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.