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00:00In 1945, allies are closing in on Japan.
00:06We used bazookas, flamethrowers, and it was a storm.
00:12Americans find a bloodbath on Okinawa.
00:17Australians move in on Borneo.
00:20And rescued POWs reveal a nightmare in Thailand.
00:25In almost no time, we have become skeleton men.
00:29With rare behind-the-scenes film.
00:34And color combat footage.
00:36Hear the voices and feel the fight.
00:40We knew that we were going to be in for trouble.
00:42We just knew it.
01:06General Douglas MacArthur is coming home.
01:11This is Corregidor in the Philippines, where MacArthur made his last stand before defeat three years ago.
01:21Now he's back to address the paratroopers that just helped liberate it.
01:28The battle is so fresh, the chutes are still blowing in the trees.
01:35The capture of Corregidor is one of the most brilliant operations in military history.
01:42Prone to overstatement, MacArthur is also prone to emotion.
01:47The Philippines are flying the American flag once more.
01:51I see the old flag pole still stands.
01:55Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever hold them down.
02:10But the flag is flying over a territory in tatters.
02:14The grand city of Manila is gutted.
02:21Official buildings are reduced to rubble.
02:25Neighborhoods are raised.
02:30But weeks after liberation, Manila is on the mend.
02:36British war journalist William Courtney tours the city on a horse-drawn carriage
02:41and captures the sights with his own camera.
02:47Filipinos are on the rebound.
02:54Between bombed-out buildings is a sure sign that war has moved on.
02:59The USO has moved in.
03:04Courtney's camera rolls as Hollywood stars and servicemen and women meet face-to-face,
03:117,000 miles from home.
03:15Comedian Joe E. Brown has come to boost their morale.
03:20His comic, rubber-faced expressions translate all the way to the back row.
03:31Throughout the Pacific, the USO brings laughter to places that only recently knew horror.
03:39Touching down on this dusty airstrip on Tarawa, another celebrity.
03:44By now, Bob Hope has logged over 30,000 miles across the Pacific.
03:50At every stop, he and his troop are escorted to thousands of fans eagerly awaiting the show of a lifetime.
03:58Here he is, Bob Hope!
04:03By now, Hope knows the reality of life in the Pacific almost as well as the men.
04:09How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?
04:10This is Bob, Mosquito Network Hope.
04:13I really hope you enjoy our show today.
04:15We have a nice show here with Francis Langford, Jerry Colonna, Tony Romano, Patty Thomas, and Bonnie Dean.
04:20I know you'll enjoy the girls.
04:22You remember, girls.
04:25Yes, sir, they're doing very fine.
04:27In some of these islands we visited, these girls have been the first to land.
04:30Won't Eleanor be mad, huh?
04:38Hope is not the only one putting smiles on American faces.
04:46There are plenty of big stars, thousands of lesser-known names.
04:52They perform show after show for homesick troops all over the Pacific.
04:59Wherever there's a USO show, war has passed.
05:06But in these pre-dawn waters, it's only beginning.
05:12Here, the stage is set for a very different show.
05:18No laughter, just a nervous silence.
05:26It's Easter Sunday, 1945.
05:30Many of these men think it might be their last day on Earth.
05:37The morning light reveals a stunning sight.
05:41The largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War.
05:51A line of steel almost eight miles wide is closing in on Okinawa.
05:58I have never in my life seen so many Navy ships.
06:03The aircraft carriers were lined up as far as I could see.
06:091,500 ships.
06:13Half a million men.
06:19Terawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima.
06:24All had beaches covered in blood.
06:28Now, Americans are wiser and wearier.
06:31They expect an 80% casualty rate.
06:37Among the faces is David McFadden.
06:41A kid from Ohio who remembers the fear.
06:45There were hundreds of boys.
06:48Only thing you could hear was the ship's organ playing near my god to thee.
06:53And boy, don't you think there weren't a lot of them thinking that.
06:57Young boys.
06:58Really young.
07:04This is the last stop in the island hopping campaign toward the Japanese mainland.
07:11From Okinawa, Americans can stage a massive invasion of Japan itself.
07:17It is 70 miles long.
07:20In square mileage, it's no bigger than the city of Los Angeles.
07:24Its terrain features craggy clusters of small mountains, including ridge lines that run east to west, creating a natural barrier
07:33to southward travel.
07:37Americans have limited intelligence going in.
07:40Aerial reconnaissance is lacking.
07:44They can only guess at what lies ahead.
07:49This Japanese film offers clues.
07:53For three years, Americans have been pushing them back across the Pacific.
