Operation Iceberg struck the island of Okinawa on Easter in 1945. To the west was the small island of Ie Shima.

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Operation Iceberg struck the island of Okinawa on Easter in 1945. To the west was the small island of Ie Shima.  

Admiral Richmond Turner, veteran commander of amphibious forces, delivered landing forces, with ships of the British Pacific Fleet. The amphibious vehicles landed the 96th and 7th Army Divisions on the left flank, and the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions on the right.

 Once on land, the combined forces of Chester Nimitz's Marines and Douglas MacArthur's soldiers, the first time their men fought side-by-side, were placed under the command of Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. The landing was not resisted, much to the surprise of the landers. Deep in the island, however, the 110,000-strong Japanese garrison led by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, awaited.


U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class Harold Gonsalves of Alameda, CA, of the 6th Marine Division, landed on Okinawa on April 1, 1945. On April 15, he was a member of an 8-man forward observer team which was engaged in direct artillery fire in support of an attack by the infantry on Japanese positions on Motobu Peninsula.

 When it finally became necessary for the team to advance to the actual front lines, the officer in charge took Gonsalves and one other man with him. Gonsalves was acting Scout Sergeant of the team. He and the other marine were to lay telephone lines for communication with the artillery battalion. As the team advanced to the front, they were brought under heavy enemy rifle, grenade and mortar fire.

 Just as the three had reached the front lines, a Japanese Grenade landed among them. It was less than a foot from the three. Without a moment’s hesitation, Gonsalves flung himself on the grenade, taking the full explosion. The other two Marines were not even touched by grenade fragments and successfully completed their mission. He was only 19 when he died.


PFC Gonsalves was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on April 15, 1945.

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