Okinawa Ceremony to Mark 77th Anniversary of End of the Battle There

From the June 24, 2022, Chicago Tribune.

Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension.

The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents.  Japan's wartime miitary, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.

Many inOkinawa are worried about the growing deployment of Japanese missile defense and amphibious capabilities on the outwer islands that are close to geopolitical hotspots like Taiwan.

--GreGen