The Tenth United States Army was the last

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

level command established during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and included divisions from both the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and the U.S. Marine Corps.

History

The headquarters of the Tenth Army was formed in June 1944 at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii with the original intent of being the headquarters element for the land forces of the planned invasion of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Following a conference at Pearl Harbor in July between President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, it was decided to invade the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

instead of Taiwan. As a result, the Tenth Army did not have an operational assignment until the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945.

Commanders

The Tenth Army was commanded by

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. ( ; July 18, 1886 – June 18, 1945) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II who served in the Pacific Theater. As commanding general of Alaska Defense Command, Buckner commanded America ...

from its activation on 20 June 1944 until he was killed by enemy artillery fire on

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

on 18 June 1945.

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Roy Geiger General Roy Stanley Geiger (January 25, 1885 – January 23, 1947) was a United States Marine Corps four-star general who served in World War I and World War II. In World War II, he became the first Marine Corps general to lead a field army. Geig ...

, USMC assumed temporary command, becoming the first Marine Corps general to ever command a field army, and led the Tenth Army until relieved by General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking o ...

on 23 June. Stilwell commanded the Tenth Army until it was disbanded on 15 October 1945.

Battle of Okinawa

During the Battle of Okinawa (1 April through 22 June 1945), the Tenth Army consisted of XXIV Corps of the

(consisting of the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

, 27th, 77th and 96th Army infantry divisions) and III Amphibious Corps of the U.S. Marine Corps (consisting of the 1st, 2nd and 6th Marine divisions). The Tenth Army was unique among field armies in that it had its own

Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army The Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army (TAF) was a joint aviation command of the Tenth United States Army that was responsible for commanding all land-based aviation and aviation command and control units during the Battle of Okinawa. The TAF's headqu ...

, a joint Army-Marine formation. The Army had over 102,000 soldiers (of these 38,000+ were non-divisional artillery, combat support and HQ troops, with another 9,000 service troops), over 88,000 Marines and 18,000 Navy personnel (mostly

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

and medical personnel). At the start of Battle of Okinawa, Tenth Army had 182,821 men under its command. In all, Tenth Army suffered 65,631 casualties during the campaign, with 34,736 being suffered by XXIV Corps, 26,724 by III Amphibious Corps, 520 to the tactical air force attached to Tenth Army, 2,636 to the Army garrison forces of Okinawa and

Ie Shima , previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...

, and 1,015 to troops directly under the command of Tenth Army. As noted earlier, one of those casualties was the commander of the Tenth Army himself, killed by an enemy shell burst while visiting a forward position. The day after, a second general,

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Claudius M. Easley, was killed by machine gun fire.Sloan, Bill: The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945 – The Last Epic Struggle of World War II, p. 319 General

was selected to succeed General Buckner as commander of the Tenth Army. Okinawa turned out to be the only campaign that Tenth Army would take part in during World War II. It was earmarked to take part in Operation Coronet, the second phase of the invasion of Japan, but the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

, and subsequent

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

, obviated the need to invade Japan. The Tenth Army was disbanded on 15 October 1945.

References

External links

DTC.mil - ''Command and Control of the U.S. Tenth Army during the Battle of Okinawa''
{{US Army navbox 010 Army