US Marine Provides Covering Fire, Battle of Okinawa, Japan, May 1945

"Two Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during fighting at Wana Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa, May 1945. On the left, Davis Hargraves (1925-) provides covering fire with his M1 Thompson submachinegun as Gabriel Chavarria (on the right; 1926-), with a Browning Automatic Rifle, prepares to break cover to move to a different position. Wana Ridge was a long coral spine running out of northern Shuri Hill and was lined on both sides with Okinawan tombs. Japanese emplacements in the tombs and on the reverse slope of the ridge forced the Marines to carefully fight their way through the fortifications. A Japanese counterattack on the Marines on the ridge on 22 May was repelled. It is not known if this photo was taken before or after the Japanese counterattack. Note that the photographer has apparently taken the picture from a covered position behind the ridgeline."

Uploaded by northway on 2014-09-05
0 views

Comments

Comments are disabled for this photo.