Battle of Naha, Okinawa (May 1945)

The color footage of the Battle of Okinawa filmed in May 1945 by Marine Corps combat cameraman Norman T. Spangler captures the brutal final stages of the Pacific War with striking realism, particularly around the ruined city of Naha. His vivid Kodachrome reels reveal the devastated urban landscape, shattered by relentless bombardment, as U.S. Marines and Army troops push through mud, rubble, and smoke under torrential rain and fierce Japanese resistance. The rare color imagery provides a haunting visual record of the campaign’s ferocity — from tanks advancing past smoldering wreckage to exhausted soldiers sheltering in foxholes — transforming what might otherwise seem like distant history into a vivid and deeply human document of war’s cost at the doorstep of Japan.

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgl-sfzgff8