07:59Okinawa is their last stand.
08:01The Allies expect a final showdown.
08:08Before the invasion, the United States unleashes ferocious firepower.
08:15Aerial and naval bombardment shreds the island to soften defenses.
08:20The Japanese nickname it the Typhoon of Steel.
08:26It is three months of solid pounding.
08:45Invasion Day, Easter Sunday, is nicknamed L-Day.
09:00The men coming ashore expect the worst.
09:05I was thinking, well, maybe in an hour from now, I won't have to worry about anything anymore.
09:11But instead of enemy fire, they meet an eerie silence.
09:18They move cautiously, expecting a trap.
09:23But there's no sign of the enemy.
09:34Some wonder if they've landed on the wrong island.
09:40First Lieutenant Charles Kilpatrick is as surprised as anyone.
09:52The only Japanese soldiers they see are already dead, usually lying near a bomb crater.
10:01Word gets back to the fleet.
10:04There is no one to fight.
10:11Subsequent waves of troops come ashore.
10:17They calmly grab their gear and walk upright onto the beach.
10:26Within hours, thousands of men unload a city's worth of infrastructure onto the beaches of Okinawa.
10:37Inland, things move as smoothly as a training exercise.
10:46Many keep their guns stowed and never have to dig a foxhole.
10:56The invasion presses forward.
10:58In the first few days, Marines march unimpeded through the midsection of the island and secure it coast to coast.
11:16They take off military objectives like a grocery list.
11:22All while enjoying a fine stretch of weather on a subtropical island.
11:30One general says to the press,
11:32I don't know where the Japs are, and I can't offer you any good reason why they let us come
11:37ashore so easily.
11:42Americans think 100,000 Japanese are defending Okinawa.
11:52For troops that expected to be in hell, Okinawa feels like heaven.
12:01Instead of an invasion, it seems like a vacation.
12:09Soldiers pick ripe tomatoes along the road.
12:12They commandeer local horses and take joyrides.
12:17They avail themselves of the local livestock and try to one-up each other's barbecue.
12:24One soldier recalls such a cookout to be one of the best meals of his life, what was supposed to
12:30be the battlefield of his death.
12:35So far, the Battle of Okinawa is a cakewalk.
12:45In charge of the invasion is General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
12:50He is straight from central casting, tall, silver-haired, and no-nonsense.
12:59He is surprised things are going so smoothly,
13:02and wonders what the enemy is thinking in a letter to his wife, Adele.
13:08Everything's now going well, and so far, my opposing general has not displayed any noticeable degree of military brilliance.
13:16I hope he keeps this up.
13:21Buckner's Japanese counterpart is Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima.
13:26He is respected by his men, cut right from the samurai tradition.
13:31A tradition that includes fighting to the death.
13:34Do not suffer the shame of being taken prisoner.
13:39He will live for eternity.
13:42The Japanese will soon reveal their strategy.
13:47Suddenly, and lethally.
13:52By the third day of the invasion, there is still no sign of the enemy.
13:59Commanding General Simon Buckner sends a message to the Marines.
14:02All restrictions removed on your advance northward.
14:08Men and materiel move up the island and into the Motobu Peninsula, a mountainous no-man's land.
14:16They approach a high, craggy mass called Mount Yaitake.
14:22Suddenly, fire comes from everywhere.
14:34Americans are pinned down by mortars and machine guns, no matter where they go.
14:41Companies get split up, running for cover.
14:44They barely know where to return fire.
14:49After days of easy and rapid advance, casualties pile up by the hundreds.
14:58And just as this reality hits on the ground, a fury comes from the sky.
15:10April 6th dawns quiet in the waters of Okinawa.
15:16The calm did not comfort Ensign Doug Aitken.
15:20We knew that we were going to be in for trouble.
15:23We just knew it.
15:25On the nearby islands, the Japanese had been gathering every usable plane and pilot remaining in their arsenal.
15:34Some are inexperienced, but no less devoted.
15:39They call this mission Kikusui, or floating chrysanthemum.
15:47They take off in waves.
15:53They begin a kamikaze spree that dwarfs anything before or since.
16:03In the next two days, over 350 enemy planes wreak absolute havoc.
16:17American pilots try to stop them in roller coaster dogfights.
16:21Navy gunners try to derail them in white-knuckle high-speed combat.
16:26Sometimes close enough to see each other's faces.
16:33On April 6th alone, three ships are sunk outright.
16:38Another 15 are hit and damaged.
16:46The attacks leave a flotsam of twisted steel and blood.
16:52But it's only the beginning of Kikusui.
16:57In the midst of this nightmare, news reaches the front lines.
