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Pearl Harbor
On December 7th the Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and heavy damage ensued. This attack thrusted the United States into war and caused a lot of racial discrimination. This is the event which starts the battles in the Pacific theater. -
Beginning of the Bataan Death March
On this day tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces while general Douglas MacArthur retreated back to Australia. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines.
They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. -
The End of the Bataan Death March
The soldiers marched 63 miles. Because of harsh conditions an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 deaths occured. The soldiers were split up into groups of 100 and given Japanese guards. It took about 5 days for each group to complete the march. There were 75,000 troops to start out with, so it was fair to assume that one in every ten men was going to die. -
The DooLittle Raid
The popular movie "Pearl Habor" depicts this mission near the end of the film. Pilots were to volunteer for a dangerous and top secret mission. They had no idea where they were going or what their mission held until the very last minute. In fact they didn't even have enough fuel to make it back to the carrier and most crash landed. This mission was to bomb factories and other buildings in Tokyo. It had little military gain, but it boosted the morale of the American people. -
The Battle of Coral Sea
The US sent two aircraft carriers to fight. The ships never saw each other though. This was mostly an air battle. Technically this was a win for the Japanese navy, but the US navy showed themselves and American citizens that they could hold their own in a naval battle. This battle shifted momentum to the US for the first time. -
Battle of Midway
US cracked Japanese code and knew that Japan was going to attack Midway. The US navy lead by Admiral Nimitz ambushed the Japanese fleet. 362 US soldiers were lost while 3,057 Japanese soldiers were lost. This was the turning point of the war in the Pacific for the US. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
This is considered to be the largest battle in naval history. It marks the return of general MacArthur who vowed to return to the Pacific stage. Japan was winning in the overall battle, but they miscalculated the amount of US support and ordered an early retreat. -
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima contained an airstrip that would put the US within bombing range of Tokyo. 60,000 marines landed on Iwo Jima. The US lost almost 7,000 of them. Eventually though, the US forces took the island and began a series of bombings on Tokyo. -
Invasion of Okinawa
Okinawa was the last bit of land left before the US could directly assault Japan. It was 350 miles from Japan. The invastion lasted until June of 1945, and the US suffered the lost of 50,000 men. Once Okinawa was captured though, Japan was essentially defenseless, and the US began to bomb Japanese cities. -
V-J Day
This is the day that Emperor Hirohito decided to surrender. Then on September 2, 1945 the country of Japan officially surrendered to the US. After two automic bombs being dropped on the people of Japan, the government had no choice but to surrender.
