By October 1944 the war had changed dramatically and turned against Japan. The United States thought that the air force bombing of Japans island home land would bring them to their knees but the U.S. Army knew that a ground attack was necessary. Once the island of Iwo Jima was captured the next step to Japan main land was the largest of a group of island called the Ryukyu Archipelago. The island was only 340 miles …showed first 75 words of 1390 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1390 total…Japanese resistance ceased, thus ending the last great amphibious operation of the war, and one of the most bitter of the Pacific campaigns. Okinawa remained under U.S. control from 1945 to 1972, when it was returned to Japan. Bibliography 1. Lieutenant Colonel A.J. Barker. Okinawa. New York:         Gallery Books Publishers, 1988. 2. C.L. Sulzberger. The American Heritage Picture History of World War II. New York: American Heritage/Bonanza Books, 1985.         3. The World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1992 ed.