Island Hopping

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Island Hopping
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After Pearl Harbor

• Japanese continue the war effort by attacking US,
  British, Dutch possessions in the Pacific
  Southeast Asia.
• US Army Air Corps took off from the USS Hornet in
  a successful effort to bomb Tokyo.
• This surprise attack mostly hurt Japanese egos by
  confirming that they could be attacked.

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Battle of Midway

• June 4-7, 1942
• Became a turning point of WWII
• The US Navy defeated the Japanese Navy
• Japan lost 4 carriers
• Over 100 trained pilots died

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Guadalcanal

• August 1942, US offensive that lasted 6 months
• Attack to capture a Japanese airfield
• United States win the battle, but at a
  considerable loss of life

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Japanese Tactics

• Willing to die for the Emperor
• Banzai suicide charges
• Commanders were to commit suicide rather than be
  captured.
• Willingness to fight to the last man
• Kamikaze Corps
• US lost 21 ships sunk, 67 ships damaged, 5,000
  men killed, 5,000 men wounded

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Iwo Jima

• 750 miles from Tokyo
• February 19-March 26, 1945
• One of the bloodiest battles of the entire war
• 25,000 Japanese killed 1,000 captured
• 8,000 US killed 20,000 wounded

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Fire Bombing of Tokyo

• March 9-10, 1945 the US began to fire-bomb Tokyo.
• The results
• 1 million left homeless
• 90,000 killed
• US Naval blockade caused short supplies of raw
  materials, food supplies were short

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Okinawa

• Only 365 miles from the Japanese main island
• US troops landed at Okinawa on April 1, 1945,
  after 10 days of bombardment
• April 6 the Japanese launch Kamikaze attacks.
• Battle rages on for 2 months became the
  costliest battle of the Pacific
• Japanese 110,000 killed, 7,800 captured
• US 12,500 killed 36,000 wounded

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Synthesize

• Take into account all you have learned about the
  Japanese during this unit, from the rape of
  Nanjing through the battle of Okinawa. Write a
  paragraph to describe why the Japanese were such
  a difficult opponent.

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The Atomic Bombs

• August 6, 1945, the US drops the first atomic
  bomb on the city of Hiroshima
• Japan does not surrender
• August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb is dropped
  on the port city of Nagasaki
• August 15, 1945 Japan finally agrees to
  unconditional surrender

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Evaluate

• President Truman had to make one of the most
  difficult and controversial decisions in history
  concerning the atomic bomb.
• In your opinion, did he make the correct
  decision? Support your opinion with facts.