Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner was Commander of Amphibious Forces Pacific and was to be in charge of operations until the beachhead was established.

The southern half of the six-mile-wide invasion beach was assigned to Task Force 55, commanded by Rear Admiral John Leslie Hall, Jr.

The action at the picket stations proved that the courage and punishment endured by US Navy personnel was unrelated to the size of the ship.

Shortly before dusk, the destroyer USS Aaron Ward (DM-34) was hit by a series of six kamikazes, suffering 45 killed or missing and 49 wounded.

She lost 30 dead or missing and 79 wounded.USS LSM(R)-195 was also on Picket Station 10 and while rushing to the aid of the Aaron Ward and the Little was likewise crashed by a kamikaze.

Not long after sunrise the anticipated kamikazes arrived and were met by American combat air patrol.

The interim group of 12 LSM(R)s transited the Panama Canal and via San Diego, Honolulu, and the Philippines, headed for battle against Japan in March 1945.

In a preliminary assault on 26 March 1945, they laid down a rocket barrage at dawn on Kerama Retta, a small cluster of islands off the southwestern shore of Okinawa.

Their objective: to allow the Marines to swiftly land and secure the islands and the harbor for protection of the hospital, supply and communication ships, and floating drydocks.