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Posted on 09/02/2025 1:42:59 PM PDT by Retain Mike
On that Monday, 6 August, Americans who had survived the Battle of Okinawa were not celebrating the final rout of the Japanese defenders seven weeks earlier. They were still stunned at the carnage they had both unleashed and endured. For 82 days without letup, Okinawa—one-third the size of Rhode Island—had been shredded by a maelstrom of bombs, artillery shells, and small-arms fire. The casualties on both sides were horrific. In all, nearly 250,000 people died in the battle, including 12,520 American servicemen, 110,000 Japanese and conscripted Okinawan defenders, and more than 100,000 Okinawan civilians caught in the crossfire. The American battle losses were the country’s heaviest in any theater of the war to date, but now they would be going home.
While the task group started operations with the Saratoga and 18 escort carriers, Operation Magic Carpet steadily expanded as more vessels were added. By 15 December 1945, Kendall had 369 warships and auxiliaries under his command. The primary challenge in organizing and carrying out the operation was the sheer “tyranny of distance” in the vast Pacific operating area. After three years of deployment and dozens of major battles, more than 3.1 million U.S. servicemen were scattered from the Aleutians to Australia and from Midway to the Marianas.
During the first four weeks of Magic Carpet, Kendall’s ships brought 259,856 servicemen and civilians home from the Pacific. The volume steadily increased over the next six months as more ships were added to the operation: 446,715 in October; 574,069 in November; and peaking at 695,486 in December. The numbers gradually shrank during the first three months of 1946, with 601,561 servicemen returned in January: 401,753 in February, and 143,954 in March.
(Excerpt) Read more at usni.org ...
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The men who fought the Japanese are entitled to call them Japs when relating experiences. For example, the history of the 41st Infantry notes with pride the division took the fewest Japanese prisoners in McArthur’s army. In New Guinea, the 41st overran a Japanese position and discovered they had slaughtered and eaten American soldiers. Throughout the war routine Japanese treachery and brutality made the Pacific war a special hell.
There is a light year difference between those men and the Japanese of later generations and even those of that who rebuilt Japan. I remember how thankful we were when our LST returned to Yokosuka from Vietnam to have the Japanese yard workers swarm over our ship. Many of those who built the Imperial Japanese Navy that attacked Pearl Harbor now oversaw repair shops or crafted near miracles to make U.S. Navy ships ready deploy again.
Film director Akira Kurosawa illustrates the transformation of those generations, who before surrender, were committed to the slogan “The Honorable Death of a Twenty Million”. He said, “When I walked the same route back to my home (after Hirohito’s broadcast of surrender), the scene was entirely different. The people in the shopping street were bustling about with cheerful faces as if preparing for a festival the next day. If the Emperor had made such a call (to follow the above slogan) those people would have done what they were told and died. And probably I would have done likewise.….In wartime we were like deaf-mutes.”
The Kokutai principle played a decisive role for Japanese surrender in 1945. The Japanese lived within a spiritual/political fabric of Emperor, citizen, land, Bushido, ancestral spirits, government, and Shinto religion. Subjected to this authority, average citizens forfeited individuality to a collective soul defining Japan and awaited the Empire’s decrees. With such national unity committed to Total War beneath the slogan of the “honorable sacrifice of 20 million Japanese lives”, the atomic bombs were no longer indiscriminate or disproportional.
Only Hirohito could submit because he held the heavenly Imperial throne. He would bear the unbearable and conclude the war. The war and peace factions relented, and no one lost face, but most importantly Kokutai, the spiritual essence of Japan, was preserved. All remained within the fabric of Japanese from all eras who had sacrificed for Emperor and Empire. Only then did Japan contact Swiss and Swedish foreign offices to commence negotiations.
Great read. Thanks for sharing.
Japan is a funny country.
After the Emperor agreed to the surrender, the first B29’s to land in mainland Japan were armed with napalm in case they were attacked. Instead, the Japanese brought the crews tea and acted glad to see them.
They literally turned on a dime from hating Americans to liking them.
