| Description: | US Flag raised over Shuri castle on Okinawa. Braving Japanese sniper fire, US Marine Lieutenant Colonel R.P. Ross, Jr. places on American flag on a parapet of Shuri castle on May 29, 1945. The castle is a former enemy stronghold in southern Okinawa in the Ryukyu (Loochoo chain), situated 375 miles from Japan. US Tenth Army forces landed on Okinawa on March 31, 1945. By June 10, the Japanese were compressed into an area of about 16 sq. miles at the southern tip of the island and were battling fiercely to retain the last high ground still in their hands. Okinawa will be developed into a major US base from which American planes will be able to hammer Japans industrial areas. June 18, 1945. (FMC 42043, National Archives). |
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Okinawa
