Forged through Fire

Courtesy Photo | Two Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during fighting at Wana Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa, May 1945. On the left, Davis Hargraves (1925-) provides covering fire with his M1 Thompson submachine gun as Gabriel Chavarria (on the right; 1926-), with a Browning Automatic Rifle, prepares to break cover to move to a different position. Wana Ridge was a long coral spine running out of northern Shuri Hill and was lined on both sides with Okinawan tombs. Japanese emplacements in the tombs and on the reverse slope of the ridge forced the Marines to carefully fight their way through the fortifications. A Japanese counterattack on the Marines on the ridge on 22 May was repelled. It is not known if this photo was taken before or after the Japanese counterattack. Note that the photographer has apparently taken the picture from a covered position behind the ridgeline. Photo by Staff Sergent Walter F. Kleine (Courtesy of National Archives)  

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

03.31.2023

Story by Cpl. Desmond Andrews 

Communication Directorate             

From April to June of 1945, U.S. Marines and U.S. Army soldiers battled a determined enemy on foreign soil, fighting to wrest control of the island of Okinawa from the Empire of Japan. Just 400 miles from the Japanese mainland, the Battle of Okinawa was one of the last major engagements in the Pacific theater in World War II and included some of the heaviest fighting of the entire war.

Codenamed Operation Iceberg, the battle to retake Okinawa began on April 1, 1945, with the aim of securing a strategic base from which to launch assault on mainland Japan itself. With months to prepare, the Imperial Army of Japan turned Okinawa’s 466 square miles of dense foliage, hills, and trees were transformed into dense defensive ridges and fortifications. Despite supporting artillery barrages from the sea and air support, the Marines struggled advance, fighting to dislodge the defenders from a vast network of tunnels and entrenched bunker positions. The Japanese held their defensive lines for as long as possible before withdrawing to new defensive positions and continuing to resist. Seasonal monsoon rains flooded battlefield and roads alike, slowing the advance and hindering the swift evacuation of casualties.

By June 22, American forces were eventually able to secure the island, but it came at a high cost – they had suffered over 49,000 casualties, including more than 12,500 men killed or missing in action. Among the fallen was the much-beloved war correspondent Ernie Pyle, famous for his depiction of the lives of the average men who fought in WWII. Pyle was killed by enemy machine gun fire and buried on Okinawa, where the U.S. Army erected a marker inscribed with the following words: “At this spot the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy, Ernie Pyle, 18 April 1945.”

10 Marines and 3 Navy Corpsmen were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during the battle. Of the 10 Marines who received the nation’s highest award, five of them, including Pfc. Harold Gonsalves, shielding their fellow Marines from enemy grenades.

Originally enlisted in the reserves, Gonsalves transitioned to active duty in June of 1943 and deployed to the Pacific with the 22nd Marine Regiment in November of that same year. Having taken part in the assaults and captures of the Marshall Islands and Guadalcanal, Gonsalves landed on Okinawa with the 15th Marine Regiment on April 1, 1945. While acting as scout sergeant of an eight-man forward observing team, charged with directing artillery fire on Japanese positions entrenched on the Motobu peninsula, Gonsalves and his men came under heavy enemy rifle, grenade, and mortar fire. While continuing to advance, a grenade landed a foot away from the team. Instinctually, Gonsalves dived on the grenade, shielding his fellow Marines from the blast and preventing them from sustaining serious or fatal injuries. President Harry S. Truman posthumously awarded Gonsalves with the nation's highest honor in recognition of his ultimate sacrifice.

Since the end of World War II, the U.S.-Japanese alliance has served as the backbone for security, prosperity, and peace in the Pacific region. Today, U.S. Marines work closely alongside our Japanese partners on Okinawa and throughout the Pacific. Our alliance, built on shared fundamental values and strategic interests, helps ensure continuing peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

• Date Taken: 03.31.2023
• Date Posted: 03.31.2023 13:17
• Story ID: 441682
• Location: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US