WWII: The Pacific Theater• Major Points:

o “Asia for Asians”, invasion of Manchuria, Axis Alliance, Pearl Harbor

o Battles of Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal

o Air War, Island-Hoping, and Kamikazes

o Incendiary Bombing, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa

o Death of FDR, new President Harry S. Truman

• Thoughts:o Imagine being President Truman

o What would YOU do?

I. WWII: The Pacific Theater The Atomic Bomb

1. former German, Italian and American scientists worked

on the Manhattan Project

○ a. led by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer

○ b. successfully tested first atomic device in July 1945 in

Alamogordo, New Mexico

○ c. “explosion” is the energy transferred from splitting atoms of

Plutonium and Uranium

○ Alamogordo, New Mexico

○ Atomic Bomb Footage

○ How Nuclear Bombs Work

I. WWII: The Pacific Theater

1. Japan does not reply to Allies ultimatum

○ a. on August 6th , 1945 the US bombed Hiroshima

i. flattened 4 square miles and killed over 70,000 humans instantly

○ b. Japan still does not send a reply

○ c. on August 8th the USSR declares war on Japan

○ d. August 9th, 1945 the US bombs Nagasaki

i. 40,000 die instantly, tens of thousands die from radiation later

○ Hiroshima, Dropping the Bomb

Old man actually flew the Enola Gay!

I. WWII: The Pacific Theater

2. Emperor Hirohito forced military leaders to surrender on

August 10th

○ V-J Day: August 15th, 1945

3. Japanese government signs unconditional surrender on

the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945

• The Challenge: Take the position of a high-ranking American military

decision maker. Your daily job, among other important tasks during war

years, is to advise the President on important war matters. It is August

1st, 1945, and you have just received word from your subordinates that

“the bomb” is ready for use if the President wishes. Advise President

Truman on whether or not he should drop the atomic bomb on Japan.

•Paragraph 1: Be sure to start by acknowledging at

least three reasons from the other side of the

argument (in order to give your decision more

credence).

•Paragraph 2: But / However / That being said…It

is in my expert opinion that the United States…• The final paragraph of your post should explain, in detail, why you believe your

decision (whether to drop the atomic bomb or not) is the correct decision.