| Description: | American sea and air power flank captured Japanese island. American warships and seaplanes flank Retto, one of the Ryukyu (Loochoo) Islands west of Okinawa where Tenth Army forces landed six days before the US invasion of Okinawa on March 31, 1945. Tetto is part of the Kerama group of the Ryukyus, a link in the vast chain of Japanese islands which stretch from the Kuriles in the north to Formosa in the south. US forces secured eight of the small islands in the group within 50 hours of their landings. The Keramas were stepping stones to Okinawa, gateway to the East china sea. Okinawa is within 375 miles of the Japanese home island of Kyushu, site of major Japanese naval bases and important industrial targets. April 13, 1945. (PPA 39424., National Archives). |
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Okinawa
