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Show ; WWII: Last Battle bloodiest, came when the outcome out-come of the war was no longer in doubt. Less interest had thus been attached to it than to earlier battles. Yet its outcome was a major factor in convincing convinc-ing many in Japan the struggle was hopeless. The atomic bomb made that fate much more obvious. : wnat was tne costliest name of World War II for U.S. forces? The Battle of the . Bulge? Pearl Harbor? Midway? Mid-way? None of these, but the Battle of Okinawa. THE UPCOMING official Japanese surrender tnniver-; tnniver-; sary in September brings to mind the close of the war in the Pacific and the last and most ' costly battle of the war. That battle began April 1, when the first of eight divisions ; began landing against no oppo-7 oppo-7 sition on the 75-mile-long is- land. What at first seemed easy turned into grim surprise; the enemy was underground and waiting, in well prepared con crete ounKers ana aeiensive positions. BEFORE THE fighting ended en-ded months later, the Army and Marines had lost over 7,500 dead and missing, over 31,000 wounded and non-battle non-battle casualties of 26,211. U.S. Navy losses had been by far the highest of any other battle-almost 5,000 dead, a similar simi-lar number wounded, 36 ships sunk and 368 damaged! Japanese losses were even more staggering. The U.S. war machine exterminated 110,000 soldiers, 7,800 aircraft (most suicides) and sixteen warships. war-ships. This battle, the |