World War II

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World War II

• Battles of the Pacific Theatre

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Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor

• December 7th, 1941
• Japan surprised American fleet in Hawaii and
  destroyed or damaged 19 ships
• 2,300 Americans were killed
• Following day US declared war on Japan

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Vocabulary
Island Hopping Allied troops moved past Japanese
strongholds seizing islands that were not well
defended and moved Allied troops closer to Japan
4
Vocabulary
Kamikaze Japanese suicide pilots crashed
bomb-filled aircraft into Allied ships
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(No Transcript)
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Bataan Death March

• January of 1942 Japanese attacked the
  Philippines
• Americans fought them from Bataan Peninsula
• 3 months of fighting before Japan overtook
  American forces

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Bataan Death March

• Japanese considered it dishonorable to surrender
  and had contempt for prisoners of war
• Bataan Death March- 50 mile forced march of
  POWs
• 70,000 POWs only 54,000 survived

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Bataan Death March

• I was questioned by a Japanese officer, who
  found out that I had been in the Philippine Scout
  Battalion. The Japanese hated the Scouts
  Anyway, they took me outside and I was forced to
  watch as they buried six of my Scouts alive. They
  made the men dig their own graves, and then had
  them kneel down in a pit. The guards hit them
  over the head with shovels to stun them and piled
  earth on top.
• - Lieutenant John Spainhower
• (War Diary 1939-1945)

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Doolittles Raid

• US wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor
• Lt. Col. Doolittle led 16 B-25 Bombers on an
  attack of Tokyo
• Bombs did little damage but proved Japan was
  vulnerable to attack
• Raised American moral

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Battle of Coral Sea

• May 1942
• Japanese and Allied aircraft attacked enemy ships
• Allies suffered huge losses
• Stopped Japans southward advances

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Battle of Midway

• June 1942
• Key American airfield
• Allied code breakers learned of Japanese attack
• American forces surprised Japanese fleet and
  destroyed 332 planes and 5 ships
• Turned the tide of war

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Battle of Guadalcanal

• Japanese were building a stronghold on island
• MacArthur wanted to take before airbase was
  completed
• August 1942 Marines seized airfield
• Battle lasted for 6 months before Japan abandoned
  the island

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Battle of Leyte Gulf

• Oct. 1944 MacArthur returned to Philippines
• Japanese wanted to defeat US fleet and keep
  Allies from resupplying troops
• Four days of battle
• Entire Japanese fleet was destroyed

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Battle of Iwo Jima

• February-March 1945
• Heavy losses for both US Marines
• (4 Marines died for every yard taken)
• Airfields made it possible for US to attack
  closer to Japan

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Battle of Okinawa

• April to July 1945
• Japans last effort to protect the empire
• A bloody land battle
• 100,000 Japanese died and 12,000 Americans
• US is now 350 miles away from Japans main
  islands

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Allies look to Japan

• With Japanese soldiers fighting to the death for
  their empire the US and Allies now looked at
  fighting Japan on the main islands
• How many more lives will an assault take?