The land skirmish of the Battle of Okinawa began on March 26, 1945 and lasted for about 87 days. The Americans first touched the shore of the Kerama Island, 24 kilometers west of Okinawa. Fierce fighting raged on Geruma, Aka, Zamami and Tokashiki Islands before the Kerama group was secured over the next five days. In these preliminary operations, the American 77th Infantry Division suffered 31 dead and 81 wounded, while Japanese dead and captured numbered over 650. Terrified and driven to desperation by the onslaught and the furious shelling, some islanders killed themselves, cutting off the heads of their children with sickles and hitting their wives with stones in the gruesome scenes of mass suicide.