1. War in the Pacific
Lecture 5

2. Standard
Explain United States and Allied wartime strategy, including the major battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge.

3. Battle of the Coral Sea Battle of the Coral Sea, 1942
the first naval battle where ships never saw each other

4. Battle of Midway Battle of Midway, 1942
Sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers and destroyed hundreds of planes
U.S. break Japanese codes
Japan never recovered and the tide of war turned

5. Navajo Code Talkers 25,000 Native Americans served in the military
language could not be decoded by the Japanese
key to victory at Iwo Jima

6. Island Hopping
the US decided to only take important islands to control the air and the sea

7. Iwo Jima and Okinawa Iwo Jima Okinawa US casualties exceeded D-Day
Japanese soldiers were either killed or committed suicide
Okinawa
US casualties close to 50,000
more than 100,000 Japanese died
daily bombing of Japan
250,000 buildings destroyed (25% of Tokyo)
83,000 people killed, more than either nuclear bomb

8. The Atomic Bomb The Manhattan Project, 1941
Einstein theorized the potential of the bomb
Oppenheimer was director of the $2 billion project
over 100,000 worked on the bomb
Lawrence Nuclear Lab in in Oakridge, TN

9. Little Boy
Hiroshima, 1945
Enola Gay (B-29) delivered the 15 kiloton “Little Boy” on August 6, 1945
exploded 1,900 feet above the city (100,000,000°)
shadows of people were left on the walls
100,000 were killed by the bomb or sickness from radiation

10. Fat Man
Nagasaki, 1945
a second 21 kiloton bomb “Fat Man” was dropped August 9, 1945
70,000 killed
was this too soon?
USSR declared war on Japan
some argue the bomb was dropped to scare the Russians as much as the Japanese

11. Victory in Japan V-J Day (September 2, 1945)
MacArthur accepted Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri
Japan kept its emperor but had to write a new constitution
could not have a military
the US occupied Japan