WWII Island Hopping Campaign

Guadalcanal 7 August 1942 First offensive action of the war. 1 st Marine Division Warfighting difficult because of jungle. USMC conducts many patrols. 2d Raider Bn conducts month-long patrol. Japanese attempt to reinforce by sea, but suffer significant losses in the process. (7 of 11 transports) Jungle causes significant casualties. Over 1k new cases of malaria per week.

Results (don’t worry about writing this down) Island “secured” in Feb ’43. Japan suffers critical losses in all areas. 600 aircraft & 2,300 aircrew 25k soldiers (1/2 in combat, ½ to illness) 2 Battleships, 3 aircraft carriers, 12 Cruisers, 25 destroyers Roughly same number as US, but Japan unable to replace.

Other Battles… 1943 March Bismarck Sea (limited Japanese reinforcement of Southern Pacific) November Tarawa and Makin (Gilbert Islands)Tarawa 1944 February Kwajalein & Eniwetok (Marshall Islands) February-June New Guinea June-August Saipan, Tinian, Guam (Mariana Islands) B29s now able to be recovered after hitting Japan October Leyte GulfLeyte Gulf Destroyed much of Japanese Navy

Iwo Jima D-Day 9 Feb 1945 Objective: Capture airfield 450 ships Pre-invasion bombardment shortened from 12 to 3 days. Weather limited effectiveness of even this. 3, 4, 5 MARDIV 1 st wave gets ashore, but when bombardment lifts for them to move inland, all hell breaks loose. Southern half of island in US hands by D+2 (3 Days) Takes 34 more days to secure remainder of island (8 square miles total).

Iwo Jima (cont’d) Nothing fancy; simple but costly. “Throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete.” 36 days, 26k US casualites including 6k KIA. 1k of 20k defenders survived 2400 B-29s w/ 27k crewmen made unscheduled landings on island by the time the war ended. 27 Medals of Honor awarded.

"The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off off ultimate defeat. By their victory, the 3d, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the 5th Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue. " Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Okinawa D Day 1 April Last stop before the mainland ships 1, 2, 6 MARDIV + 3 Army divisions USMC heads north; secures northern ½ of island by D+4. Combined Army/USMC battle determined Japanese defenders until late June. Gen Geiger named to command Tenth Army when Buckner is KIA. Better job of using combined-arms, but still ugly.

Desperation Kamikaze = Divine Wind 1900 planes launched against US during Battle for Okinawa. Crashed into ship loaded with explosives Sank 30 U.S. vessels

The Costs US 12.5k KIA 36k WIA Japan 130k KIA 10k POW 94K Civilians Lost 700+ aircraft

Victory was never in doubt…What was in doubt, in all our minds, was whether there would be any of us left to dedicate our cemetery at the end, or whether the last Marine would die knocking out the last Japanese gun and gunner. Let the world count our crosses. MajGen Graves Erskine, CG 3d Marine Division, following the Battle for Iwo Jima What platoon are you guys? Platoon, hell! We’re the 2nd Battalion, 22d Marines, what’s left of us anyway. Exchange between Marines following the Battle for Sugarloaf Hill on Okinawa, May 1945

Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project  Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt  Beware of atomic power!  We must beat the Germans!  Atomic bomb project codename: Manhattan Project  Robert Oppenheimer in charge  Super TOP SECRET  Russian spies  First test in 1945 near Los Alamos, NM

Hiroshima - 90,000 to 100,000 persons were killed immediately - 145,000 persons perish from the bombing by the end of Nagasaki Leveled Area: 6.7 million square meters Damaged Houses: 18,409 Casualties Killed ,884 Injured ,909 Total ,793 (Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.)

Nuclear Strikes Aug 6, Uranium bomb “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima, killing 140,000 Aug 9, Plutonium bomb “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki, killing 74,000

The Cost 2,000,000 Japanese Soldiers dead 300,000 Allied Soldiers dead 600, ,000,000 Japanese civilians dead 11,000 American civilians dead 60,000 Korean civilians dead Mass devastation of Japanese infrastructure Indigenous people of north and western Pacific islands devastated by disease, cultural contamination, collateral damage, and atrocities. The list continues…

Japan Surrenders Representatives of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay