The War in the Pacific

December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor Dec. 8, 1941 Wake Island December 10, 1941 Guam

Battle of the Philippines General Douglas MacArthur Promises the Philippines “I shall return” April 1942, 76,000 Allies troops surrender to Japan, do to low resources. 10,000 Allies POWs died & many brutally treated in the 6-12 day journey known as the Bataan Death March. 15,000 more died in the prison camps.

Geneva Conventions Bataan Death March set-up new treatment standards for POWs

Battles in China & Burma December 9, 1941 China declares war on Japan Jiang Jieshi makes General Joseph Stilwell China’s Chief of Staff (defend Burma) “Flying Tigers” loose control of Burma Road causing China, Britain, & India to retreat.

Battle of the Coral Sea April 1942 Lt. Col. James Doolittle leads secret mission to bomb Tokyo First naval combat carried out by aircrafts, which ended in a draw. USA lost Lexington & Yorktown heavily damaged Japan unable to invade Australia.

Battle of Midway June 4, 1942 Admiral Chester Nimitz wins against Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku due to a surprise attack & Commander Joseph Rochefort braking Japan’s code USA lost the Yorktown. While Japan lost 4 carriers & 250 planes with their best pilots, which now makes them unable to launch any more offensives in the Pacific

Battle of Guadalcanal August 1942, 11,000 marines attack 2,200 Japanese who fled to Jungle; giving the USA their first taste of jungle warfare. Within in 5 months USA final takes over its first piece of Japanese-held territory.

USA invest into island-hopping to effectively cut off supplies & reinforcements to Japan island hopping begins: Lead by MacArthur, Nimitz, & Admiral William Halsey USA now ends ups in reach of Japan & starts to bomb its cities.

Battle of Leyte Gulf October 1944 MacArthur announces, “People of the Philippines, I have returned.” 3 day battle with 280 USA warships, also introduced Japan’s desperation of using kamikazes. June 1945 Leyte & Manila are Liberated, leaving: 80,000 Japanese dead Less than 1,000 Japanese surrendered 40,000 Filipino civilians dead

Battle of Iwo Jima February 1945 With 25,000 USA Causalities & over 24,000 Japanese causalities with 216 POWs, Iwo Jima became known as one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. Symbol of WWII Nimitz gives out 27 medals of honor. “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”

Battle of Okinawa April-June 1945 Japanese ordered to fight to the death with 2,000 kamikaze & the rest Banzais. Largest attack next to D-Day: USA has1,300 warships & 180,000 soldiers Costliest engagement of the pacific: 7,200 Japanese surrender 50,000 USA casualties

August 1939 Albert Einstein informs FDR that Germans are close to creating an atomic bomb Manhattan Project 1942: Enrico Fermi Figures out how to control the reaction July 16, 1945 USA has its first test of the atomic bomb in the desert of New Mexico.

Manhattan Project After the 1 st test J. Robert Oppenheimer expresses, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” April 1945 FDR dies & Harry S. Truman takes over and makes the final decision, along with the Interim Committee, to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.

August 6, 1945 “The Enola Gay” drops “Little Boy” on Hiroshima Japan Surrenders August 9, 1945 “Fat Man” is dropped on Nagasaki

August 14, 1945 Japan surrenders V-J Day begins 24 hours later. September 2, 1945 Japan formally surrenders to MacArthur on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay