The battle of Okinawa started on April 1st 1945. Securing Okinawa was a crucial part of acquiring an advantage over the Japanese during World War II. The bloodshed on this island deemed Okinawa to be the bloodiest battle America has witnessed in history up till that time. America wanted to destroy what was left of the Japanese fleets that were still stationed in Japan. In order to do this, the Americans needed a place where they could stop and reload efficiently. Okinawa served as the perfect place that was halfway between Japan and the United States. A that time, Okinawa was occupied by the Japanese troops. To take over Okinawa, the Americans needed a strong attack plan. The man in charge of this plan was General Simon Buckner. Bucker was in command of 180,000 troops where he positioned at the western side of Okinawa island. Since Okinawa had four airstripes, Buckner thought that he could send his troops to the airfields planning to catch the Japanese off guard. The problem with this plan was that the American army didn’t acquire enough information to devise a secure enough plan for the airstrip invasion. The americans were met with a massive Japanese resistance that seemed to never stop fighting. The japanese were not going to give up. Commanding the Japanese troops, was a man named Ushijima. Under his command, he positioned his men on the southern part of Okinawa. Ushijima thought that when the American troops were crossing the island, they could ambush them. The japanese carved dog outs into the hills of the island where they waited until the first sign of the Americans. Ushijima knew that with his small numbers of men, that they were going to be defeated. Knowing this, Ushijima relied on the Kamikaze attacks to inflict the most damage while taking as many Americans as they possibly could. As the American troops grew closer to the middle of the island, Buckner hoped that his men could flush the Japanese from their hiding place