77^th Infantry Division

The 77th Infantry Division entered combat in July 1944 on Guam, where its regiments landed with III Amphibious Corps and fought through dense terrain and entrenched defenses before clearing the northern third of the island. In December 1944, the division conducted an amphibious assault at Deposito below Ormoc on Leyte, capturing the town to cut Japanese reinforcement routes before reducing strongpoints and clearing the surrounding roads.

In March 1945, the division executed the Kerama Retto operation west of Okinawa, its regiments seizing islands in rapid succession to secure anchorages and destroy Japanese suicide-boat bases ahead of the main invasion. The 305th and 306th Infantry Regiments then landed on Ie Shima on April 16 against fierce resistance; war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed there on April 18 as the assault continued across Government House Hill and Iegusugu Mountain, the island secured by April 21.

Landing on Okinawa on April 27, the division relieved the 96th Infantry Division and fought southward through successive defensive belts. The 307th Infantry Regiment used cargo nets and ladders in the Battle for Maeda Escarpment in early May as defenders held the reverse slopes against repeated assaults before being dislodged. The division pressed through Shuri's ruins in late May and covered the rear of other units as the Japanese line finally collapsed. Its campaign — from the jungles of Guam to the final battle of the Pacific war — placed it among the most broadly committed divisions in the theater.