During the Battle of Okinawa, a battle that took place on May 10th 1945, American Marine Corps soldiers were killed by the Japanese army during the battle to cross the Aja River. After this, the dead bodies of the Marines were carried away on stretchers and placed on Amtrak trains.

　During the Battle of Okinawa, American Marine Corps soldiers were killed by the Japanese Army during the battle to cross the Aja River on May 10th 1945. The bodies of the dead Marines were then transported on stretchers and placed on Amtrak trains.

　　Early on the morning of May 10th, the American army crossed the Aja River to the west of Uchima and moved south. The bridge demolition unit dispatched from the Japanese army's Independent 2nd Battalion, which was in charge of defending the area, successfully blew up the bridge, preventing the American army from crossing the river. The bridge demolition unit suffered one casualty, a Japanese soldier. The Japanese army's Independent 2nd Battalion worked to stop the invading American army. Gradually, the American military forces were reinforced, and by the evening of May 10, the American military had occupied the east-west line of the Aja village. The Japanese military also came under strong attack in the Uchima area. The Japanese military secured the high ground to the northeast of Uchima and prevented the American military from advancing.

　　From the night of May 10th to the early hours of May 11th, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a pontoon bridge over the Aja River in the midst of heavy gunfire, and the tanks and heavy artillery of the US Army's support units crossed the river. From the high ground of Shuri in Okinawa, the Aja coast was in full view. The Japanese Army continued to fire from the artillery positions in the hills to the west of Shuri. The Japanese infantry also resisted the American forces fiercely in coordination with the artillery. Even in the midst of the Japanese artillery fire, the Marines advanced. An American battalion climbed to the top of a hill 800 meters south of Aja, but the Japanese defenses were strong, and in the end all the American soldiers were killed or wounded, with the exception of one flamethrower operator.

　　　The Japanese army's position, built on the hills to the north of the fierce battleground of Azato, was called “Suribachi Hill” by the Japanese army and “Sugar Loaf” by the Americans. The hills in the area were a key point in the Japanese army's defense of Shuri, and fierce battles were fought with the US 6th Marine Division. In particular, the battle for Kerama was a fierce battle that saw the summit repeatedly change hands four times in a single day between May 12th and May 18th, 1945, and the Americans finally gained control on May 18th. The American military suffered 2,662 casualties and 1,289 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in the Battle of Sugar Loaf. The number of casualties among the Japanese military is unknown, but there were many casualties among the student corps and local residents.