Evening star., 1945-05-16
Marines Retake
Ground, Reach
Of Naha
Both Sides Suffer
Heavy Losses When
jap Attack Fails
BY tho Associated Press

by inc Associated Press.
GUAM, May 10 American
Marines battled furiously on the
edge of Naha, capital of Okinawa
Island, today after retaking
ground lost in the bloodiest Jap
anese counterattack of the of
fensive.
GA British broadcast of a Reu-
ters dispatch heard by CHS in
New York said Naha had fallen
to the Americans. There was no
confirmation from American
heaiauarte-S)
The japanese launched their coun-
terattack around midnight Monday
after a heavy artillery barrage. said
Al Dopking, Associated Press war
correspondent.
Fight Like Maniacs.
At GAVIN one 22d Marine regiment
officer said we've been fighting like
maniacs since midnight" Mr.. Dop-
king reported that before the battle
was over one American company
had only two men left and another
company had only eight
American headquarters said the
Marines not only beat back the
Japanese, but also drove the enemy
into the interior of Takamotoji
town with heavy losses.
simultaneously Admiral Chester
w. Nimitz announced carrier plane
raids destroyed or damaged 357
enemy aircraft and pounded 18
enemy airhelds on the japanese
home islands of Honshu and Kyu-
shu. He listed 176 aircraft destroyed
l08 either destroyed or damaged and
73 machine gunned without OBJ
served results.
japanese artillery shells shrieked
overhead as prelude to the enemy's
desperate attempt to drive Marines
out of the Naha sector. and night
and day battle ragged wildly.
Marines Fall Back, Rally.
Marines of the veteran 22d Regi-
ment were showed back 200 yards
across a valley to the left of Naha,
the capital city, before they rallied
and turned the assault.
AS the japanese attack mounted
in fury Marine cooks, bakers and
other rear echelon troops were
thrown into the battle. Hand
flew about like baseballs,
and the dead were strewn on both
sides of the valley.
1t was perhaps the most deter
mined enemy attack Of the Okinawa
campaign and the emperor's soldiers
for time rode bloody crest. Then
the 22d-veterans of Eniwetok and
Orote Peninsala-absorbed the shock
and literally made a step-by-step
advance. At least 400 enemy dead
were counted by noon.
Marines Regain Ground.
Brig. Gen. William T. Clement of
Richmond, Va, assistant commander
OF the 9Th Marine Division, of which
the 22d is a part, said grimly:
I'VE are we'll bled but we'll crush
those damned buzzards before it's
over"
BY afternoon following the night
assault the Marines had regained
lost ground, but fighting still was
furious around Sugar Loaf Hill, a
strategic mound guarding ap-
proaches to Naha.
The counterattack was full scale
attempt by the enemy to turn the
tide of the campaign, in the opin-
ion of one officer.
We've killed SO damned many of
them we know they are throwing
full scale blow at u.s. he said.
Strategic Hill Captured.
Okinawa ground action was high
lighted by the seizure, after five
days of hard fighting, of strategic
Chocolate Drop Hill in the central
sector by the 77th Infantry Di-
vision. The promontory provides
the Doughboys with a valuable OBJ
servation point.
The japanese again made an
abortive counter landing attempt
near hard-won Machinato airfield
behind 9th Marine Division lines.
Naval gunf1re smashed the land
ing boats.
In the suburbs of Naha, the Japa-
neSe counterattack was hurled back
to Takamotoji Village with heavy
losses.
A japanese attempt to drive the
96th Infantry Division off Conical
Hill similarly was lepulsed.
Incomplete returns indicated that
10 United States planes were lost in
the two days and one nights car
rier operation. The Tokyo radio
said more than 900 American planes
were involved.
The carrier strikes occurred while
Maj. Gen. Curtis E. Lemay's largest