Banzai Cliff Monument, Northern Mariana Islands, US Territories

The Banzai Cliff Monument is located at the northern end of Saipan, and is a memorial to the thousand or more Japanese soldiers and civilians who jumped to their deaths off the steep cliffs at a few points around the island, rather than be captured by the Americans in the lengthy and bloody battle to take the island from the Japanese in World War Two. The battle for Saipan lasted from June 15 to July 9, 1944, and killed more than 3,200 Americans, and 30,000 Japanese, engaged mostly in close combat. Fewer than 1,000 Japanese were taken prisoner.