America in WWII: Course of War

1. AP US History America in WWII: Course of War

2. The Rising Sun • After Pearl Harbor, Japan assaults Pacific • Targets American outposts of Guam, Wake, and Philippines; British port of Hong Kong and British Malaya • Moves into China, Burma, & takes Dutch East Indies

3. Pacific Theater of Operations

4. Singapore Surrenders[February, 1942]

5. The Burma Campaign General Stilwell Leaving Burma, 1942 The “Burma Road”

6. The Rising Sun • Japan attacks Philippines • US forces under Gen Douglass MacArthur in Philippines surrender

7. Japanese & Human Rights • The Nazi’s weren’t the only group guilty of human rights violations during WWII • The Japanese captured, tortured, and killed Americans and Filipinos in Asia, the Chinese, and multiple ethnic groups throughout southeast Asia

8. U.S. Surrenders at Corregidor,the Philippines [March, 1942]

9. Bataan Death March: April, 1942 76,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in the Philippines.

12. Bataan Death March • the forcible transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino POWs from the Bataan peninsula to prison camps (consistent marching in tropical heat for one week) • Along the way… • Beheadings • cutting of throats • casual shootings • bayonet stabbing • Rape • Disembowelment • deliberate refusal to allow the prisoners food or water • Falling down or inability to continue moving was a death sentence, as was any degree of protest or expression of displeasure

15. Allied Counter-Attack: Island Hopping

16. BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA MAY 7-8, 1942

17. Battle of the Coral Sea • first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other (Shōkaku vs. USS Yorktown) • Japan sunk more ships, but ended in stalemate (disengaged after 2 days) • tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk; strategic victory for the Allies because it showed that the Japanese could be halted

18. Battle of Midway: the US strikes back! • June 1942 • The US defeated the Japanese by relying on US carrier dive bombers • This became a turning point in the war because it was the first major defeat for the Japanese

19. USS YORKTOWN HIT BY JAPANESE CARRIER PLANES. IT WAS THE ONLY CARRIER THE U.S. LOST. THE JAPANESE LOST FOUR CARRIERS AND ALL THEIR PILOTS.

20. U.S. CARRIER DIVE BOMBERS PREPARE TO STRIKE JAPANESE CARRIERS AT MIDWAY

21. U.S. CARRIER AIRPLANES WON THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY DAUNTLESS DIVE BOMBER F-4 WILDCAT FIGHTER

22. General Douglas McArthur • Becomes Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific

23. General Douglas McArthur • Bio… • Fought in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War • General in the Pacific theatre of WWII • Won Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines • Accepted Japan’s surrender at the end of the war • Oversaw American occupation of Japan from 1945 – 1951 • Buried in Norfolk, VA

24. War in the Pacific After Midway, the US was pushing the Japanese back to their own country The two largest battles in the Pacific were Iwo Jima and Okinawa

25. IWO JIMA OKINAWA MAP SHOWING INVASIONS OF IWO JIMA AND OKINAWA

26. Iwo Jima • Iwo Jima was invaded in February 1945 because • it could be used as a base for US B-29 bomber raids on Japan • It knocked out three airfields being used for kamikaze attacks on US ships

27. Kamikaze Pilots • Kamikazes were the suicide attacks the Japanese began late in the war when they realized they could not defeat conventional US forces

28. Kamikaze Pilots Most of the pilots were extremely young

29. PICTURES OF KAMIKAZES, AND U.S. SHIPS HIT BY SUICIDE PLANES

30. Iwo Jima

31. Iwo Jima • Elimination of the airfields brought forth a US win • Japanese had to rely on infantry (used tunneling and surprise attacks); still no match for US air strikes • Losses were still heavy (US – 20,000 killed or wounded; all Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima killed, taken prisoner, or fled – 22,000)

32. Famous photograph of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima taken by Joe Rosenthal in February of 1945

33. STRATEGIC BOMBING CAMPAIGN OVER JAPAN, 1944-1945

34. U.S. INVASION MAPS OF OKINAWA

35. Okinawa • Operation Iceberg • Largest amphibious launch in WWII (also air) • 82 days • Japanese casualties: 100,000 soldiers; almost as many civilians (suicide) • US casualties: 62,000 • highest death toll in naval history

36. Operation Downfall • Allied invasion of the main island of Japan • two planned major invasions in 1945 and 1946 • Estimates of US casualties ranged to over a million • Millions of Japanese would be killed

38. FDR President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945

39. Harry Truman • FDR’s Vice President • Became President when FDR died • Promised to end the war with as few lives lost as possible • Gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on Japan

40. The Atomic Bomb • The Enola Gay (plane) dropped “little boy” (bomb) over the city of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 • 70,000 killed immediately. • 48,000 buildings destroyed • 100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later. • Japan refused to surrender

42. The Atomic Bomb • On August 9th a second Atomic Bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki • 40,000 killed immediately • 60,000 injured • 100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later

44. The world was a changed place!

45. The Surrender • On August 10, 1945 the Japanese surrendered • The formal surrender: Tokyo Bay, September 2nd, 1945 aboard the U.S.S. Missouri

49. VJ DAY, AUGUST 14, 1945 WORLD WAR II ENDS

50. WW II Casualties: Europe Each symbol indicates 100,000 dead in the appropriate theater of operations