Kyushu

Kyushu (九州 Kyūshū?, lit. "Nine Provinces") is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国?, "Nine States"), Chinzei (鎮西?, "West of the Pacified Area"), and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島?, "Island of Tsukushi"). The historical regional name Saikaidō (西海道?, lit. West Sea Circuit) referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands.

As of 2006, Kyushu has a population of 13,231,995 and covers 35,640 square kilometres (13,760 sq mi).

Kyushu in Joe Steele
As part of Operation: Olympic, the United States invaded the Japanese Home Island of Kyushu from the conquered island of Okinawa. The preliminary Naval bombardment once again proved to be insufficient to take the island and required hard fighting by US Marines and punishment brigade troops to win. Sgt. Mike Sullivan and his punishment brigade took part in the fighting.