Into the Silence of Okinawa

This episode begins with the thunder of Easter Sunday, 1945, when Marines and soldiers of the U.S. Tenth Army hit the beaches of Okinawa. After weeks of naval bombardment, they expected hell on the sand. Instead, they found silence. The Japanese had pulled back, choosing to fight from caves and ridges deep inland. That calm didn't last. Within days, night counterattacks and ambushes tested the Marines' resolve. The 6th Division clawed through the Motobu Peninsula's jagged hills while the 1st secured the plains below. Offshore, the fleet endured waves of kamikaze strikes, and the battleship Yamato made its final, suicidal run. By late April, northern Okinawa was in American hands. The Marines had earned their victory ridge by ridge, cave by cave. But as they looked south toward Shuri's fortified lines, they knew this was only the beginning. The battle for Okinawa, the last and bloodiest campaign of the Pacific, was still waiting.