Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor from the Cockpit of a Japanese Pilot

Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941 A date which will live in infamy!

ATTACK KILLS 2,403 AND WOUNDS 1,178; U.S. DECLARES WAR The surprise raid on Pearl Harbor by 180 Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 ships and 300 planes The losses constituted more than the U.S. Navy had suffered in all of WWI The next day, FDR addressed Congress, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, (is) a date which will live in infamy” The United States declared war on Japan and three days later Germany and Italy

Pacific Theater of Operations

Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle: First U. S. Raids on Tokyo, 1942

Philippines/Corregidor " We're the battling bastards of Bataan; No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam. No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces, No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces. And nobody gives a damn.

Bataan Death March : April, ,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in the Philippines.

54,000 survive the march

BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA The main Allied forces in the Pacific were Americans and Australians In May 1942 they succeeded in stopping the Japanese drive toward Australia in the five-day Battle of the Coral Sea

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY Japan’s next thrust was toward Midway Island – a strategic Island northwest of Hawaii Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Commander of American Naval forces in the Pacific, moved to defend the Island The Americans won a decisive victory as their planes destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 250 planes

Battle of Midway Island: June 4-6, 1942

Allied Counter-Offensive: “Island-Hopping”

KAMIKAZE PILOTS ATTACK ALLIES The Americans continued leapfrogging across the Pacific toward Japan Japanese countered by employing a new tactic – Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks Pilots in small bomb- laden planes would crash into Allied ships In the Battle for the Philippines, 424 Kamikaze pilots sank 16 ships and damaged 80 more

Japanese Kamikaze Planes: The Scourge of the South Pacific Kamikaze Pilots Suicide Bombers

IWO JIMA General MacArthur and the Allies next turned to the Island of Iwo Jima The island was critical to the Allies as a base for an attack on Japan It was called the most heavily defended spot on earth Allied and Japanese forces suffered heavy casualties American soldiers plant the flag on the Island of Iwo Jima after their victory

THE BATTLE FOR OKINAWA In April 1945, U.S. marines invaded Okinawa The Japanese unleashed 1,900 Kamikaze attacks sinking 30 ships and killing 5,000 seamen Okinawa cost the Americans 7,600 marines and the Japanese 110,000 soldiers

INVADE JAPAN? After Okinawa, MacArthur predicted that a Normandy type amphibious invasion of Japan would result in 1,500,000 Allied casualties President Truman saw only one way to avoid an invasion of Japan... The loss of life at Iwo Jima and Okinawa convinced Allied leaders that an invasion of Japan was not the best idea Okinawa

The Manhattan Project: Los Alamos, NM Dr. Robert Oppenheimer I am become death, the shatterer of worlds! Major General Lesley R. Groves

Tinian Island, 1945 Little Boy Fat Man Enola Gay Crew

Potsdam Conference: July, 1945 yFDR dead, Churchill out of office as Prime Minister during conference. yStalin only original. yThe United States has the A-bomb. yAllies agree Germany is to be divided into occupation zones yPoland moved around to suit the Soviets. P.M. Clement President Joseph Atlee Truman Stalin

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945 ©70,000 killed immediately. ©48,000 buildings. destroyed. ©100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945 ©40,000 killed immediately. ©60,000 injured. ©100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

JAPAN SURRENDERS At the White House, President Harry Truman announces the Japanese surrender, August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered days after the second atomic bomb was dropped General MacArthur said, “Today the guns are silent. The skies no longer rain death...the entire world is quietly at peace.”

V-J Day (September 2, 1945)

Cost of World War II 72 Million estimated to have died in the war 20 million displaced 418,000 Americans killed 125,000 buried overseas 1.6 trillion dollars spent

The U.S. & the U.S.S.R. Emerged as the Two Superpowers of the later 20 c

Marshall Plan US provides upwards of $12 billion in aid to rebuild Western Europe’s infrastructure and industrial base.

The Bi-Polarization of Europe: The Beginning of the Cold War

The Division of Germany:

The Nuremberg War Trials: Crimes Against Humanity

Japanese War Crimes Trials General Hideki Tojo Bio-Chemical Experiments

The Creation of the U. N.

THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN Japan was occupied by U.S. forces under the command of General MacArthur During the seven- year occupation, MacArthur reshaped Japan’s economy by introducing free-market practices that led to a remarkable economic recovery Additionally, he introduced a liberal constitution that to this day is called the MacArthur Constitution

7 Future American Presidents Served in World War II