THE WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN,

1941 - 1945

World War II in the Pacific Theatre

The Bataan Death March, April 1942 – Resulting in the loss of some 10,000 American and Filipino soldiers.

The Japanese attacks against Pearl Harbor and a host of other American possessions – Wake Island, Midway Island, the Philippines, Guam – left the American military reeling. In the Philippines, Americans under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur settled in for a long siege. The initial battle against the Japanese would end in catastrophic defeat and capture at the hands of a ruthless, brutal foe.

The Bataan Death March

BataanWhile most of the American soldiers involved in the Philippines retreated to the tiny island of Corregidor, those captured defending the Philippines were executed for transgressions as simple as marching out of line or falling down from fatigue.

General Douglas MacArthur

General Douglas MacArthur

MacArthur, along with the lesser known Chester Nimitz, was the commander of United States forces in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.

His most famous statements: “I Shall Return” – upon leaving the Philippine Islands when the Japanese occupied them in April, 1942, and “I Have Returned!” when the United States reclaimed the Philippine Islands.

During the Korean War, MacArthur masterminded the Inchon landing, and led United Nations forces in preserving South Korean liberty.

The Doolittle Raids

The Doolittle Raids: April of 1942

Although the Doolittle raids did not devastate mainland Japan, they were a morale lifter for many Americans, who wanted to strike back against the fearful enemy which had so far seemed invincible. Doolittle and his men bombed Tokyo, but were forced to land in China. (They couldn’t make it back to the aircraft carrier on the limited fuel they had.) Sadly, eight of the men were captured and executed by the Japanese.

The Battle of the Coral SeaMay, 1942

The Battle of the Coral Sea took place in May of 1942. Although it did not result in a decisive victory for either side, Americans were able to stop the rapid progress of the Japanese navy towards Australia. The battle was essentially a draw - both sides suffered heavy losses. But the United States was encouraged by the fact that our navy had finally stopped the rapid progress of the Japanese forces in the Pacific, and confidence grew.

The Battle of the Coral Sea

Midway

Midway Island

Midway Island, which was purchased in 1867 by William Seward, was little more than a port for refueling and resupplying trade vessels. During World War II, it became an airstrip and a supply depot. It was bombarded by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, and targeted by the Japanese (along with several Aleutian Islands) for attack.

The Battle of Midway Island Midway is considered the turning point in the Pacific, and resulted in the losses of four Japanese aircraft carriers (out of six in the entire Japanese Imperial Navy.) The American ship Yorktown, which was heavily damaged at Coral Sea, was ultimately downed during the battle as well. RIGHT: Japanese Carrier Akagi

The Battle of the Coral Sea, May of 1942

Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February1943

Major Battles Between the US and Japan

Island Hopping

The strategy devised by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz in order to fight against the Japanese Imperial military.

The idea was to fight the Japanese at their weakest positions – to take over the islands which were only modestly defended.

Then, by establishing ports and airstrips on the islands, the United States would be able to launch attacks on more significant islands closer to the Japanese mainland.

The Code Talkers

The Code Talkers

Native American soldiers during World War II were charged with the task of creating a secret code to relay messages using their own languages.

The Navajo would use their own languages words to signify specific letters – for example, the Navajo word for “apple” would be the letter “A”.

The code was never broken – no one in Japan spoke the Navajo tongue, and no captured Navajo soldiers would submit to the Japanese.

The Battle of Leyte GulfThis battle in the Philippines was the largest naval battle in world history at the time. Approximately 280 naval vessels participated in the battle between United States and Japanese forces. At the end of the conflict, Americans controlled the major port of the Philippines, and the Japanese Navy was crippled.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf

Kamikaze PilotsIn Japanese, the term kamikaze translates roughly to “divine wind.” During the end of World War II, desperate Japanese leaders recruited men to serve as suicide pilots – promising them eternal life in heaven in exchange for their lives. The men target ships with their heavily armed airplanes, then crashed into the ship.

Kamikazes

Kamikaze Attack of the USS St. Louis

Iwo Jima, February 1945 Okinawa, April 1945

Major United States Victories of 1945

The Manhattan ProjectA top-secret program set up by the United States government in order to develop and test an atomic bomb. Suggested by none other than Albert Einstein, who feared that the Germans would create the weapon first, the program was led by J. Robert Oppenheimer and completed at Oak Ridge, TN and Los Alamos, NM.

Einstein writes to FDR

Test at Los Alamos, NM

J. Robert Oppenheimer

“I am become death, the

destroyer of worlds.”

Harry S Truman

Hiroshima, JapanThe bombing of Hiroshima, Japan was the dawn of the atomic age. The city of approximately 120,000 people was reduced to rubble instantaneously. The plane Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, after having taken off from Okinawa, Japan.

Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

Nagasaki, Japan

The decision to use a nuclear weapon against civilian populations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still a controversial one – some maintain that it was simply murder. Harry Truman, however, explained that an invasion of Japan’s main islands would easily have cost one million American lives and perhaps even more Japanese lives – military and civilian.

Surrender on board the USS MissouriSeptember 2, 1945

The Japanese formally surrendered to the United States on board the USS Missouri, on September 2, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender and served as governor of the islands during its Reconstruction after World War II, planting the seeds of democracy and individual rights in Japan which flourish there today.

Surrender on the USS Missouri, Sept 2, 1945

Japanese Internment Camps, WW IIDuring World War II in the United States, Japanese Americans were robbed of their individual rights and civil liberties and forced to relocate into internment camps for the duration of the war. There are few similarities between these relocation prisons and the concentration camps or death camps of the Nazis in Germany.

Japanese Relocation CampsJapanese Americans were forced to live in crowded conditions with little or no privacy, and many were robbed of personal property or forced to sell their possessions at low prices. While the indignities and insults were great, there should not be any parallels drawn between the way Japanese-Americans were treated in internment camps and the way Jewish people were treated in concentration camps and death camps.

The Bomb, By Howard Zinn

The question of whether or not the use of atomic weapons was required in order to end the war is much discussed in retrospect. At the time, Americans were so elated that the war had drawn to a close, that the implications of the atomic age were glossed over. Today, several historians have suggested that the use of nuclear weapons – especially the second bomb over Nagasaki – may have been avoided.