17:02The flag flies at half-staffed as a grief-stricken nation mourns the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
17:09President of the United States.
17:12For 12 years, he steered the nation through some of its darkest hours.
17:19The troops on Okinawa grieve publicly.
17:24Many of them are so young that Roosevelt is the only president they remember.
17:30You'd see grown men crying like babies, because we had lost somebody who was a father figure to us.
17:36We also wondered, now what?
17:38Roosevelt was our man.
17:41Who is this guy Truman?
17:49Back at Mount Yatake, it's been a week of uphill fighting.
17:53There is little to show for it, besides blood and bandages.
17:59It is an uphill slog against what one officer calls a phantom enemy.
18:07For four more days, they slowly move up the mountain under withering fire.
18:20Then, marines finally take the top of Mount Yatake and take a look around.
18:282,000 Japanese bodies litter the peaks, trenches and tunnels.
18:35Almost to a man, they had fought to the death.
18:40This one mountaintop cost the marines almost 1,000 men.
18:46It is their first test against the Japanese defenses on Okinawa.
18:50And they wonder if they've only scratched the surface.
18:56There have to be more Japanese somewhere.
19:02Americans move cautiously.
19:08Suddenly, near the village of Shuri, troops come under intense fire.
19:13They answer with volleys of their own.
19:20When the Japanese charge with machine guns and flamethrowers, Americans have to retreat.
19:27Soon after, another company endures a hailstorm of mortars coming in at more than one per second.
19:35They lose 45 men.
19:38U.S. forces find themselves pinned down by unrelenting fire.
19:45They have run into the Shuri Line, a defensive colossus built into a mountain range.
19:51It is a masterstroke of military design.
19:54The Japanese are entrenched on the reverse slope, invisible to approaching Americans.
20:02Every Japanese position supports another.
20:06Every American is caught in crossfire.
20:11Mount Yaitake was a single hill, and it took a week to conquer.
20:15The Shuri Line is an 8-mile-wide, coast-to-coast killing zone.
20:21The worst elements of Pacific warfare are all rolled into a single nightmare.
20:28This is where America realizes the brutal truth.
20:31The Japanese are no longer fighting to win.
20:34They only want to turn the conquest of Okinawa into a drawn-out bloodbath,
20:40and give America second thoughts about invading mainland Japan.
20:46As April turns to May, it's working.
20:52What started as a cakewalk has become a meat grinder.
20:58The Shuri Line has stalled the American advance and spilled rising amounts of blood.
21:05So far, there are 20,000 casualties, more than Tarawa and Saipan combined.
21:14Medical units scramble to treat every injury.
21:19Back home, officers escorted by chaplains will knock on countless doors.
21:28Okinawa is becoming the Pacific Theater's black hole.
21:36Then, from the European Theater, news breaks.
21:46Throughout the world, wrongs of people hailed the end of the war in Europe.
21:52The world celebrates.
21:55Hitler is dead.
21:57Germany surrenders, and Europe is at peace.
22:01But on the other side of the world, Japan still won't budge.
22:09The battle for Okinawa has already dragged on longer than Iwo Jima or Saipan.
22:17The war seems endless.
22:20Combat fatigue spreads like a disease.
22:24Some units are on the front lines for almost four straight weeks, under constant bombardment.
22:31Through May, nearly 14,000 troops are pulled back with what the military calls non-battle injuries.
22:39We had a lot of people who had what we call a thousand-yard stare, just looking off, not thinking
22:45anything.
22:46We lost a few that were just completely gone.
22:521st Lieutenant Charles Kilpatrick sees one officer hit the wall.
22:58He just broke down.
23:01He said, I can't do it anymore.
23:04I can't send any more boys out there to get killed.
23:15Until they crack the Shuri Line, they're trapped in a slaughterhouse.
23:21Overlooking the city of Naha is a close triangle of small peaks.
23:26Horseshoe, Half Moon, and the now infamous Sugar Loaf.
23:35On May 12th, a company of Marines starts to climb.
23:40The higher they get, the more fire they take.
23:45Half the company is wounded or killed on the first day.
23:50They retreat.
23:52The Marines, like Thomas Durham, claim not to know that word.
23:56The Marines didn't retreat.
23:58We made a rapid advance to the rear.
24:01Those Japs are damn good fighters, and they were ready to meet their honorable ancestors.
24:07We were not.
24:09The Americans realized that Sugar Loaf is the western anchor of the Shuri Line,
24:15the defensive wall they've already been pounding for a month.
24:19They can't break through until they win this hill.
