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Pearl Harbor
a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
The Battle of Midway
A decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. -
The Battle of Okinawa
A series of battles fought in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. -
The Battle of Tarawa
The US began its Central Pacific Campaign against Japan by seizing the heavily fortified, Japanese-held island of Betio. Problems arose as low tides prevented US landing crafts from clearing the coral reefs that ringed the island. Japanese coastal guns pounded the vessels and the Marines gave up on freeing the boats and waded toward shore through the water amidst enemy fire. Despite heavy resistance the Marines took the island after a bloody battle in which both sides suffered heavy casualties. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb, "Little Boy" on Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later a second atomic bomb, "Fat Man" was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These were the only times nuclear weapons have been used in war. -
V-J day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. And on September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close.
