82 Days on Okinawa

"A gritty, first-person account. ... One can hear Shaw’s voice as if he were sitting beside you." —Wall Street JournalAn unforgettable soldier’s-eye view of the Pacific War’s bloodiest battle, by the first American officer ashore Okinawa. On Easter Sunday,April 1, 1945, 1.5 million men gathered aboard 1,500 Allied ships off the coastof the Japanese island of Okinawa. The men were there to launch the largestamphib­ious assault on the Pacific Theater. War planners expected an 80 percentcasualty rate.The first Americanofficer ashore was then-Major Art Shaw (1920-2020), a unit commander in the U.S. Army’s361st Field Artillery Battalion of the 96th Infantry Division, nicknamed theDeadeyes. For the next three months, Shaw and his men served near the frontlines of the Pacific’s costliest battle, their artillery proving decisiveagainst a phantom enemy who had entrenched itself in the rugged, craggy island.Over eighty-two days, the Allies fought the Japanese army in acampaign that would claim more than 150,000 human lives. When the finalcalculations were made, the Deadeyes were estimated to have killed 37,763 ofthe enemy. The 361st Field Artillery Battalion had played a crucial role in thevictory. The campaign would be the last major battle of World War II and a keypivot point leading to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to theJapanese surrender in August, two months after the siege’s end.Filled withextraordinary details, Shaw’s gripping account gives lasting testimony to thecourage and bravery displayed by so many on the hills of Okinawa.