24:30On Okinawa, civilians can't escape the armies torching their home island.
24:36Their lives are turning into ashes.
24:47Seeking shelter from the storm of combat, they stream into burgeoning refugee camps.
24:55Sometimes more than a thousand a day.
25:09They have no kinship with the Japanese, no loyalties to the Americans,
25:14and no idea how to get through it alive.
25:19General Buckner writes,
25:21A few Okinawans have been given guns.
25:24They don't know either how to fight or how to surrender.
25:29They shoot a few rounds and go into caves,
25:32but won't come out and have to be killed.
25:41The only life they ever knew has been blown apart.
25:46They are shell-shocked.
25:54Children are most vulnerable.
25:58If they aren't directly injured,
26:00they are malnourished,
26:02and surely confused and terrified.
26:10In one instance,
26:12Americans come upon a girl
26:13who refused to retreat with Japanese troops.
26:17As punishment,
26:18they cut off her foot.
26:23It will take a long time
26:25for Okinawans to recover
26:27from having their island
26:29turned into a killing field.
26:36elsewhere in the Pacific,
26:38Americans have help.
26:41On Borneo,
26:42Australians lead the invasion of LeBlanc.
26:47It's a big Japanese supply hub.
26:52From here,
26:53they've been shipping local oil and rubber back to Japan.
27:01Journalist William Courtney
27:02is filming from the open hatch of an Australian bomber.
27:06Gunners inside take aim.
27:09They target the ships first.
27:14Here, a long plume of black smoke
27:17pours from an oil tanker.
27:20The waste gunner tries to finish it off,
27:23tracers blazing.
27:28They leave dozens of Japanese transports
27:31burning on the beach.
27:38Then, 90 American and Australian ships
27:42get into position.
27:45With one signal,
27:47the barrage begins.
27:57Rockets arc into the beachhead.
28:0120-millimeter shells pierce the air.
28:09We blasted the island
28:10with everything we could possibly throw at them.
28:14Yankee gunners clear the way
28:16as Aussie troops braced themselves for combat.
28:21To say we were scared
28:22would be an understatement.
28:23But we were joking amongst ourselves,
28:26which steadied our nerves.
28:31Finally,
28:32they land,
28:33unopposed.
28:35The pre-landing bombardment
28:38does its job.
28:40The Australian troops
28:42stroll onto LeBlanc.
28:47It's like Okinawa,
28:49an eerie calm.
28:52Just hours later,
28:54two commanders come ashore.
28:58Australia's Lieutenant General Morsehead
29:00and America's General MacArthur.
29:05MacArthur never likes to be seen
29:07breaking a sweat.
29:08On Borneo in June,
29:10he relents.
29:15They surveyed the scene,
29:17including dead Japanese.
29:21Most, they learn,
29:23are dug in further inland.
29:30It will be up to the Aussies
29:32to dislaunch them.
29:34They heave shells
29:36into the rugged interior
29:37with a British field gun.
29:40It's a start,
29:42but they know
29:43they'll have to go in themselves.
29:48When they do,
29:50they pay the price.
29:52Mostly from landmines
29:53and booby traps.
30:11The Japanese fight to the end,
30:13preferring death to capture.
30:16Only 200 survive
30:18out of 2,000 troops.
30:22But civilians
30:23carry the biggest scars.
30:27Under Japanese occupation,
30:29they were neglected,
30:30if not abused.
30:36Now, they welcome
30:37Australian troops.
30:40Hoping the big men
30:42in the funny hats
30:43signal better days ahead.
30:51The boys from Down Under
30:53are taking back Borneo
30:54and bringing back peace.
31:01On Okinawa,
31:03peace is still a pipe dream.
31:06Americans are throwing
31:08their biggest hardware
31:09at the Shuri line.
31:11Japan's colossal line of defense.
31:16It's an unknown underground maze.
31:21A surprise attack
31:22could come from anywhere,
31:23so Americans
31:24don't take any chances.
31:32Explosions stun anyone inside.
31:36Often, the enemy stumbles out.
31:41Other times,
31:43it is civilians.
31:46From Sugarloaf Hill
31:48all the way across
31:49the Shuri line,
31:50progress is agonizingly slow.
31:55One general estimates
31:57there are 70,000 Japanese
31:59holed up underground.
32:03I see no way to get them out,
32:05he says,
32:06but to blast them out,
32:08yard by yard.
32:12The sluggish pace
32:14of the ground war
32:15on Okinawa
32:15doesn't make things
32:17easy at sea.
32:18As the weeks drag on,
32:21Admiral Chester Nimitz
32:22increasingly views
32:23his fleet
32:24as sitting ducks.
