On this day in history, April 1, 1945, US forces invade Okinawa, last major battle of World War II

1945 年 4 月 1 日，历史上的这一天，美军入侵冲绳，这是第二次世界大战的最后一场重大战役

Mass suicide by Japanese civilians, kamikazes convinced President Truman atomic bombs would save millions of lives

日本平民集体自杀，神风敢死队令杜鲁门总统深信原子弹将会挽救数百万人的生命

The United States launched a massive invasion of the Japanese home island of Okinawa, with an initial landing of 60,000 soldiers and marines, on this day in history, April 1, 1945.
The Battle of Okinawa proved the last major engagement of World War II and the largest battle of the entire war in the Pacific Theater.

1945 年 4 月 1 日，历史上的这一天，美国对日本本土的冲绳岛发动了大规模入侵，最开始有 60,000 名士兵和海军陆战队员登陆。
冲绳战役是第二次世界大战的最后一次重大战斗，也是整个太平洋战场中规模最大的战役。

Kamikazes, mass civilian suicide, the use of children in combat, the deaths of top-ranking officers and atrocious casualties on both sides defined the nearly three-month-long brutal engagement, which ended in U.S. victory on June 22.

神风敢死队、平民集体自杀、在战斗中使用儿童、高级军官的死亡和双边残酷的伤亡定义了这场长达近三个月的野蛮交战，最终于 6 月 22 日以美国的胜利告终。

Its catastrophic battle had a dramatic impact on the shape of the world to come — convincing President Truman that the atomic bomb would hasten the end of the war and save millions of lives.
"Although the joint Army-Marine Corps landings on Okinawa were initially unopposed, the well dug-in Japanese defenders soon put up fierce resistance," writes the National World War II Museum.

这场灾难性的战斗对未来世界的模样产生了巨大的影响——使杜鲁门总统深信原子弹将会加速战争的结束并挽救数百万人的生命。
“尽管陆军 - 海军陆战队在冲绳的联合登陆最初没有受到袭击，但深挖壕沟的日本守军很快就进行了激烈的抵抗，”国家二战博物馆写道。


"Taking Okinawa would provide Allied forces an airbase from which bombers could strike Japan and an advanced anchorage for Allied fleets. From Okinawa, U.S. forces could increase air strikes against Japan and blockade important logistical routes, denying the home islands of vital commodities."

“夺取冲绳将会为盟军提供空军基地，轰炸机可以从这个基地袭击日本，并为盟军舰队提供前进码头。从冲绳出发，美军可以增大对日本的空袭，封锁重要的后勤路线，阻止日本主岛获得重要的商品。

The conquest of Okinawa, with its population of about 300,000 people, proved a horrific challenge.

征服拥有约30万人口的冲绳被证明是一个可怕的挑战。

"By the time Okinawa was secured by American forces on June 22, 1945, the United States had sustained over 49,000 casualties, including more than 12,500 men killed or missing," reports the National World War II Museum.
It adds, "Okinawans caught in the fighting suffered greatly, with an estimate as high as 150,000 civilians killed" — about half the pre-invasion population of the island.

“直到 1945 年 6 月 22 日美军占领冲绳时，美国已经伤亡超过 49,000 人，其中包括 12,500 多名士兵死亡或失踪，”国家二战博物馆的报告说到。
它补充说，“陷入战斗的冲绳人遭受了巨大的痛苦，估计有多达15万平民丧生”——大约是入侵前该岛人口的一半。
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American war planners were shocked by the fanatical suicides of both civilians on the island and kamikaze pilots attacking U.S. warships supporting the invasion.

美国的战争计划人员对岛上平民的狂热自杀和神风敢死队飞行员袭击支援入侵军队的美国军舰感到震惊。

Many GIs watched in horror as civilians leaped to their deaths over the cliffs of Okinawa, often with their children by their side or in their arms, rather than face U.S. troops.
One area of Okinawa is still known today as Suicide Cliff.

许多美国士兵惊恐地看着冲绳的平民宁可在悬崖上跳下身亡，他们往往带着孩子在身边或抱在怀里，而不是面对美国军队。
冲绳的一个地方至今仍被称为自杀崖。
【GIs ：Government Issue：政府发行或提供的；美国士兵】

"Many civilians, often entire families, committed suicide rather than surrender to Americans, by some accounts on the orders of fanatical Japanese soldiers," Reuters reported in a 2007 anniversary story of the Battle of Okinawa.

