The American forces had conquered the island of Okinawa at a tremendous cost. Germany had surrendered, but the fight was not over yet in the Pacific. The Army, Navy, and Marines still had a job to do: the invasion of mainland Japan.

Rumors were quickly spreading. Some said the Japanese were training over 30 million civilians for a fight to their last breath. Others speculated the Imperial Navy was preparing more than 100,000 troops for suicide attacks aboard aircraft, ships, boats, submarines, and even underwater frogmen operations.

However, the Marines and Army soldiers felt most puzzled about the fact that the military had already made over 500,000 Purple Heart medals for the wounded in combat and tens of thousands of crosses and stars of David for those who would not return.

Unfortunately, these last rumors would prove to be true. The US military was preparing for Operation Downfall, the largest in military history: the occupation of Japan at any cost.

-

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -