The volcano-Mt. Suribachi-had seven successive galleries of various defenses. The assignment to take Suribachi fell to the 28th Marines, led by the leader of the Marine Raiders in the Solomons: Col Harry B. ("The Horse") Liversedge. On 23 February, following 4 days of struggling uphill fighting and almost 1,000 casualties, the crest of the fortress was reached. A second flag raising by five Marines and one corpsman, with a larger American flag than the one used earlier, was photographed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. This photo won a Pulitzer Prize and became the most famous battle photograph of all time.

Twenty-two Marines and four Navy corpsmen earned the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima, the highest number for any Pacific War campaign. The recipients ranged from private to a lieutenant colonel. LtCol Justice M. ("Jumpin' Joe") Chambers was cited for heroic leadership of 3/25 despite being wounded in the assault and defense of a rock quarry. Chambers, an ex-Raider, was also wounded on Tulagi in 1942, and blown off a hill on Saipan in 1944. One of 8 privates receiving the Medal of Honor on Iwo, Douglas T. Jacobson, of Rochester, NY, captured 16 enemy positions and was credited with killing 75 Japanese in the assault on Hill 382. Raritan, New Jersey's GySgt John Basilone, who earned the Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal, died leading machinegunners of 1/27. "Manila John" was also awarded a Navy Cross posthumously.

More evidence of the numerous acts of bravery and the severity of the combat was the awarding of the PUC to all three Marine divisions engaged. V AC and its support units also earned the Navy Unit Commendation. Holland M. Smith boasted, "Victory at Iwo proved we can take any damn thing they've got."

Okinawa

The assault forces for Okinawa, located only 360 miles south of the Japanese homeland, totaled 182,000-75,000 more than landed at Normandy the previous June. The 5th Fleet armada totaled 1,440 ships and some 550,000 Americans of all Services were involved. Due to the size of the operation, a full field army of 2 corps (7 divisions) was brought into action. The 10th Army under Army LtGen Simon B. Buckner included XXIV Army Corps and III AC (MajGen Geiger). III AC had 85,250 Marines and was composed of the 1st MarDiv (MajGen Pedro A. del Valle), 2d MarDiv (MajGen Leroy P. Hunt), 6th MarDiv (MajGen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.), Corps Artillery (BGen David R. Nimmer) and Corps Troops (Col Edward G. Hagen). Making up the bulk of the Tactical Air Force (TAF) for 10th Army was the 2d MAW (MajGen Francis P. Mulcahy). Mulcahy gave up the overall command of Marine air units in the Pacific (Air FMFPac) in February 1945 to take command of TAF. Air Defense, TAF was under Marine BGen William J. Wallace, who entered the Pacific War leading the first air group on Guadalcanal (MAG-23). The three landing force air support control units covering 10th Army and both corps were under Marine Col Vernon E. Megee. Also serving in the campaign were 10 Marine squadrons aboard aircraft carriers, and the ship detachment Marines of the 3d and 5th Fleets.

Following the 1 April 1945 landing on the west central coast of the 60-mile long and 485-square mile island, the 1st and 6th MarDivs captured the northern two thirds of the island before the end of the month. By 7 May both divisions anchored the right flank of 10th Army's battle line at the southern portion of the island. Fighting was fierce, but with the capture of Shuri by the 1st MarDiv and the capital city of Naha by the 6th MarDiv by 1 June, the Japanese 32d Army began to break. The defeat of the Japanese Naval Base Force on Oroku peninsula by the 6th MarDiv by 14 June ended all hope the Japanese had for a victory. On 18 June, the reinforced 8th Marines (only unit of 2d MarDiv to serve on Okinawa) entered the battle. It was while observing the 8th Marines (Col Clarence Wallace) in action on Mezado Ridge that Gen Buckner was killed by a coral fragment broken off by an exploding enemy shell. Col Harold C. Roberts, commander of the 22d Marines, also died this day, killed by a sniper. Geiger took command of 10th Army, becoming the only Marine to command a field army. He announced the end of Japanese organized resistance on 21 June. A total of some 107,500 Japanese and Okinawans were killed. Marine losses included 2,890 killed, 345 died of wounds, and 11,677 were wounded. Total 10th Army casualties included 7,374 battle deaths, 31,807 wounded, and 239 missing.