2007年冲绳战役周年纪念报道，路透社在报道中说：“许多平民，通常是整个家庭，宁愿自杀，也不愿向美国人投降，据某些报道称行动是在狂热的日本士兵的命令下执行的。

"We were told that if women were taken prisoner we would be raped and that we should not allow ourselves to be captured," one survivor told the news outlet.
"Four of us tried to commit suicide with one hand grenade, but it did not go off."

“我们被告知，如果妇女被俘虏，将会被强奸，所以我们不应该让自己被俘虏，”一名幸存者告诉新闻媒体。
“我们四个人试图用一枚手榴弹自杀，但它没有爆炸。

Japan launched its first kamikaze attacks in 1944 in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. But the horrifying suicide onslaught reached its deadliest fever pitch at Okinawa.

日本在 1944 年的莱特湾战役中发动了第一次神风敢死队袭击。但这种可怕的自杀式袭击在冲绳战役中达到了最致命的狂热程度。

The Japanese launched 1,900 kamikaze attacks during the Okinawa campaign, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy.

根据美国海军国家博物馆的数据，日本在冲绳战役期间发动了 1,900 次神风敢死队袭击。

They struck 149 American ships, leaving nearly 10,000 Americans dead, wounded or missing.
The intense battle claimed the lives of the top-ranking soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

他们袭击了 149 艘美国船只，造成近 10,000 名美国人死亡、受伤及失踪。
激烈的战斗夺走了冲突的双方最优秀士兵的生命。

"This was the only battle in the Pacific War [in which] both commanding generals were killed," wrote Michael A. Eyre for Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
"The Japanese commander, General Ushijima, committed harikari and his American counterpart, Lieutenant General Buckner, was killed by mortar fire. Buckner was the highest ranking American officer to be killed in World War II. This demonstrates the significance and ferocity of the fight for Okinawa."

“这是太平洋战争中唯一的一场双方指挥官都阵亡的战斗，”德克萨斯农工大学科珀斯克里斯蒂分校的迈克尔·A·艾尔（Michael A. Eyre）写道。
“日本的指挥官牛岛将军（General Ushijima）忠诚的切腹自尽，他的美国对手巴克纳（Buckner）中将被迫击炮杀死。巴克纳是二战中阵亡的最高级别的美国军官。这证明了冲绳战役的重要性和残忍性。

Perhaps the most famous person killed on Okinawa was celebrity U.S. war correspondent Ernie Pyle, who chronicled the war in both Europe and Asia and won the acclaim of American troops for his front-line reporting.

也许在冲绳遇难的最著名人士是美国的战地记者明星厄尼·派尔（Ernie Pyle），他记录了欧洲地区和亚洲地区的战争，并因其前线报道而赢得了美军的赞誉。

The 44-year-old Indiana native was killed instantly when he was shot in the head by enemy machine gun fire on April 18.
"Soldiers built a coffin for their friend and buried him along with the others killed on Ie Shima," reports the Indiana Historical Society.
"About 200 men from all ranks and representing all parts of the armed forces attended the burial service held on April 20, which lasted about 10 minutes."

4月18日，这位44岁的印第安纳州本地人被敌人的机枪击中头部，当场死亡。
“士兵们为他们的朋友建造了一口棺材，并将他与在伊江岛死亡的其他士兵一起埋葬，”根据印第安纳州历史学会的报道。
“来自各个队伍和各个部门的代表大约200人参加了4月20日举行的葬礼，葬礼持续了大约10分钟。”

The impact of the Battle of Okinawa is still being felt today.

冲绳战役的影响直至今日。

"The losses at Okinawa convinced U.S. war planners that any invasion of Japan would incur unacceptable casualties," writes the Imperial War Museum of London.
"Their estimates, at worst as many as 1 million U.S. servicemen, were a key factor in President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb."

“冲绳的损失令美国的战争规划者相信，任何入侵日本的方法都会造成难以接受的伤亡，”伦敦帝国战争博物馆写道。
“他们的估计，最坏的情况是多达100万美国军人死亡，这是杜鲁门总统决定使用原子弹的关键因素。