The fighting on Okinawa was among the most savage close quarters combat of the Pacific War. Spencer Bullard was faced with this reality, with combatants often just yards apart.
Spencer Bullard
Hal Leith led a small team that parachuted into Japanese-occupied Manchuria right after the Emperor’s announcement of the surrender. Their goal was to make contact with Allied POWs held at a camp near Mukden, but first, they had to convince the Japanese that the war was over, and Leith had to keep his own team from provoking a firefight.
Hal Leith
Though Japan had surrendered, occupation forces expected resistance when landing on Honshu, Waverly Person worried that racial segregation would make the landing more dangerous for black troops and raised his objections.
Waverly Person
Ruth Prudhomme served as a nurse stateside and in field hospitals of the South Pacific. Before going overseas, she treated casualties from the Aleutian Campaign and found the Army was ill-equipped for fighting there.
Ruth Prudhomme
Working in a field hospital in the South Pacific during World War II often meant making do with less than ideal facilities. Penny Schumann, a nurse in several field hospitals, recounts how the Army went about setting up operating rooms and patient wards in temporary quarters within a few miles of the front lines.