Last weeks of fighting in Okinawa; US Army & Navy airmen executed at Taihoku Prison; bombing raids on Japanese homeland continues

World War 2 70th Anniversary - Exhibit and resources from Government Documents and Maps Department, UHM

June 14, 2015-June 20, 2015
Location: Government Documents

The Joint Chiefs of Staff direct Generals MacArthur and Arnold and Admiral Nimitz to prepare for immediate occupation of Japan in the event the enemy suddenly collapses or surrenders. Meanwhile B-29s mine the waters around the southern Japan homeland in preparation for an invasion.

In Okinawa, since March, American planes drop millions of propaganda leaflets aimed at winning the confidence of the civilians and Japanese soldiers and at spreading defeatism. Fighting continues and on June 18 Lt. General Simon Buckner becomes the highest ranking officer to be killed in action in WWII while at the front lines. Assistant commander Brig. Gen. Claudius Easley is killed the following day. These deaths are in addition to the notable death of the well-known war correspondent Ernie Pyle on Ie Shima in April. Before he is killed, General Buckner personally urges Lt. General Ushijima to surrender, but the letter is not received until June 17. However, there is no intention of capitulation on the side of the Japanese. It is later learned that he and his chief of staff, General Cho, considered the message funny to the extreme, as it was not consonant with their Japanese military code of honor. Read an excerpt from General Buckner's letter to General Ushijima in Bulletins of the Intelligence Center...1942-1946, published by the U.S. Naval History Division, 1976, in the microfilm collection. You can see a short excerpt here in Okinawa: The Last Battle, published by the Center for Military History, U.S. Army.

Newsmap. Monday, 25 June, 1945 : week of 12 June to 19 June, V-E Day + 7 weeks, 184th week of U. S. participation in the war. Text and maps depict Asia Pacific battle fronts with photos of Japanese military, her war industry, and aerial view of Allied bombing planned for Japan. Verso: World map with shaded areas showing liberated areas since 7 Dec 1941, enemy held areas as of 8 May 1945; dotted lines show battlelines as of 7 Dec 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 8 May 1945.

View this map in print in the Map Collection reading room, ground floor of UHM Hamilton Library, the week of 14 June 2015
View this map online through the University of North Texas Digital Library ( http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc867/)

Notes: Newsmaps were color posters issued by the U.S. Army and the Government Printing Office (GPO) on Mondays during the World War II. They combine maps, images, and news from the previous week’s war effort.