Due to the massive kamikaze threat, TAF provided considerable cover for the 5th Fleet (3d Fleet starting 18 May) as well as over 38,000 close support sorties for 10th Army. In air defense efforts the 17 tactical Marine squadrons of TAF shot down 506 Japanese aircraft (10 Army Air Force squadrons were credited with 131), while losing only 3 in combat and 106 in operational losses. During the campaign Marine aviators had their biggest day in shooting down Japanese aircraft in the entire war. On 12 April Marines on the CV Bennington (VMF-112, VMF-123) got 26, CV Bunker Hill Marines (VMF-221, VMF-451) got 25, and TAF Marines downed 16, for a total of 67.

Ten Marines earned the Medal of Honor for the campaign, which continued until mopping up operations ended on 30 June. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, and 2d MAW all were awarded PUCs, being cited for outstanding valor and performance. MajGen Louis E. Woods, who had succeeded Mulcahy on 11 June, was in command of TAF, Ryukyus, during that command's existence 1-13 July. Marine Corsairs began escort missions with army bombers in Japanese homeland raids on 1 July. TAF during that period reached a peak of 758 aircraft in 44 combat squadrons, which included 2 B-24 and 2 B-25 Army Air Force bomber groups and a personnel strength exceeding 25,000, with almost half that amount being Marines.

Command Change

On 3 July 1945 Marine Corps leadership in the Pacific changed hands. "Howlin' Mad" Smith left the Pacific War, turning over command of FMFPac to Roy S. Geiger. Smith was making room for others to move up in command, and he also realized that his days for tactical command involvement were over. He predicted, without knowing of the atomic bomb, that Japan would surrender by 1 September 1945. Smith prepared Marines for the Pacific War as early as 193941 while serving as CG of 1st Marine Brigade in the Caribbean. He was the CG of the 1st MarDiv (1 February 1941), and the first Marine to command a corps level tactical command when on 13 June 1941 he took command of 1st Corps (Prov) Atlantic Fleet. He became the only Marine to hold 3-star rank, other than the Commandant, when Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox promoted him to lieutenant general on 15 March 1944. A month later he was given administrative leadership of all Fleet Marine Force units in the Pacific, and eventually became CG, FMFPac when that command was formalized on 12 July 1944. After serving as CG, Training and Replacement Command at San Diego, Holland McTyeire Smith retired after 40 years of Marine Corps service.

Roy Stanley Geiger, after service as a line officer with infantry and artillery units and sea duty aboard battleships, became the Corps' fifth naval aviator in June 1917. He earned a Navy Cross for bravery while serving as a squadron commander in France in World War I. He was CG of 1st MAW at Quantico, VA, when World War II began. The "old man" (affectionately referred to by many aviators) was credited as being the driving force that kept Air Cactus alive during the early months of the Guadalcanal campaign, while serving as commander of all land-based air craft on the island September-November 1942. He was also Vandegrift's second in command at the "Canal." After serving in Washington as director of Marine aviation, Geiger returned to line duty as a corps commander, taking command of I MAC during the Bougainville campaign in November 1943. I MAC became III AC on 15 April 1944 with Geiger still in command for the Guam, Palau Islands, and Okinawa campaigns that followed. With assumption of 10th Army command on Okinawa on 18 June 1945 the "Fearless" Geiger became a lieutenant general. Roy Geiger left FMFPac on 15 November 1946 ill and died of cancer on 23 January 1947. The 40-year Marine service veteran was buried two days later on what would have been his 62d birthday.

As soon as conditions permitted efforts were underway, converting Okinawa and the Marianas into staging bases for the final assault on the Japanese homeland. Japan refused an American demand for unconditional surrender. Then, on 6 and 9 August 1945, atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On 14 August the Japanese emperor surrendered his country unconditionally.