My FIL was in a support role in Asia. Two comments I remembered of his on the trip back was he was able to drink all the milk he wanted. Milk had been scarce where he had been. The second was one night on the way back the fleet shot off a lot of ammunition, as the US had more than they needed post war. He said it was pretty and impressive but it damaged his hearing.
Thank you for this article and especially for your well-informed observations & comments.
Bump for later.
One of my father’s duties was to act as the unit’s journalist so I have pictures he took of the surrender planes. He was slated to be in the 3rd wave of the invasion of Japan (Army Air Corps). My FIL was slated in the 1st (Marine).
Anyone interested should read Eugene Sledge’s book “With The Old Breed.” To say the battle was hell severely underrates it. IMO.
Anyone interested should read Eugene Sledge’s book “With The Old Breed.” To say the battle was hell severely underrates it. IMO.
He was prominently featured in the series “The Pacific”. Made the European Theater look like a walk in the park, by comparison.
The war did not end for Marines of the 6th Division when the signing occurred...
It was sent to China...
My father was one of those on Okinawa, for the battle. He was an army engineer, in a battalion that specialized in building airfields. They were the first engineer battalion sent into the pacific after Pearl Harbor.
They stayed in Hawaii long enough to build all the WW2 army airfields, then went for the island campaigns. He never said how they felt about waiting for the invasion.
McArthur wanted the engineer regiment that my father’s battalion was in for the occupation of Japan, but they had been in the Pacific Theater longer than any other army engineer regiment. By regulation they should have been the first regiment sent home.
According to my father, the senior NCOs met with the general commanding Okinawa, and told him that if they weren’t sent home right away, the regiment would commandeer ships and sail away.
They were the first to board ship, and left behind brand new heavy equipment and machine shops that had been issued for invasion work. This is all according to my father.
Correction: My father’s battalion was the first to be sent to Hawaii after Pearl Harbor. The first sent into the Pacific went to Guam, with unfortunate consequences for them.
I knew several men who were in Europe, it was anything but a walk in the park. The hell the guys in the Pacific went through was a scaled up bit of hell in comparison. I had the privilege to know a man who crossed Omaha beach and a man who survived Iwo Jima. Everyone I knew had a story and none would expand much past “I was there”. Thank God they were. Regards
In The Pacific, if the Japs didn’t get you, the malaria and the heat would.
In The Pacific, if the Japs didn’t get you, the malaria and the heat would.
At sea, 368 Allied ships—including 120 amphibious craft—were damaged while another 36—including 15 amphibious ships and 12 destroyers—were sunk during the Okinawa campaign.
USS Franklin suffered over 800 killed and missing and USS Bunker Hill suffered 396 killed and missing. These were the first and third largest loss of life on damaged or sunken American aircraft carriers during World War II.
There is a light year difference between those men and the Japanese of later generations and even those of that who rebuilt Japan. I remember how thankful we were when our LST returned to Yokosuka from Vietnam to have the Japanese yard workers swarm over our ship. Many of those who built the Imperial Japanese Navy that attacked Pearl Harbor now oversaw repair shops or crafted near miracles to make U.S. Navy ships ready deploy again.
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In the meantime, the US was building up Asian infrastructure, ports, etc. while bleeding our resources in a futile war.
