RARE! WWII 1945 LST 651 Soldier's Diary Battle of Okinawa Operation Iceberg

This diary report was typed and printed directly aboard LST-651 during the Battle of Okinawa following the D-Day landing on April 1st, 1945. The Battle of Okinawa (Japanese: , Hepburn: Okinawa-sen), codenamed Operation Iceberg. Was a battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March by the 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.

This is a one-in-a-lifetime chance to own a non-censored original WWII diary account of the D-Day preparation for Operation Iceberg and the LST role in the invasion. As dawn arrived on April 1, morale was low among American troops as the Fifth Fleet launched the largest bombardment ever to support a troop landing to soften Japanese defenses. Soldiers and Army brass alike expected the beach landings to be a massacre worse than D-Day. But the Fifth Fleet's offensive onslaught was almost pointless and landing troops could have literally swum to shore-surprisingly, the expected mass of awaiting Japanese troops wasn't there.

On D-Day along the shores of northern France, American troops fought hard for every inch of beachhead-but troops landing on Okinawa's beaches surged inland with little resistance. Wave after wave of troops, tanks, ammunition and supplies went ashore almost effortlessly within hours. The troops quickly secured both Kadena and Yontan airfields.