32:26The pressure of war
32:28takes its toll.
32:31Kamikazes
32:32keep coming.
32:37At their peak,
32:39attacks kill an average
32:40of 30 sailors per day.
32:45There is no end in sight.
32:51A Zero
32:52is filmed
32:53heading straight
32:54for the USS
32:55Bunker Hill.
33:01600 are killed
33:02or injured.
33:04She has to
33:05retreat from duty.
33:08The USS Comfort,
33:10a hospital ship,
33:12also gets hit.
33:14The plane
33:14rips through
33:15three decks
33:16and explodes
33:17in the surgery bay,
33:18killing doctors,
33:20nurses,
33:21and patients.
33:28For sailors
33:29like Howard Jones,
33:30the horror
33:31is burned
33:32into memory.
33:34The smoke
33:34went down
33:35in the ship
33:35and so many guys
33:37suffocated.
33:41Seeing the dead
33:42didn't bother me
33:43too much,
33:44but the wounded
33:45when they're lying
33:47there suffering
33:48and moaning,
33:49that's what really
33:50hit me.
33:51I just couldn't
33:52take that.
33:56Japan intentionally
33:58crashes 1900 planes
34:00and suicide dives
34:01around Okinawa,
34:03the most intense
34:04kamikaze attacks
34:05of the entire
34:06Pacific campaign.
34:09They sink 26 ships
34:11and damage
34:12and damage 164 more.
34:15The Japanese
34:16consider it
34:17noble sacrifice.
34:18The Americans
34:19consider it
34:20inhumane warfare.
34:24The next day,
34:25the worst part
34:26of my life was
34:27we had to get
34:28all these guys
34:28together in,
34:29you know,
34:30the bags.
34:34You can't
34:35identify people.
34:37The right thing
34:38to do
34:39is bury
34:40at sea.
34:44It is the
34:45greatest
34:46concentration
34:46of Navy losses
34:48since Pearl Harbor.
34:55Since the first
34:56failed attacks,
34:57Okinawa Sugarloaf Hill
34:59has become
35:00a massacre.
35:01With Japanese
35:03holding the other
35:04two hills nearby,
35:05there is crossfire
35:07no matter where
35:07the Americans
35:08charge.
35:11Two days into it,
35:13Marines
35:14charge up again.
35:23After 48 hours
35:25of non-stop fighting,
35:27they are back
35:28where they started,
35:29less 400 casualties.
35:33They try again,
35:35this time
35:35with 1,200 men.
35:37Same result.
35:42By now,
35:43the equivalent
35:43of two full regiments
35:45have attacked
35:46and gotten nowhere.
35:51For days on end,
35:52they fight
35:53over the same hill.
35:59Marines throw grenades
36:00from one side
36:01and take incendiary
36:03fire from the other.
36:06At times,
36:07their trenches
36:07are only 25 yards
36:09apart.
36:11On a single day,
36:13the crest of the hill
36:14changes hands
36:1511 times.
36:18As dead and wounded
36:20are carried off,
36:21new troops rush in
36:23with no idea
36:24with no idea
36:25what they are in for.
36:26David McFadden
36:28remembers the chaos.
36:30They commandeered
36:31as many boys
36:31as they could muster.
36:33Instead of a company
36:34or battalion,
36:35they threw them
36:36all together
36:36because they didn't
36:38have enough
36:38to go around.
36:40But the enemy
36:41has no replacements,
36:43no supply lines.
36:46Eventually,
36:47the Marines
36:47wear them down.
36:51After 10 days,
36:53Americans
36:54finally climb
36:55Sugarloaf Hill
36:56and hold it.
36:59They stand
37:00on the shoulders
37:01of more than
37:029,000
37:03fallen comrades.
37:09A military historian
37:11would later call
37:12the battle
37:13unmatched
37:14for closeness
37:15and desperation.
37:17Some regiments
37:18lose two-thirds
37:19of their men.
37:22It is one of the
37:24costliest pieces
37:25of ground
37:25in Marine Corps
37:26history.
37:29We didn't have
37:30much celebration.
37:32they just wanted
37:33to go home
37:34and you couldn't
37:35blame them.
37:39With the Shuri
37:40line about to fall,
37:41the exhausted
37:42Americans hope
37:43they are nearing
37:43the end of combat.
37:53But just when
37:54Americans think
37:55the Japanese
37:56are on the run,
37:57rain soaks Okinawa.
37:59almost 12 inches
38:01in 10 days.
38:06Heavy rain
38:07has stopped
38:08our tanks
38:08and is impeding
38:09supply
38:10just at a time
38:11when rapid progress
38:12is most desirable.