Allied Naval vessels sunk or damaged by Japanese forces at Okinawa, primarily kamikazes, 19 March – 30 July 1945[68]
Day Ship Type Cause Killed Wounded
19 Mar 45 USS Wasp Carrier Air attack, bomb through flight, & hangar decks 102 269
19 Mar 45 USS Franklin Carrier Air attack 807 487
20 Mar 45 USS Enterprise[69][70] Carrier Air attack, two near misses from bombs, at the same time of near misses immediately hit by two 5-inch AA shells from U.S. ships 9 28
20 Mar 45 USS Hasley Powell Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze 12 29
24 Mar 45 USS Nevada Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit and knocked out 14-inch guns in turret number 3 11 49
26 Mar 45 * USS Haligan Destroyer Mine, 3 miles SE of Maye Shima, exploded two forward magazines, bow blown off[71] 153 39
26 Mar 45 USS Kimberly Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze 4 57
27 Mar 45 USS Murray Destroyer Air attack, bomb 1 116
27 Mar 45 USS O’Brian Destroyer Air attack, Val kamikaze with bomb 50 76
28 Mar 45 * USS Skylark Small Minesweeper Mine, struck mines twice off Hagushi beaches 5 25
28 Mar 45 USS LSM(R)-188 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze 15 32
29 Mar 45 USS Wyandot Attack Cargo Ship Mine, possibly bomb 0 1
31 Mar 45 USS Indianapolis[h] Cruiser Air attack, kamikaze with bomb through fuel tanks and propeller shafts 9 20
1 Apr 45 USS Adams Destroyer Minelayer Air attack, kamikaze with bombs to fantail 0 0
1 Apr 45 USS Alpine Attack Transport Air attack, bomb and kamikaze 16 27
1 Apr 45 USS Hinsdale Attack Transport Air attack, kamikaze with bombs at waterline 16 39
1 Apr 45 # USS LST-884 Tank Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze, scuttled 6 May 24 21
1 Apr 45 HMS Ulster Destroyer Air attack, near miss bomb, badly damaged 2 1
1 Apr 45 USS West Virginia[72] Battleship Air attack, kamikaze 4 23
2 Apr 45 USS New York Battleship Air attack, kamikaze destroyed search plane on catapult 0 2
2 Apr 45 * USS Dickerson Destroyer Transport Air attack, kamikaze Nick crashed bridge, towed, scuttled[73] 54 23
2 Apr 45 USS Goodhue Attack Transport Air attack, kamikaze aimed at bridge glanced mainmast, hit cargo boom, gun tubs, over side[74] 24 119
2 Apr 45 USS Henrico Attack Transport Air attack, kamikaze w/bombs hit bridge 49 125
2 Apr 45 USS Achernar Attack Cargo Ship Air attack, kamikaze w/bomb hit starboard 5 41
3 Apr 45 USS Wake Island Escort Carrier Air attack, kamikaze blew below waterline 0 0
3 Apr 45 USS Pritchett Destroyer Air attack, 500 lb bomb 0 0
3 Apr 45 USS Foreman Destroyer Air attack, bomb passed through her bottom, exploded below 0 3
3 Apr 45 USS LST-599 Tank Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze through main deck, fires[74] 0 21
3 Apr 45 # USS LCT-876 Landing Craft Tank Air attack 0 2
4 Apr 45 * USS LCI(G)-82[75] Landing Craft, Infantry Suicide boat 8 11
5 Apr 45 USS Nevada Battleship Air attack 25 Mar and 5 April coastal battery 2 16
6 Apr 45 * USS Bush Destroyer Air attack, three kamikaze hits, two between stacks, blew forward engine room, broke in half[76] 94 32
6 Apr 45 * USS Colhoun Destroyer Air attack, four kamikaze hits, bombs blew forward, & aft fire rooms at waterline[76] 35 21
6 Apr 45 USS Howorth Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze struck superstructure, fires put out[77] 9 14
6 Apr 45 USS Hyman Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze Hampton hit torpedo tubes twixt stacks[78] 10 40
6 Apr 45 # USS Leutze Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze blew at fantail, bad flooding[79] 7 34
6 Apr 45 # USS Morris Destroyer Air attack, kate kamikaze portside 0 5
6 Apr 45 USS Mullany Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit depth charges 13 45
6 Apr 45 # USS Newcomb Destroyer Air attack, multiple kamikazes 40 24
6 Apr 45 USS Haynsworth Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze 7 25
6 Apr 45 # USS Witter Destroyer Escort Starboard waterline kamikaze 0 5
6 Apr 45 USS Fieberling Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze near miss 6 6
