April 1945 – August 1945
April 1,1945, Easter Day. Landed at Okinawa amid perfect weather and no Japanese resistance. Troops chasing live chickens to cook and riding little Mongolian ponies. Morning of second day, Japanese artillery let us have it. Destroyed many of our personnel records and office equipment. Ordered to move immediately to escape enemy artillery. Located battalion headquarters in a scooped out pit, which was filling with water from heavy rain. Used duckboards. Someone had a water pump on continually to keep the place useable. Japanese artillery getting worse. Deep foxholes dug and often standing in water. One artillery section sent out to fire point blank at Japanese caves in the hills. Japanese spot our section and kill the crew, the chaplain, and battalion executive officer. Brother Dick came to see me one day. He looked bad. Not talkative, very different. He seems resigned that he may be killed. Also saw infantry men sober non-talkative, a life-for-them-is-gone appearance.
-Harold Moss
-
April 1945
-
May 1945
-
June 1945
-
July 1945
-
August 1945
-
- 96th Division Cemetery, Okinawa, 1945
-
- Japanese Money, 1945
-
- Japanese money, 1945