38:16What is already
38:17difficult terrain
38:18becomes nearly
38:19impassable.
38:21Roads
38:22become rivers,
38:24camps
38:25become swamps,
38:26and war
38:27becomes impossible.
38:32Mud got so deep
38:34that suddenly
38:34we stopped
38:35getting supplies.
38:37We weren't
38:37getting any shells,
38:38any hand grenades,
38:39any food,
38:40any water.
38:42Even bulldozers
38:43would sink as much
38:43as three feet down
38:44in the mud
38:45so they couldn't
38:45haul it to us.
38:49Troops have to
38:50lug ammunition
38:51to the front
38:51by hand.
38:57wounded have to be
38:58carried all the way
38:59back to rear
39:00medical units.
39:03Sanitation measures
39:04break down.
39:07Morale sinks.
39:13The Japanese
39:15could retreat
39:15into the relative
39:16comfort of their
39:17caves.
39:19The Americans
39:20could only
39:20wait it out
39:21in cold,
39:22wet misery.
39:25As it rained,
39:27the foxhole
39:27would start
39:28filling up
39:28with water.
39:30Everybody
39:31smelled.
39:32You had blood
39:33on you
39:33with parts
39:34of bodies
39:34on you.
39:36everybody
39:37got diarrhea
39:37or dysentery.
39:40For more
39:41than a week,
39:42it appears
39:42to be a standoff.
39:45But the Japanese
39:46are not
39:47standing still.
39:53When the weather
39:54finally breaks
39:55on Okinawa,
39:56the Americans
39:57mobilize.
39:58The Japanese
39:59defenses
40:00on the Shuri
40:00line are
40:01crumbling.
40:05U.S. troops
40:06have been
40:06pounding away
40:07at this one
40:08ridge line
40:08for two
40:09bloody months.
40:11So far,
40:1220,000 Americans
40:13have been
40:14wounded
40:14and 50,000
40:16Japanese
40:16killed
40:17just to
40:18crest its
40:19heights.
40:20Now they
40:20are closing
40:21in on the
40:21enemy's
40:22headquarters
40:22at Shuri
40:23Castle,
40:24where they
40:24hope General
40:25Ushijima
40:26himself
40:26is holed up
40:27for the
40:27final showdown.
40:31They find
40:32the castle
40:32blown to
40:33bits by
40:34American
40:34artillery.
40:36They must
40:36have shot
40:37a million
40:37dollars worth
40:38of shells
40:38into that
40:39thing,
40:39just kicking
40:40it up
40:40in dust.
40:43Troops
40:44find it
40:44unrecognizable,
40:46undefended,
40:47and abandoned.
40:52the Japanese
40:53have vanished
40:54again.
40:57American
40:57troops
40:58raise a
40:58flag,
40:59but the
41:00victory
41:00is hollow.
41:02By now,
41:03they realize
41:04the enemy
41:04is building
41:05up another
41:06line farther
41:06south to
41:08extend the
41:08war as
41:09long as
41:10possible.
41:14For the
41:15soldiers on
41:15Okinawa,
41:17June is an
41:17exhausting
41:18slog to
41:19the bottom
41:19of the
41:20island.
41:27The
41:28Americans
41:28slowly advance
41:29against
41:30weakening
41:30resistance.
41:37The
41:38retreating
41:38soldiers
41:39are being
41:39killed at
41:40a rate
41:40of 1,000
41:41per day.
41:47Yet they
41:48manage to
41:48make Americans
41:49pay for
41:50every mile
41:51they gain.
41:54Cave defenses
41:55are still a
41:56threat.
41:57Americans fire
41:58streams of
41:59liquid flame
42:00to incinerate
42:01anyone inside.
42:05Then,
42:06use explosives
42:07to seal the
42:08cave shut.
42:08fire
42:11fire
42:12fire
42:12fire
42:13fire
42:13General Buckner
42:14calls this
42:14method
42:14blowtorch
42:15and corkscrew.
42:19Okinawa is
42:20now about
42:20killing,
42:21not capturing.
42:26At sea,
42:28it's the same
42:29equation.
42:30Kill first,
42:31take prisoners
42:32later.
42:34far from
42:35Okinawa,
42:36in the
42:37South China
42:37Sea,
42:38the submarine
42:39USS
42:40Pomponido
42:40patrols the
42:41area after
42:42torpedoing
42:43two distant
42:44Japanese
42:44ships.
42:47Four days
42:48later,
42:48they spot
42:49desperate
42:49survivors
42:50clinging to
42:51floating
42:51wreckage.