6 Apr 45 * USS Emmons Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, five kamikaze hits, scuttled 7 April 64 71
6 Apr 45 USS Rodman Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, four kamikaze hits 16 20
6 Apr 45 USS Defense Small Minesweeper Air attack, two kamikaze strikes 0 9
6 Apr 45 * USS LST-447 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze hit close above waterline, bomb blew 5 17
6 Apr 45 * SS Hobbs Victory Cargo Air attack, kamikaze struck port, flames ignited ammunition 15 3
6 Apr 45 * SS Logan Victory Cargo Air attack, kamikaze struck superstructure, flames ignited ammunition 16 11
7 Apr 45 USS Hancock Carrier Air attack, cartwheeling kamikaze 72 82
7 Apr 45 USS Maryland Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit starboard 16 37
7 Apr 45 USS Bennett Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit engine room 3 18
7 Apr 45 USS Wesson Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze starboard 8 23
7 Apr 45 * USS PGM-18 Small Gunboat Mine, powerful explosion 14 14
7 Apr 45 * YMS-103 Small Minesweeper Mine, struck two mines, blowing off her bow and stem rescuing PGM-18[80][81] 5 0
8 Apr 45 USS Gregory Destroyer Air attack, port kamikaze amidships near waterline 0 2
8 Apr 45 USS YMS-92 Small Sweeper Air attack 0 0
9 Apr 45 USS Charles J. Badger Destroyer Suicide boat threw depth charge or mine[82] 0 0
9 Apr 45 USS Sterett Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit starboard at waterline 0 9
9 Apr 45 USS Hopping Destroyer Transport Coastal Battery, damaging hits off Buckner Bay 2 18
11 Apr 45 USS Enterprise Carrier Air attack, two kamikazes hit at the waterline near her hull 1 18
11 Apr 45 USS Kidd Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze 38 55
11 Apr 45 USS Missouri Battleship Air attack, kamikaze 0 0
12 Apr 45 USS Idaho Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit port side anti-torpedo bulge 0 0
12 Apr 45 USS Tennessee Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit signal bridge 25 104
12 Apr 45 * USS Mannert L. Abele Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze 79 35
12 Apr 45 USS Purdy Destroyer Air attack, splashed kamikaze bomb skidded in 13 27
12 Apr 45 USS Cassin Young Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit foremast 1 59
12 Apr 45 USS Zellars Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze crashed port, bomb blew 29 37
12 Apr 45 USS Rall Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze starboard aft, bomb blew 21 38
12 Apr 45 USS Whitehurst Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze with bomb crashed into pilot house 37 37
12 Apr 45 USS Lindsey Destroyer Minelayer Air attack, two kamikaze Val strikes 56 51
12 Apr 45 USS LSM(R)-189 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze 0 4
12 Apr 45 * USS LCS(L)-33 Landing Craft Air attack, kamikaze Val amidships 4 29
12 Apr 45 USS LCS(L)-57 Landing Craft Air attack, three kamikaze strikes 2 6
14 Apr 45 USS Sigsbee Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze damaged port engine 4 74
16 Apr 45 USS Intrepid Carrier Air attack, kamikaze crashed deck, fires put out 10 87
16 Apr 45 USS Bryant Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze to bridge, with explosion 34 33
16 Apr 45 USS Laffey Destroyer Air attack, multiple kamikaze hits 31 72
16 Apr 45 * USS Pringle Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze Val hit abaft stack No. 1, explosion, broke in half 65 110
16 Apr 45 USS Bowers Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze to bridge, bomb hit pilot house 48 56
16 Apr 45 # USS Harding Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, kamikaze struck side near bridge 22 10
16 Apr 45 USS Hobson Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, near miss kamikaze’s bomb veered in 4 8
16 Apr 45 USS LCS(L)-116 Landing Craft Air attack, kamikaze hit aft gun mount 12 12
16 Apr 45 USS Missouri Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit stern crane 0 2
18 Apr 45 USS LSM-28 Landing Ship Air attack 0 0
22 Apr 45 USS Isherwood Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze w/bomb crashed gun mount 42 41
