A memorial ceremony was held in an Okinawa Prefecture village on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the U.S. military's landing on the Kerama Islands, which preceded fierce ground battles in the southwestern Japan prefecture during World War II.
Bereaved families and others prayed for peace and the victims of the ground battles during the ceremony, hosted by the village of Zamami in the Kerama island chain about 40 kilometers west of the main island of Okinawa.
Over 200,000 people, including civilians, were killed in the ground battles on islands in Okinawa. The U.S. military's landing on the morning of March 26, 1945, led to mass suicide using grenades and other means, which left an estimated 290 Zamami residents dead.
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