Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

(Hardback)

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Description

On May 12, 1945, the 6th Marine Division was nearing Naha, capital of Okinawa. To the division's front lay a low, loaf-shaped hill. Over the next week, the Marines made repeated attacks on the hill losing thousands of men to death, wounds and combat fatigue. Ironically, these losses may not have been necessary. General Lemuel Shepherd, Jr. had argued for an amphibious assault to the rear of the Japanese defence line, but his proposal was rejected by US Tenth Army Commander, General Simon Bolivar Buckner. That refusal led to a controversy that has continued to this day.

Reviews

Hallas's chronicle of the battle's many instances of grace under fire will enhance all collections devoted to war's human dimensions.-Publishers Weekly
Meticulously researched and based on interviews with nearly 100 survivors, this is a fitting tribute to the struggle, largely unknown to most Americans.- Amazon.com Books
"Hallas's chronicle of the battle's many instances of grace under fire will enhance all collections devoted to war's human dimensions."-Publishers Weekly
"Meticulously researched and based on interviews with nearly 100 survivors, this is a fitting tribute to the struggle, largely unknown to most Americans."- Amazon.com Books

Author Bio

JAMES H. HALLAS is publisher of the Glastonbury Citizen, a newspaper in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He has published articles in American History Illustrated and Yankee Magazine. He has written two books, Squandered Victory: The American First Army at St. Mihiel (Praeger, 1995) and Devil's Anvil: The Assault on Peleliu (Praeger, 1994).