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The Gory Way Japanese Generals Ended Their Battle on Okinawa

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Landing On Okinawa
Soldiers of US 10th Army march inland after securing beachheads following the last amphibious assault landings of WWII as vessels from the Allied fleet patrol the waters off of Okinawa, Japan, April 1945.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
By Lily Rothman

When the World War II battle over the Japanese island of Okinawa officially ended 70 years ago today, on June 22, 1945, it had secured its place as the bloodiest clash in the Central and Western Pacific fronts. TIME’s initial estimate a few days later was that more than 98,000 Japanese people had been killed and nearly 7,000 Americans were dead or missing.

Two men were not among that haunting count. It wasn’t until weeks later, in its July 9 issue, that TIME reported on what happened to Lieut. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima and Lieut. Gen. Isamu Cho, based on the tale told by the soldier who cooked their last meal:

On a narrow ledge overlooking the sea at the southern end of Okinawa the two Generals whispered to each other. They knelt side by side on a patchwork quilt covered by a white sheet (the color of death). Ushijima’s aide stepped forward, bowed, handed each General a gleaming knife. The knives had been half covered with white cloth, so that the aide did not touch the sacred metal.

The Generals opened their blouses, unbuckled their belts. Ushijima leaned forward and with both hands pressed the blade against his belly. One of his adjutants did not wait for the knife to plunge deep. With his razor-sharp saber he lopped off his superior’s head. General Cho leaned forward against his blade. The adjutant swung again. Orderlies took the bodies away.

General Cho had left his own epitaph: “Twenty-second day, sixth month, 20th year of Showa era. I depart without regret, fear, shame or obligation. Age on departure 51 years.”

As for the American forces, the battle closed in a much gentler fashion: to symbolize that the U.S. had conquered the island all the way to its farthest tip, Corporal John C. Corbett of the 8th Marines stood on a cliff and tossed a stone into the ocean.

Read more, from 1945, here in the TIME Vault: End on Okinawa

Behind the Picture: Joe Demler, WWII's 'Human Skeleton'

American Pvt. Joe Demler, photographed on the day that the notorious prison camp, Stalag 12-A in Limburg, Germany, was liberated by Allied troops, spring 1945.
American Pvt. Joe Demler, photographed on the day that the notorious prison camp, Stalag 12-A in Limburg, Germany, was liberated by Allied troops, spring 1945.John Florea—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Unidentified American prisoner in Stalag 12-A, Limburg, Germany, 1945.
Unidentified American prisoner in Stalag 12-A, Limburg, Germany, 1945.John Florea—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Joe Demler at the New York Historical Society on May 22, 2013.)
Joe Demler at the New York Historical Society on May 22, 2013.)Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com