It perhaps saw the fiercest fighting of the American island-hopping campaign due in no small part to the number of Japanese kamikaze attacks.
The Battle of Okinawa lasted from April 1 to June 22, 1945. It perhaps saw the fiercest fighting of the American island-hopping campaign due in no small part to the number of Japanese kamikaze attacks. In total, about 12,000 Allied troops and 100,000 Japanese soldiers died. Furthermore, following the battle, many local Okinawans committed suicide rather than surrendering. This display, along with the general ferocity of the fighting, contributed to the American decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Indeed, fearing an uncontrollable bloodbath if the Allies embarked on an amphibious assault of the Japanese main islands, some believed that using nuclear weapons would be a quicker and strangely less deadly way to force a Japanese capitulation.