Saipan : The Beginning of the End

Foreword

SAIPAN was one of the key operations in the Pacific War; key because it unlocked vast potentialities to the United States in projecting its might against the Japanese homeland; key because it opened the door of distance which had meant security to the Empire.

Invasion of Saipan provided the supreme challenge in which the enemy was forced to select one of two alternatives: conserve his naval resources for a later decision, leaving uncontested this penetration of his inner defense.; or lash out in a vicious, showdown fight. The, fact that he chose the latter course, and suffered a resounding defeat, is now history.

The conquest of Saipan was, among Pacific operations up to that time, the most clear-Cut decisive triumph of combined arms of the United States over the Japanese. By June 1944, U. S. forces, long superior in quality of personnel and organization, were finally greatly superior in matOriel with which to fight. Victory at Saipan made this apparent to all.