Special Battle Edition of 77th Infantry Division newspaper, “The Liberty Torch” published in Ryukyu Islands during the Battle for Okinawa. The headline proclaims “IE SHIMA STEPPING-STONE TO JAPAN.” Ie Shima was one of the smaller islands surrounding Okinawa. The Joint Chiefs of Staff planned to push rapidly through the Japanese territories of Iwo Jima and Okinawa before invading the southernmost island of Kyushu in the Japanese island chain. The cost of taking those two islands, however, was incredible. The civilian casualties, in particular, gave military leaders pause. Many Okinawans had been pressed into military service for the Japanese or simply caught in the crossfire of the battle. With the civilian population of Kyushu, the casualties could be expected to be even higher.

Manpower would also be an issue for the upcoming invasion of Japan, codenamed DOWNFALL. Tens of thousands of veterans were killed or wounded on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and as the war dragged, many servicemen with valuable experience had accrued enough points to return home. The men filling the vacated positions were newer recruits with little to no battle experience. As military planners realized the sheer magnitude of bloodshed that would come from Operation DOWNFALL, they began to consider their alternative: the atomic bomb.