The Pacific Theatre

Fighting in the pacific Loss of Philippines 2 prong approach Doolittle raid Coral sea Midway- turning point Guadalcanal Iwo JIma Gen. MacArthur was commanding troops in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked there, Those who did not leave were captured on April 9, 1942 and were marched to a Japanese prison camp (this became known as the Baatan Death March because so many died), In May of 1942 the Philippines fell to the Japanese- stated “he will be back” Military leaders came up with a two prong attack, Adm. Nimitz would “island-hop” getting closer to Japan while Gen. MacArthur would advance through the Solomon Islands, take N. New Guinea, and then retake the Philippines Doolittle raid- April 18, 1942, bombing of Tokyo. Retaliation for Pearl Harbor. Did not greatly damage the islands, but boosted American morale and put fear in the Japanese about their military leaders ability to protect the home islands. 16 B-25B Mitchel medium bomber. Crew of 5 men each. 15 aircraft will reach (crash) China. 1 will crash in Soviet Union. All but three of the 80 crew members initially survived the mission. Eight airmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of those were later executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen complete crews, except for one crewman who was killed in action, returned either to the United States or to American forces. Coral sea- first time in history that aircraft carriers fought while separated by more than 100 miles of Ocean- planes from each side would fly and attack the others ships. While a victory for the Japanese in the amount of ships sunk, the Japanese were not able to get to Port Mosby of the Solomon Islands which in the long run will be a victory for the US Midway- June 1942 the Japanese attempted to lure the US into a trap near the island of midway. They wanted to destroy all the aircraft carriers in the Pacific. However the Americans were able to decipher part of the Japanese secret naval code and were able to know the Japanese were planning a major attack on the island of Midway. So the US navy led by Admiral Chester Nimitz was able to surprise the Japanese in turn by allowing them to start the attack on Midway as they had planned and then surprising them with the Force of the US Navy in the Pacific- Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers while the US only lost one. Was the Turning point of the war in the Pacific Guadalcanal- Japan had created a defensive border around their territory including the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon islands. They began building an airfield there, which once built would be a major threat to the US ally of Australia, so two months after Midway US Marines landed on the Island and took it by surprise. The Japanese failed to retake the island despite many attempts. In 1943 the US was able to start their island hoppin plan, and by early 1945 they finally regained control of the Philippines, and then once Germany was defeated the US was able to turn its full fury on Japan After capturing the Philippines before turning to Okinawa the US Forces felt they must first take Iwo Jima. 5 week battle was the bloodiest battle in the Pacific. 26,000 casualties became famous for the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima

Ending the war Albert Einstein Manhattan project Truman Hiroshima Led by Robert Oppenheimer Truman Hiroshima Nagasaki V-J Day Einstein- german jewish refugee who was also a pacifist. Just before the invasion of Poland Einstein will write a personal letter to FDr recommending the US develop an atomic bomb, he believed the german scientists were already working on one. So shortly after attack on Pearl Harbor the US started the Manhattan Project, Robert oppenheimer- was placed in charge of the secret lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico. By 1945 6,000 people were working at the secret laboratories, gov invested 2 billion dollars in the project, and the first atomic bomb was successfully tested in the new Mexican Desert in July 1945 Truman- the manhattan project was so secret Truman only found out about it after FDRs death, Truman knew that with the fierce fighting of the Japanese and unwillingness to surrender that an invasion of the Japanese mainland could cost close to a million americans lives. He also knew that with the Germans now dealt with that the Soviet Union would turn its attention toward Japan, and the US did not want to have to deal with sharing the control of the Japanese islands after the war with the SU. Truman selected 2 cities that were centers of Japanese ,ilitary production as Targets. Hirosima- Aug 6th “little boy” est 150,000 casualties (injured and dead) Nagasaki- Aug 9th “fat boy” est 75,000 casualties Japan surrendered on VJ day- Sep 2 1945 (official documents signed)