42:54The submarine
42:55commander
42:56gets a
42:57shock.
42:58they were
42:59speaking
42:59English.
43:05My eyes
43:06were painting
43:07with oil,
43:08but we got
43:09a rope
43:09and were
43:10taken aboard.
43:11These men
43:12are Australian
43:13and British
43:14prisoners of
43:15war.
43:25We had
43:25a devil
43:26of a time
43:26trying to
43:27get them
43:27on board.
43:28They were
43:29too slick
43:29to pick
43:30up.
43:38Two thousand
43:39of them
43:39were crammed
43:40onto two
43:40Japanese cargo
43:41ships when
43:42they were
43:42torpedoed
43:43by the
43:44Americans.
43:47Most of
43:48the POWs
43:48are dead,
43:49sunk by
43:50their own
43:50side.
43:52The lucky
43:53ones survive,
43:54barely,
43:55after four
43:56days on the
43:57open sea.
43:58One hundred
43:59and fifty
43:59are rescued.
44:03They were
44:04very thankful.
44:05They said,
44:05you bloody
44:06yanks,
44:07you sink us
44:08one night
44:08and pick us
44:09up the next.
44:10But they said
44:11they were darn
44:12glad they were
44:12sunk,
44:13and that they
44:13would cheer
44:14every time we
44:15hit their ship
44:15because they
44:16wanted to see
44:17the sons of
44:17guns go down.
44:20can you imagine
44:21the shock
44:22we got?
44:22Water,
44:23tomato
44:24soup,
44:24and crackers.
44:26Something we
44:26had never
44:26had in two
44:27and a half
44:28years.
44:30The crew
44:31gave them
44:31clothes
44:31and wrote
44:32letters for
44:33them.
44:33It was
44:33amazing to
44:34see their
44:34brotherly
44:35spirit.
44:38As the
44:39survivors
44:39gain strength,
44:40they unspool a
44:42story that
44:42defies
44:43belief.
44:45They come
44:46from a secret
44:46prison camp
44:47deep in Thailand
44:48with enough
44:49POWs to fill
44:51a city,
44:52a quarter
44:52of a million
44:53men,
44:55including
44:5660,000
44:57British,
44:57Australians
44:58and Dutch
44:58and at least
44:591,000
45:00missing Americans.
45:03They were
45:03brought here
45:04to build a
45:05railroad from
45:05Thailand to
45:06Burma,
45:07across the
45:08river Kwai.
45:10The men
45:11are beaten
45:11and tortured,
45:12forced to
45:13live as
45:14slaves.
45:17Reuben
45:18Candler,
45:18a British
45:19POW,
45:20describes the
45:21horror.
45:22The
45:22appalling
45:23conditions
45:23have made
45:24us
45:24dangerously
45:25thin.
45:26We have
45:26no beds,
45:27inadequate
45:28shelter,
45:29atrocious
45:29diet and
45:30no sanitation.
45:31We have
45:32lost all
45:33our clothes,
45:34shoes and
45:35have taken
45:35to wearing
45:36our shirts
45:36as loin
45:37cloths.
45:39In
45:40almost no
45:40time,
45:41we have
45:42become
45:42skeleton
45:43men.
45:44Nearly
45:45one-third
45:46of the
45:46POWs die
45:47in
45:47captivity.
45:49Survivors
45:50have no
45:50end in
45:51sight.
45:51All they
45:52see are
45:53their own
45:53comrades
45:54wasting
45:55away.
45:58Back on
45:59Okinawa,
46:00exhaustion
46:00is crippling
46:01both sides.
46:04Less than
46:05a third
46:05of the
46:06Japanese
46:06army is
46:07left,
46:07and they
46:08form a
46:09last line
46:10of defense
46:10by the
46:11sea.
46:13It's not
46:13nearly as
46:14strong as
46:15the Shuri
46:15line,
46:16but this
46:16is where
46:17General
46:17Ushijima
46:18makes his
46:18last stand.
46:21The present
46:22position will
46:22be defended
46:23to the
46:23death,
46:24even to
46:25the last
46:25men.
46:26Needless to
46:27say,
46:28the retreat
46:28is forbidden.
46:30The Japanese
46:31are running
46:32out of
46:32soldiers,
46:33ammunition,
46:34and land.
46:36They have
46:36their backs
46:37to the
46:37sea.
46:41Americans
46:41try to
46:42persuade
46:42civilians to
46:43surrender
46:44rather than
46:45die.
46:45In one
46:46case,
46:47they lure
46:47600
46:48Okinawans
46:49out of a
46:49single cave.
