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4 comments

[–] Owlchemy 1 points (+1|-0)

One of the great battles of the Pacific war.

[–] pembo210 [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

yeah. A lot of the places I think about for things here are forts and castles that had battles or hid royalty.

[–] Owlchemy 1 points (+1|-0)

A lot of people, both US and Japanese died there. I was just recently watching one of those WWII documentaries about Okinawa and recall the Shuri line. No quarter given on either side.

[–] pembo210 [OP] 0 points (+0|-0) Edited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuri_Castle

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army had set up its headquarters in the castle underground, and by early 1945, had established complex lines of defense and communications in the regions around Shuri, and across the southern part of the island as a whole. Beginning on May 25, 1945, and as the final part of the Okinawa campaign, the American battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41) shelled it for three days.[7][8] On May 27, it burned.[9]

Due to this, the 32nd Japanese Army retreated southward and the United States Marines secured Shuri Castle.[8][10] On 29 May, Maj. Gen. Pedro del Valle — commanding the 1st Marine Division—ordered Captain Julian D Dusenbury of [11] Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines to capture the castle, which represented both strategic and psychological blows for the Japanese and was a milestone in the campaign.

After the war, the University of the Ryukyus was established in 1950 on the castle site, where it remained until 1975. In 1958, Shureimon was reconstructed and, starting from 1992, the 20th anniversary of reversion, the main buildings and surrounding walls of the central castle were reconstructed. At present, the entire area around the castle has been established as "Shuri Castle Park". In 2000, along with other gusuku and related sites, it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.