22 Apr 45 * USS Swallow Small Sweeper Air attack, bad kamikaze hit flooded her, 3 mins sunk 2 9
22 Apr 45 * USS LCS(L)-15 Landing Craft Air attack 15 11
27 Apr 45 # USS Hutchins Destroyer Suicide boat explosive blew close 0 0
27 Apr 45 # USS Rathburne Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit port bow waterline 0 0
27 Apr 45 * SS Canada Victory Cargo Air attack, kamikaze hit stern, lit ammo, sunk in ten minutes 12 27
28 Apr 45 USS Pinkney Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit aft of superstructure, lit ammo 35 12
28 Apr 45 USS Comfort Hospital Ship Air attack, kamikaze through three decks to surgery 30 48
29 Apr 45 # USS Haggard Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze went through hull, blew engine room 11 40
29 Apr 45 USS Hazelwood Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze zero hit port bridge 46 26
29 Apr 45 # USS LCS(L)-37 Landing Craft Suicide boat 0 4
30 Apr 45 USS Terror Minelayer Air attack, kamikaze blew through main deck 48 123
3 May 45 * USS Little Destroyer Air attack, five kamikaze strikes 30 79
3 May 45 # USS Aaron Ward Destroyer Minelayer Air attack; three kamikaze hits and bomb frags 45 49
3 May 45 USS Macomb Destroyer Minelayer Air attack, kamikaze 7 14
3 May 45 * USS LSM(R)-195 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze hit rockets, sunk 8 16
4 May 45 # USS Sangamon Escort Carrier Air attack, kamikaze & bomb blew through flight deck 46 116
4 May 45 USS Birmingham Light Cruiser Air attack, kamikaze hit forward 51 81
4 May 45 USS Ingraham Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze above port waterline, bomb blew 14 37
4 May 45 HMS Formidable Carrier Air attack, kamikaze & bomb blew through flight deck 8 55
4 May 45 USS Hopkins Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, glancing blow by burning kamikaze 0 1
4 May 45 * USS Luce Destroyer Air attack, first kamikaze bomb hit, second kamikaze struck aft 149 94
4 May 45 * USS Morrison Destroyer Air attack, first kamikaze hit bridge, then three more hits 159 102
4 May 45 USS Shea Destroyer Air attack, Ohka kamikaze through starboard bridge 27 91
4 May 45 USS Carina Cargo Ship Suicide boat ramming caused explosion 0 6
4 May 45 * USS LSM(R)-190 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze set off her rockets 13 18
4 May 45 * USS LSM(R)-194 Landing Ship Air attack 13 23
9 May 45 # USS England Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze dive bomber 35 27
9 May 45 HMS Formidable Carrier Air attack, kamikaze 1 4
9 May 45 # USS Oberrender Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze hit starboard gun mount, bomb through main deck 8 53
11 May 45 USS Bunker Hill[i] Carrier Air attack, three kamikaze hits with bombs through flight deck 396 264
11 May 45 # USS Hugh W. Hadley Destroyer Air attack, aft bomb, an Ohka, and two more kamikazes struck 28 67
11 May 45 # USS Evans Destroyer Air attack, struck by four kamikazes, fires put out 30 29
11 May 45 USS LCS(L)-88 Landing Craft Air attack 7 9
12 May 45 USS New Mexico[j] Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit, bomb 54 119
13 May 45 USS Bache Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit, bomb exploded amidships just above main deck 41 32
13 May 45 USS Bright Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze zero hit fantail, bomb exploded 0 2
14 May 45 USS Enterprise[k] Carrier Air attack, two kamikazes, struck port, & under starboard bow 14 68
17 May 45 USS Douglas H. Fox Destroyer Two kamikaze strikes, one to forward gun mounts, one to fantail 9 35
18 May 45 * USS Longshaw Destroyer Coastal Battery, four hits, one ignited magazine, blew off bow back to bridge[83] 86 97
18 May 45 * USS LST-808 Landing Ship Tank Air attack 11 11
20 May 45 # USS Chase Destroyer Escort Air attack, splashed kamikaze skidded in, bombs opened hull, with flooding 0 35
20 May 45 # USS Thatcher Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze Oscar struck aft of bridge, large hole 14 53
20 May 45 # USS John C. Butler Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze hit to mast and antennas 0 0