46:52They are
46:53less forgiving
46:53to the
46:54enemy.
46:56Some
46:57refuse to
46:57take any
46:58Japanese
46:58prisoners at
46:59all,
46:59killing them
47:00on sight,
47:01white flag
47:02or not.
47:06By June
47:0717th,
47:08the Japanese
47:09on Okinawa
47:10have only
47:10eight square
47:11miles left,
47:13with few
47:14places to
47:14hide.
47:15Americans
47:16can see
47:17the coast.
47:18They are
47:18burning their
47:19way to
47:20the sea.
47:29Japanese
47:30leaders
47:31are huddled
47:31in seaside
47:32caves.
47:33It is
47:34so cramped
47:34that
47:35General
47:35Ushijima
47:36cannot
47:36stretch
47:37out his
47:37legs.
47:39He
47:40receives
47:40a message
47:40from
47:41General
47:41Buckner,
47:42an offer
47:43to enter
47:43negotiations
47:44for surrender.
47:45You
47:46understand
47:46this
47:47clearly
47:47as I,
47:48that the
47:48destruction
47:48of all
47:49Japanese
47:49resistance
47:50on the
47:50island is
47:51merely a
47:52matter
47:52of days.
47:54Ushijima
47:54laughs it
47:55off and
47:56does not
47:56reply.
47:59soon after,
48:00a cameraman
48:01captures
48:02General Buckner
48:02visiting a
48:03forward
48:03observation
48:04post to
48:05see the
48:05final days
48:06for himself.
48:10minutes after
48:11this footage
48:12is taken,
48:13a shell
48:13explodes
48:14on a
48:15rock
48:15right next
48:15to him.
48:17A piece
48:18of it
48:18tears
48:18through his
48:19chest.
48:20In just
48:20ten minutes,
48:22General
48:22Buckner
48:22is dead.
48:25He drifts
48:26off to sleep
48:26as a marine
48:27private holds
48:28his hand,
48:29saying,
48:29you are
48:30going home,
48:31General.
48:32You are
48:33homeward bound.
48:36As Americans
48:37approach the
48:38coast,
48:39General
48:39Ushijima
48:40sends his
48:41final message
48:41to Tokyo.
48:43We are
48:44about to
48:44deploy all
48:44surviving
48:45soldiers
48:45for a
48:46final battle
48:47in which
48:48I will
48:48apologize
48:49to the
48:49emperor
48:50with my
48:50own
48:50death.
48:52On a
48:53ledge
48:53overlooking
48:54the sea,
48:55Ushijima
48:56performs the
48:57samurai ritual
48:57of
48:58Harakiri.
48:59Plunging
49:00a saber
49:00into his
49:01own stomach.
49:04The battle
49:05for Okinawa
49:06is the only
49:07contest of
49:08the Pacific
49:08to cost
49:09the lives
49:10of both
49:10commanding
49:11officers.
49:1582 days
49:16after Elday,
49:17when Americans
49:18came ashore
49:19to wrestle
49:20Okinawa
49:21from an
49:21unseen enemy,
49:22they can
49:23finally
49:23declare victory.
49:26The island
49:27is theirs.
49:28in Okinawa
49:30the war
49:30was over
49:31and there
49:32wasn't
49:32anything
49:32easy
49:33about
49:34any of
49:34it.
49:35There is
49:36much to
49:37celebrate,
49:38but also
49:39many to
49:39mourn.
49:43The United
49:44States
49:45loses
49:4512,520
49:47lives
49:48in Okinawa.
49:53more than
49:5436,000
49:55are wounded.
49:59The Japanese
50:00toll
50:01is astounding.
50:03Americans
50:04count more
50:05than
50:05100,000
50:07bodies
50:07with the
50:08actual number
50:09probably higher.
50:11and about
50:12a third
50:12of the
50:13Okinawan
50:13people
50:14are dead.
50:15Another
50:16100,000
50:17unable to
50:18survive
50:19two vast
50:20armies
50:20warring on
50:21their island.
50:25America
50:25is now
50:26at Japan's
50:27doorstep.
50:29But the
50:30body count
50:30on Okinawa
50:31makes the
50:32military
50:32shudder at
50:33the thought
50:34of invading
50:34Japan itself.
50:36They increase
50:37their casualty
50:38estimate for
50:39the invasion
50:40to a million
50:41men.
50:45President
50:45Truman
50:46will have
50:46to weigh
50:47those numbers
50:47against a
50:48new option.
50:51One
50:52that will
50:52forever
50:52change
50:53the course
50:53of warfare.
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