The War in the Pacific

The War in the Pacific

US conducts “island hopping” campaign across the Pacific towards Japan

The Battle of Midway

“The most decisive 10 minutes of the war”

Japanese lose 4 aircraft carriersin 10 minutes.Japan forced to withdrawal

B-29 Bomber Range

B-29 bombing ranges

Iwo Jima and Okinawa (Feb-Jun 1945)

Retakes Guam, Philippines,

Invades Iwo Jima

Famous USMC flag raising picture

Invades Okinawa

Massive casualties in each of the last two battles.

Japanese fighting to the last man

-JapaneseJapanese pilots trained to make a suicidalsuicidal crash attack upon a ship. -Their airplanes were often loaded with explosivesexplosives

Note the plane about to crash into this ship

“The Divine Wind”

B-29 Bomber Range

B-29 bombing ranges

US is now in range to bomb Japan effectively

Firebombing Japan

100,000 killed in one night

Invade Japan???

Decision needs to be made – Do we invade Japan. Estimated it would cost the US 1 MILLION

casualties. Japan not likely to ever surrender Possibility that it would only end when every

Japanese person was dead

The Decision

President Harry S Truman decides to use the US’s new secret weapon – the atomic bomb

The Atomic Bomb

Most powerful weapon ever created up to that time.

Equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT exploding all at once

Atomic Bombings and the Surrender of Japan Aug 6, 1945: Hiroshima Aug 9, 1945: Nagasaki

The Decision to Bomb

Hiroshima— bombed August 6, 1945 Dropped by a B29 called the “Enola Gay” 65,000 dead Japanese still refuse to surrender

Hiroshima Before the Bomb

Hiroshima After the Bomb

Melted glass

Permanent “Shadows” made by the light of the blast

All this man left was his shadow

The Second Bomb

Nagasaki—bombed Aug. 9, 1945 50,000 dead

Japan announces surrender (August 15th) According to terms of formal

surrender, they get to keep their emperor

Japanese Internment (Removal)

Japan's alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in 1940 focused world attention on the Asian nation's military power and imperial ambition.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 plunged the United States into war and planted the notion of Japanese treachery in the minds of Americans.

•On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing military authorities to exclude "any and all persons" from designated areas of the country as necessary for national defense.

Internment (Camp)

By the end of 1942, more than 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry had been uprooted from their homes.

final destinations would be one of 10 camps — "instant cities" — constructed by the War Relocation Authority in seven states.

Deeply isolated from the rest of America, these "evacuees" — 65 percent of whom were American citizens — would spend up to four years imprisoned,

442nd Regiment1. What is it?2. Who was in it?3. What was the purpose of it?4. What were some of its “accomplishments”?5. An account of a Soldier in the 442nd Regiment…6. Reactions of the 442nd Regiment…7. Statistics of 106th Infantry, sector of the 442nd

Regiment

By: Valerie Lau

What is it?

The 442nd Regiment, also known as the all- Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was part of an elite army who fought faithfully for the United States of America during

World War II.

What were some of their accomplishments?

Most decorated combat unit of war.

Italian campaign: (1/4 casualties)

Captured Bruyeres in house-to-house fighting

Saved the“Lost Battalion” in the Vosges Mountains of Germany