Okinawa on Sunday marked the 79th anniversary of the end of a fierce World War II ground battle between Japanese and U.S. troops that claimed over 200,000 lives.A memorial service, attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, was held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle, where the names of 181 people were added to the list of the war dead inscribed on monuments, bringing the total to 242,225.The fighting from March through June 1945 took a heavy toll on the local civilian population, with one in four of the Japanese southern island prefecture's resid…READ FULL ARTICLE
