WWII Island Hopping in the pacific

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WWII Island Hopping in the pacific

• Iwo Jima and Okinawa
• By Hannah Sakian

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The Island of Iwo Jima
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Okinawa
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Who?

• Allies
• Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.
• Major General Harry Schmidt
• Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher
• up to 110,000 men
• Japanese
• General Mitsuru Ushijima
• Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
• Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi
• 23,000 men

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What?

• The Japanese wanted to make these battles last as
  long as they possibly could.
• They wanted to inflict maximum casualties on the
  US forces and delay their
• Progress toward the main land. The Japanese would
  fight literally to the last man,
• Only 216 Japanese soldiers surrendered.

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When? And where?

• The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought from February
  19 to March 26, 1945
• The Battle of Okinawa was fought from April to
  June, 1945

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Why?

• Iwo Jima, was strategically important as an air
  base for fighter escorts supporting long-range
  bombing missions against mainland Japan. Because
  of the distance between mainland Japan and U.S.
  bases in the Mariana Islands, the capture of Iwo
  Jima would provide an emergency landing strip for
  crippled B-29s returning from bombing runs. The
  seizure of Iwo would allow for sea and air
  blockades, the ability to conduct intensive air
  bombardment and to destroy the enemy's air and
  naval capabilities.
• Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyus islands at
  the southern tip of Japan. Okinawa is about 60
  miles long and between 2 and 18 miles wide. Its
  strategic importance could not be underestimated
  there were four airfields on the island that
  America needed to control.

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How?

• Initial carrier raids against Iwo Jima began in
  June 1944.
• By Feb. 23, the 28th Marines would reach the top
  of Mount Suribachi and raise the U.S. flag.
• Finally on March 26, following a banzai attack
  against troops and air corps personnel near the
  beaches, the island was declared secure. The U.S.
  Army's 147th Infantry regiment assumed ground
  control of the island on April 4.
• On April 1st 1945 the US marines had landed on
  Okinawa.
• By April 20th, all Japanese resistance in the
  north of the island had been eradicated except
  for some guerrilla activity. The real battle for
  Okinawa was in the south of the island.
• July 2nd, Okinawa was declared secure by the
  Americans.

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Overview

• This power point is about how the US took control
  of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in order to have a closer
  base to attack Japan from.

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The underground maze
Something that I found very interesting about Iwo
was how the Japanese created this underground
maze of chambers and connecting tunnels to hide
from the Americans. Mount Suribachi was
honeycombed with seven levels of tunnels
connecting 1,000 chambers.
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Significance to the war

• It was important for the Us to have a base near
  Japan. Iwo Jima and Okinawa gave them a place to
  launch bombs from, store all of their supplies.
  If the US had not taken control of Iwo and
  Okinawa then they would have to carry everything
  with them on boats and in planes, that wouldve
  been dangerous because if the Japanese attacked
  their boats or planes then all of the supplies
  would have been damaged. It wouldve been a much
  more costly war.

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Quiz!

• 1. In what month did the US take control of Iwo
  Jima?
• November
• July
• March
• 3. What mountain did the US take control of on
  Iwo Jima?
• a. Mount Everest
• b. Mount Suribachi
• c. Stone Mountain

• 2. What year did the US take control of Okinawa?
  
• a. 1945
• b. 1941
• c. 1943

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The Answers

• 1. In what month did the US take control of
  Iwo Jima?
• a. November
• b. December
• c. March
• 3. What mountain did the US take control of on
  Iwo Jima?
• a. Mount Everest
• b. Mount Suribachi
• c. Stone Mountain

• 2. What year did the US take control of
  Okinawa?
• a. 1945
• b. 1941
• c. 1943

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Credits

• Wheeler, Keith. The Road to Tokyo World War II.
  MorristownTimelife,1981.
• World War II The Definitive Visual History, DK
  publishing, 2009.
• http//15thengineer.50megs.com/IWO-Pacific_Map.jpg
  
• http//www.kilroywashere.org/06-Images/Invasion/Mi
  les-Tunnels-Iwo.jpg
• http//www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/japan/iwo_j
  ima/1984/hospital-cave-interior.jpg
• http//www.warofourfathers.com/war/144okinawa_810x
  540o.html
• http//militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/p/b
  attle-of-iwo-jima.htm
• http//www.japan-101.com/history/battle_of_okinawa
  .htm
• http//www.history.navy.mil/library/online/battlei
  wojima.htm
• http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_oki
  nawa.htm