War in the Pacific: The Pacific Theater

• Japan occupied many East Asian lands, especially the many islands in the region

Japan Attacked the Philippines:

• Dec. 8, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. airbase in the Philippines

• MacArthur withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula

Battan Death March:

• MacArthur escaped to Australia

• About 76,000 Filipinos and Americans became POWs

• About 100,000 prisoners died during the march

• Marched to concentration camps

Battle of the Coral Sea:

• 100% air attacks

• Each side lost an aircraft carrier

• Stopped the Japanese advance on Australia

Battle of Midway:

• Jun. 4, 1942, 100% air fought

• U.S. destroyed 3 of the 4 Japanese aircraft carrieres

• Turning point in the war in the Pacific

Island Hopping:

• Feb. 1943 foreward, U.S. forces attacked enemy-held islands in the Pacific

• Japanese fiercely defended their positions

• Both sides suffered heavy casualties

• Feb. 1944, U.S. crippled Japanese air power

• June 1944, Capture of the Mariana Islands enabled U.S. planes to bomb Japanese cities

The Battle of Leyte Gulf:

• Mid-October 1944: U.S. forces invaded the Philippine island of Leyte

• The Japanese used kamikaze pilots for the first time

• The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest in naval history, involving more than 280 warships

• Japanese navy was virtually destroyed after this battle

Kamikaze Pilots:

U.S. experienced about 4,900 kamikaze attacks which destroyed 57 American ships and damaged about 650 others

The Battle for Iwo Jima:

• One of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific theater

• 25,000 Japanese protected the small rocky island and it took over 110,000 Americans to defeat them

• Only 216 Japanese surrendered, the rest died

Battle of Okinawa

• April-June 1945 Nearly 100,000 Japanese defended the island

• Japanese kamikazes launched nearly 2,000 attacks

• Bloodiest battle of the Pacific war with nearly 50 grand allied deaths and 93,000 Japanese deaths

Hiroshima:

• August 6, 1945, Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima

• Destroyed 90% of the city and killed 140,000 people

Nagasaki:

• Second atomic bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki

Japan surrendered:

• Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender

• Signed Sep. 2, 1945, ending WWII