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Pacific Theater

Pacific Theater. Philippines. Spring 1942 Japanese control Philippines in March when Douglas MacArthur ordered by FDR off island Promised that “I shall return” Significance US stumble out of gates in Pacific Many US soldiers and personnel left behind. Coral Sea. May 1942

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Pacific Theater

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  1. Pacific Theater

  2. Philippines • Spring 1942 • Japanese control Philippines in March when Douglas MacArthur ordered by FDR off island • Promised that “I shall return” • Significance • US stumble out of gates in Pacific • Many US soldiers and personnel left behind

  3. Coral Sea • May 1942 • Japanese and US clash in air between Asian and Australia • Significant because-one showed the different types of battle that we will see in Pacific (air and naval will rule). Two- it shows the world Japan can be stopped and Australia is no longer threatened.

  4. Battle of Midway • Summer of 1942 • Why fought?-Midway island (NW of Hawaii). US cracks code and is aware of attack • Scout planes find Japanese on June 3 • Japanese will lose 4 aircraft carriers and over 250 planes in battle • Turning point of Pacific • “Avenged Pearl Harbor” as one Japanese pilot said

  5. Iwo Jima • Most protected spot in Asia • Over 20,700 troops (all would die but roughly 200) • Marines lose 6,000-highest of pacific thus far • Fought as a stepping stone to Japan-only Okinawa left in island hopping campaign • Produced ‘the photo’

  6. Battle of Okinawa • April 1945 • US invasion-dealt with kamikaze attacks and unbelievable fighting style of never surrender • 110,000 die for Japan while ‘only’ 7,000 for US • Scary preview at what fighting in Japan might be like-is there another way to end the war

  7. Fighting style • Japanese fought w/ honor and a cultural belief in the military • Kamikaze attacks-purposely using planes strapped with bombs to hurl into ships, etc to cause maximum damage • Name comes from term “divine wind” after the story of a typhoon that saved Japan from a Mongol invasion in the 1200’s.

  8. Atomic Bomb • Manhattan Project • Lead by Oppenheimer • First tested in July of 1945 in New Mexico • Flash was visible for 180 miles • Harry S Truman faces his first tough decision • Drop the bomb and end countless numbers of lives • OR don’t drop it and lose American lives • He would ask Japan to surrender at once, or else

  9. When they don’t surrender, the first Atom bomb is dropped on August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan • After hesitating to surrender, Nagasaki was hit w/ the second • Both areas were military areas and hence their selection for the drop • Hirohito was horrified by the damage and eventually calls for peace by surrendering to the US on Sept. 2

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