The Bombing of Japan

1. The Bombing of Japan By: Jerry Moore

2. What started it • The attack on Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation or Operation AI)by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (Operation Z in planning) and the Battle of Pearl Harbor)was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.

3. America’s General • Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was a general in the United States Air Force. He is credited with designing and implementing an effective, but also controversial, systematic strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. During the war, he was known for planning and executing a massive bombing campaign against cities in Japan and a crippling minelaying campaign of Japan's internal waterways.

4. The battle of Okinawa • Japan lost over 100,000 soldiers, who were either killed, captured or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of local civilians were killed, wounded, or committed suicide. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan to surrender just weeks after the end of the fighting at Okinawa.

5. The Battle of Iwo Jima • American casualties (killed and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese, although Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 of these were taken prisoner. Some of these were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The rest were killed or missing and presumed dead. • Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. The Americans possessed an overwhelming superiority in arms and numbers. These factors, coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement, insured that there were no plausible circumstances in which the Americans could have lost the battle. • This would later lead to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

6. Facts • The plane that was used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a Boeing B-29. • The name of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was known as the Little Boy. On August 6, 1945. • The name of the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was also known as the Fat Man. On August 9, 1945. • Within the first 4 months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000-166,000 people in Hiroshima, and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly over half the deaths occurring the very first day.