Okinawa: 61st anniversary of WWII battle

Okinawa: 61st anniversary of WWII battle

Residents of the southern island offered a one-minute silent prayer for those killed in the battle of Okinawa, during the war's final months in 1945, said local official Kazue Kinjo.

This year's commemoration comes less than a month after Japan's Cabinet approved plans for a sweeping realignment of U.S. troops in Japan, hoping to alleviate grievances aired by the people on the cramped island that hosts about 23,500 U.S. troops - nearly half the 50,000 stationed in Japan.

In the 81-day World War II battle for Okinawa, about a quarter of its civilian population was killed in the crossfire before the Japanese troops abandoned their fierce defense of the island, the AP reports.