Word: shuri
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...concrete road west of Shuri castle had been smashed by shelling; eleven days of rain had turned Okinawa's red clay into hip-deep sludge. Confidently the Japanese commander moved his troops over to the east side of the castle, certain that no troops could attack his left. He underestimated the webfoot qualities of the U.S. marines...
...personal equipment and set out through the muck. Ascending a narrow ravine they labored 2,000 yards to the shattered walls of the castle, sliding and cursing. Only a few snipers were left to oppose them, and the marines drove into the vital heart of the Japanese Shuri line. Said Major General Pedro A. del Valle, 1st Marine Division commander: "The most astonishing thing is how the hell they got there...
...bolt position in the center of their line, the Japs had the ancient citadel of Shuri, visited by Commodore Perry in 1853. In Shuri castle, biggest and stoutest structure on the island, the Ryukyu kings had lived before the Japs took over, a quarter-century after Perry's visit. Last week a U.S. battleship scored 25 direct hits on the castle, but the shells bounced off, said an observer, like "rubber balls...
Whoever held 300-ft. Sugar Loaf controlled the western approach to Shuri castle, as well as the eastern flank of Naha, Okinawa's capital city. Leathernecks of Major General Lemuel C. Shepherd's 6th Marine Division assaulted Sugar Loaf nine times, and were four times blown off the crest before they could move down the far side. Hundreds of Japs piling out of caves and tombs were slaughtered by the 6th's tanks...
Chocolate Drop, a 130-ft. reddish-brown mound, was another tough obstacle on the way to Shuri. For six days the 77th Infantry Division fought seesaw battles for the top, and finally won it. The Japs also counterattacked Conical Hill and clung to positions on the south slope, barring access to the west coast port of Yonabaru. On the east coast, Marine patrols found Naha a stinking, corpse-littered ruin...