25 May 45 USS Stormes Destroyer Air attack, crashed aft torpedo mount, bomb blew large hole, flooded aft 21 6
25 May 45 USS O’Neill Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze 0 16
25 May 45 USS Butler Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, kamikaze bombs exploded under keel 0 15
25 May 45 # USS Spectacle Small Minesweeper Air attack, kamikaze crashed port gun tub causing fires 29 6
25 May 45 * USS Barry Destroyer Transport Air attack, kamikaze badly crashed starboard side, fires, abandoned 0 30
25 May 45 * USS Bates Destroyer Escort Air attack, two kamikaze hits, fires, abandoned, towed, later sank 21 35
25 May 45 USS Roper Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit off Hanagushi, Okinawa 1 10
25 May 45 * LSM-135 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze caused fires, beached, abandoned 11 10
25 May 45 SS William B. Allison (aka USS Inca)
[84]
Cargo Ship, Liberty Ship Air attack, Aerial Torpedo off Nakagusuku Wan 8 2
27 May 45 USS Braine Destroyer Air attack, two kamikazes, first hit bridge, and second hit amidships 66 78
27 May 45 # USS Forrest Destroyer Minesweeper Air attack, kamikaze crashed starboard side waterline 5 13
27 May 45 USS Rednour Transport Air attack, two kamikazes hits, one made ten foot hole in main deck 3 13
27 May 45 USS Loy Destroyer Escort Air attack, kamikaze near miss sprayed fragments 3 15
27 May 45 LCS(L)-119 Landing Craft Air attack 12 6
28 May 45 * USS Drexler Destroyer Air attack, first kamikaze Frances hit topside, second Francis with bombs crashed into superstructure 158 51
28 May 45 USS Sandoval Attack Transport Air attack, kamikaze hit portside of wheelhouse 8 26
28 May 45 SS Brown Victory Cargo Air attack, kamikaze hit 4 16
28 May 45 SS Josiah Snelling[85] Cargo Air attack, kamikaze hit 0 11
28 May 45 SS Mary A. Livermore Cargo Air attack, kamikaze hit on starboard 10 4
29 May 45 USS Shubrick Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze bomb hit starboard causing hole, exploding depth charge 32 28
3 June 45 # USS LCI-90 Landing Craft Infantry Air attack, kamikaze 1 7
5 Jun 45 USS Louisville Cruiser Air attack, kamikaze hit quad 40mm AA gun mount and number 1 smoke stack 8 45
5 Jun 45 USS Mississippi[86] Battleship Air attack, kamikaze hit 1 2
6 June 45 # USS J. William Ditter Destroyer Minelayer Air attack, first kamikaze glanced, second hit port near main deck 10 27
6 Jun 45 USS Harry F. Bauer Destroyer Minelayer Air attack, kamikaze hit superstructure 0 0
7 June 45 USS Natoma Bay Escort carrier Air attack, kamikaze hit flight deck 1 4
10 Jun 45 * USS William D. Porter Destroyer Air attack, splashed kamikaze Val’s bomb exploded close underwater 0 61
11 Jun 45 USS LCS(L)-122 Landing Craft Air attack kamikaze hit conning tower base, bomb fragments caused fires[87] 11 29
16 Jun 45 * USS Twiggs Destroyer Air attack, splashed kamikaze and bomb blew in hull plating, with structural damage 126 34
21 Jun 45 USS Halloran Destroyer Escort Air attack, splashed kamikaze’s bomb struck 3 24
21 Jun 45 USS Curtiss Seaplane Tender Air attack, kamikaze and bomb ripped two holes in hull and blew 41 28
21 Jun 45 * USS LSM-59 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze strike while towing USS Barry, sank in four minutes 2 8
22 Jun 45 USS LSM-213 Landing Ship Air attack, kamikaze strike at Kimmu Wan, hull damage[88] 3 10
22 Jun 45 USS LST-534 Landing Ship Tank Air attack, while offloading on Nagagusuku Wan, kamikaze hit bow doors, tank deck[88] 3 35
29 Jul 45 * USS Callaghan Destroyer Air attack, bi-plane kamikaze hit, its bomb blew aft engine room, sunk 47 73
30 Jul 45 USS Cassin Young Destroyer Air attack, kamikaze hit forward, earlier hit 12 April 22 45
Total 4582 6043
He was later stationed in Japan for 6 months and as far as I know never had any problems with the Japanese.
Description of what an invasion of Japan would likely have looked like:
https://charliecompany.org/2015/02/24/declassified-plans-for-the-ww-ii-invasion-of-japan/
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