War in the Pacific

Flying Tigers American Volunteer fighter pilots Recruited to send supplies to China Engaged in combat Japanese pilots Destroyed almost 300 Japanese pilots

Attacking the Japanese

Japan’s mission of conquest after the attack on Pearl Harbor was with great success.

U.S. fought Japan in the Philippines but were pushed back to the Bataan Peninsula.

American forces surrender to Japanese on April 9, 1942 70,000 troops were forced to march 60 miles where they

were sent to prison camps (14,000 died on march) Known as Bataan Death March President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur

to take over after defeat.

Island Hopping

The U.S. had a large region of Pacific Ocean to fight the Japanese, they attacked the Japanese on certain islands and “hop” over others.Purpose was to conserve resources

Effects of Island Hopping Plan was to attack islands where

Japanese had fewer defenses Went against traditional way of fighting

heavily defensed outposts first Strategy was the ultimate success in the

Pacific against the Japanese Main island of Japan was virtually

defenseless

Battle of Midway

U.S. planned an attack on the island of Midway in Central Pacific 1,000 miles west from Pearl Harbor

U.S. intelligence intercepted plans for Japanese Attack and told Admiral Chester Nimitz Nimitz assembled forces to prepare for the attack U.S. was outnumbered 76 ships to Japan’s 162

Battle of Midway

Up to this point, Japanese forces were winning WWII in the Pacific

Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto ordered a retreat By end of June 5, Japan had lost all 4 of their aircraft carriers in

battle Major defeat for Japan as the Battle of Midway gave the

U.S. the upper hand in the Pacific and would continue

Battle of Midway

How effective was this victory for U.S.? Do you believe this was the turning point for the U.S. in the Pacific? Justify your answers.

Battle of Iwo Jima

U.S. needed an airbase to launch an attack on the Japanese homeland. Island of Iwo Jima was a small island off the southern

coast of Japan Japanese had 23,000 troops stationed there and an

underground tunnel system to use in attacks.

Battle of Iwo Jima

250,000 U.S. troops landed Feb. 19, 1945 Outnumbered Japanese troops launched furious

counterattack Many soldiers were wounded or killed by land mines

Japanese soldiers where committed to the honor code bushido (no surrender) Held off American troops for over 4 weeks

Battle of Iwo Jima

Japanese finally surrendered March 26, 1945Of the 23,000 original Japanese soldiers, only

1,000 survived26,000 Americans killed, 22,000 Japanese

Battle of Iwo Jima

With what you have just watched, can you devise a new way to invade Iwo Jima that would be more efficient for soldiers?

Statue of Iwo Jima

Invasion of Japan (mainland) U.S. planned to invade main island of Japan Japan used kamikazes to destroy American warships

Kamikaze Pilots intentionally crashed planes into ships

Kamikaze attacks damaged or sank over 200 vessels

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

U.S. scientists had been working on an atomic bomb since 1940 Manhattan Project

President Truman feared that an invasion on Japan would lead to thousands of American lives lostFelt that dropping the atomic bomb would

bring a quick end to the war and save lives

Hiroshima and Nagasaki On August 6, 1945 U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb

on the city of Hiroshima Nicknamed “Little Boy” Instantly destroyed 60% of the city and 100,000

people killed 2 days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on the

city of Nagasaki Nicknamed “Fat Man” 70,000 people were killed instantly

Japan agrees to surrenders from WWII on August 12, 1945 Official signing of surrender on the USS Missouri was Sept. 2,

1945

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Do you think the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a necessary thing to end the WWII? Justify your opinion.