IV. Driving Japan Back

IV. Driving Japan Back • U.S. strategy to defeat Japan involved two tactics 1. Island-hopping to get closer to Japan 2. MacArthur’s troops would retake the Philippines

IV. Driving Japan Back… • Shallow water made it difficult for landing craft to get to shore 1. Troops would have to wade ashore, leading to high casualties, such as at Tarawa 2. U.S. troops used an amphibious tractor, called an amphtrac, to get them ashore Bodies on the beach of Tarawa atoll testify to the ferocity of the battle during the U.S. invasion of the Gilbert Islands in late November 1943.

IV. Driving Japan Back… C. By late 1944, U.S. troops began bombing Japan STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN OVER JAPAN, 1944-1945

IV. Driving Japan Back… • To take back the Philippines, MacArthur’s troops first invaded the islands of Guadalcanal and Morotai SOLOMON ISLANDS AND GUADALCANAL

IV. Driving Japan Back… E. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in history & was the first time the Japanese used kamikaze attacks KAMIKAZE TRYING TO CRASH INTO A US WARSHIP

･7,465 Kamikazes flew to their deaths ･120 US ships were sunk, with many more damaged ･3,048 Allied sailors were killed and another 6,025 wounded While the attacks were made mainly in aircrafts against US ships there were other types of kamikaze vehicles as well. These included small boats, flying human missiles or ohkas, human torpedoes and even the great battleship Yamato.

IV. Driving Japan Back… F. The campaign to recapture the Philippines was long & grueling Shortly after the invasion began, MacArthur stated “People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”

V. Japan is Defeated • U.S. invaded Iwo Jima (Feb. 1945) so planes could refuel before bombing Japan 1. Difficult to invade due to its volcano, rugged terrain, caves, volcanic ash, & Japanese-built concrete bunkers THE U.S. SUFFERED TERRIBLE CAUSALITIES ON IWO JIMA WHICH THE JAPANESE DEFENDED TO THE DEATH LOSING AN ESTIMATED 20,000 SOLDIERS. TOTAL US LOSSES, MOSTLY MARINES, WERE 6,821 KILLED, 19,217 WOUNDED, AND 2,648 CASES OF COMBAT FATIGUE.

V. Japan is Defeated… 2. Known for the flag-raising at Mt. Suribachi FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FLAG RAISING ON MOUNT SURIBACHI ON IWO JIMA TAKEN BY JOE ROSENTHAL IN FEBRUARY OF 1945

THE HORRENDOUS LOSSES THE US SUFFERED AT ISLANDS SUCH AS IWO JIMA AND OKINAWA WOULD ONLY BE A PRELUDE TO THE SLAUGHTER THAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE US INVADED THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS

V. Japan is Defeated… • U.S. dropped bombs filled with napalm on Tokyo to destroy their war production STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN OVER JAPAN, 1944-1945

V. Japan is Defeated… C. U.S. was demanding an unconditional surrender, but Japan wanted to keep its emperor D. The U.S. had been secretly building an atomic bomb through a program named the Manhattan Project THIS MAP SHOWS THE LABS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANHATTAN PROJECT ACROSS THE COUNTRY

V. Japan is Defeated… • Truman had 5 options to end the war 1. Drop the atomic bomb on Japan 2. Carry out a demonstration of the bomb 3. Invade Japan 4. Wait for the Soviets to enter the war & force the Japanese to surrender 5. Negotiate surrender terms acceptable to both sides

HOW SHOULD THE U.S. END THE WAR? •There would be two planned major invasions in 1945 and 1946 •Estimates of US casualties ranged to over a million. • Millions of Japanese would be killed.

V. Japan is Defeated… • Truman chose to drop the atomic bomb, first on Hiroshima, then on Nagasaki (Aug. 1945) to save American lives PAUL TIBBETS PILOTED THE ENOLA GAY, THE PLANE THAT DROPPED THE BOMB ON HIROSHIMA

MODEL OF “LITTLE BOY” DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA (BLUE) AND “FAT MAN” DROPPED ON NAGASAKI (YELLOW) “GADGET” WAS TESTED IN NEW MEXICO IN JULY 1945

V. Japan is Defeated… G. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945 (V-J Day) FOREIGN MINISTER SHIGEMITSU SIGNS JAPANESE SURRENDER DOCUMENT ON SEPT. 2, 1945

AMERICANS CELEBRATE THE END OF WORLD WAR II

WW II DEATHS PER COUNTRY

IV. Driving Japan Back