About 14,000 Army and Marine Corps personnel were killed, wounded, or missing in action. Almost the entire Japanese force of about 30,000 were killed.
 General Saito's Final Message, 1944 (Credit: VHS)
The Emperor had ordered a Gyokusai. "Those too weak to fight will commit suicide. Anyone who can fight will have to attack before dawn. "Seven American lives to repay our country" the emperor had ordered. The Japanese knew that there was no chance of success. But for them, dying in glory was better than huddling in caves and waiting for the Americans. Next morning, they picked up anything they can find. Guns, pistols, grenades and swords. Some even carried crude spears made from bamboo and bayonets. Then they charged.
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A live baby found in a cave full of dead bodies
(credit : W. Eugene Smith)
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Civilians caught in the midst of a battle
(credit: National archives 532380)
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There were so many people charging the Americans that machine-gunners could hit people anywhere they fired. Thousands of people died. It was over, but it inflicted pain and terror. At the end of the battle the U.S. suffered the total casualties of 14,224 troops (out of which 3,144 were killed, 128 missing and 10,952 wounded in action). But almost every single Japanese soldier died in the futile but determined attack.
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Wreckage at Garapan, capital of Saipan
(credit: Marine Corps History Division)
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