On April 1, 1945, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage
to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops, under the
command of Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., land on
the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles
south of Kyushu, the southern main island of Japan.

Determined to seize Okinawa as a base of operations for the army ground and air forces for a later assault on mainland Japan, more
than 1,300 ships converged on the island, finally putting ashore
50,000 combat troops.

General Buckner was killed during the closing days of the Battle
of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him one of the highest-
ranking United States military officers lost to enemy fire during
World War II
  

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

US Marines of the 2nd Battalion 22nd Regiment, land at
Green Beach One, Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands. 

 
    SANDY KOZEL

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and
one of the most highly regarded American generals of World War
II, died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.

The west Pacific volcanic island of Iwo Jima was
declared secure by the U.S. military after weeks
of fiercely fighting its Japanese defenders.  

Medal of Honor Day is a United States federal observance that is celebrated every year on March 25. It was created to honor the
"heroism and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients for the United States." The holiday has been celebrated since 1991, when George
H. W. Bush signed Public Law 101-564 on November 15, 1990, which       
was passed by the 101st U.S Congress.
    
    
    
   

George Herbert Walker Bush
(June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018)