“On May 8 Germany surrendered unconditionally. We were told this momentous news, but considering our own peril and misery, no one cared much. ‘So what’ was typical of the remarks I heard around me. We were resigned only to the fact that the Japanese would fight to total extinction on Okinawa, as they had elsewhere, and that Japan would have to be invaded with the same gruesome prospects. Germany might as well have been on the moon. “The main thing that impressed us about V-E Day was a terrific, thundering artillery and naval gunfire barrage [...] I thought it was in preparation for the next day’s attack. Years later I read that the barrage had been fired on enemy targets at noon for its destructive effect on them but also as a salute to V-E Day. “[...] As we crouched in our muddy foxholes in the cold rain, the arrival of the 6th Marine Division plus the massive artillery barrage did more for our morale than news about Europe.” - E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed - In the photos: US Army soldiers fighting on the front lines on Okinawa listen and react to the news of Germany’s surrender in Europe , May 8, 1945. - U.S. Marines battling for control of a ridge near Naha, Okinawa, May, 1945.