With victory in sight at Okinawa, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz made a routine switch in his command team last week. Cold, calculating Admiral Raymond Ames Spruance and his Fifth Fleet staff were given a respite after four months of continuous sea duty, during which Iwo Jima was taken and Okinawa all but secured. Out with Spruance came hard-driving Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, commander of the Fleet Amphibious Force, and gnomish Vice Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher, the wizard of carrier war.
While Spruance and Mitscher set up temporary headquarters alongside Nimitz at Guam, to plan future operations,* ebullient Admiral...
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