History of the Marine Corps

This episode begins with the thunder of Easter Sunday, 1945, when Marines and soldiers of the U.S. Tenth Army hit the beaches of Okinawa. After weeks of naval bombardment, they expected hell on the sand. Instead, they found silence. The Japanese had pulled back, choosing to fight from caves and ridges deep inland.

That calm didn’t last. Within days…

The episode closes on L-Day, April 1, 1945, as four divisions landed across Hagushi beaches, beginning the climactic battle that would test Okinawa’s terrain, its people, and both armies to the limit.

By 1945, Okinawa stood as the last barrier before the homeland, vital to both Japanese defense and American invasion plans. The Japanese abandoned beach defenses and instead transformed ridges, caves, and limestone plateaus into layered strongholds, preparing to bleed the invaders inland. The United States assembled the Tenth Army to launch the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific.

The episode closes on L-Day, April 1, 1945, as four divisions landed across Hagushi beaches, beginning the climactic battle that would test Okinawa’s terrain, its people, and both armies to the limit.

The battle’s later weeks were a relentless grind through Iwo Jima’s strongest defenses. Marines battered the “Meat Grinder” of Hill 382, Turkey Knob, and the Amphitheater, where progress was measured in yards and companies were reduced to fragments. Caves, reverse-slope positions, and night counterattacks forced constant, costly use of tank–infantry teams, flamethrowers, and demolitions.

This episode will…