_In the end, victory was achieved at Okinawa by well-trained assault
troops on the ground, like this Marine flamethrower operator and his
watchful rifleman._]
At this point General Buckner decided to make it a four-division front
and ordered General Geiger to redeploy the 6th Marine Division south
from the Motobu Peninsula. General Shepherd quickly asked Geiger to
assign his division to the seaward flank to continue the benefit of
direct naval gunfire support. “My G-3, Brute Krulak, was a naval
gunfire expert,” Shepherd said, noting the division’s favorable
experience with fleet support throughout the northern campaign.
Unspoken was an additional benefit: Shepherd would have only one
adjacent unit with which to coordinate fire and maneuver, and a good
one at that, the veteran 1st Marine Division.
[Illustration: _Men of the 7th Marines wait until the exploding white
phosphorous shells throw up a thick-enough smoke screen to enable them
to advance in their drive towards Shuri. The smoke often concealed the
relentlessly attacking troops._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 120182
]
On the morning of 7 May General Geiger regained control of the 1st
Marine Division and his Corps Artillery from XXIV Corps and established
his forward CP. The next day the 22d Marines relieved the 7th Marines
in the lines north of the Asa River. The 1st Marine Division, which
had suffered more than 1,400 casualties in its first six days on the
lines while trying to cover a very wide front, adjusted its boundaries
gratefully to make room for the newcomers.
[Illustration: