The Ultimate Battle tells the full story of the Battle of Okinawa as it has never been told before, using the same up-close narrative style and grunt's-eye view of the action that distinguishes Sloan's Brotherhood of Heroes from other war books. It is a gripping story of heroism, sacrifice, and death in the largest land-sea-air operation in US history. From April to June 1945, more than 250,000 American and Japanese lives were lost (including those of nearly 150,000 civilians who either committed suicide or were caught in the crossfire). It is a story told against a panorama of 1,300 American ships, 1,900 Japanese kamikazes sworn to sink those ships, and two huge armies (the 541,000-member U.S. Tenth Army of GIs and Marines, and Japan's 110,000-man 32nd Army) locked in a no-quarter struggle to the death. But woven into the broader narrative, in Band-of-Brothers style, are the personal stories of men who endured this epic battle - more than sixty of whom were interviewed by the author. In many cases, their experiences are told here in print for the first time.