1. Battles in the Pacific: Iwo Jima & Okinawa
February 13, 2013

2. GOAL: Get as close to Japan as possible
Island hopping strategy
New way of fighting
Japanese fight to DEATH
Fight until last man standing
Rather than surrender, kill themselves
Kamikaze: deliberately crash planes into U.S. ships
3,000 Kamikaze pilots died
Battles in the Pacific
Iwo Jima (February/ March 1945)
Operation Detachment
5 mile long island
650 miles from Japan
U.S. marines face “dug-in,” determined Japanese
36 days of fighting
23,000 Marines died…but captured island
Picture became symbol of U.S. patriotism
Today: Iwo To

3. Deadliest Pacific battle (50,000 died)
Okinawa (April - June 1945)
Operation Iceberg
Deadliest Pacific battle (50,000 died)
500,000 involved/ 1200 warships involved
340 miles from Japan (vital airbase)
Need for invasion of Japan
Japan defenseless
Short of pilots, planes, fuel, & weapons
From Okinawa…
Bombers hit factories, military bases, & cities in Japan
Operation Meetinghouse
Single night in March 1945
Bomb 16 square miles of Tokyo, Japan
Killed 83,000/ injured 100,000
Killed more than atomic bomb alone***
Single most destructive bomb raid in history
Allies & Axis in race to develop BEST WEAPONS

4. End of WWII: Europe & the Pacific
February 14, 2013

5. Hitler physical wreck
Shakes, paranoid, still thinks chance of victory
Giving orders but no one listen
April 30, 1945: Hitler commit suicide
May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders in Eisenhower’s Headquarters
Americans celebrate V-E Day
Victory in Europe

6. Short Timeline of Atomic Bomb 1930s: learn how to split atom
1939: Albert Einstein signs letter urging FDR to work on atomic bomb development (Hitler)
1942: FDR gives highest priority of atomic bomb
Code name “Manhattan Project”
Cost several billion dollars
Employed thousands across country
Security tight
Scientist work “piece by piece”
Don’t know whole picture

7. 2 main scientists involved: J. Robert Oppenheimer
July 16, 1945
New Mexico
1st atomic bomb tested
LIGHT visible 180 miles away
SOUND heard 100 miles away
2 main scientists involved:
J. Robert Oppenheimer
“Now I am become death, the destroyer of Worlds.”
General Groves
“The war is over…One or two of those things and Japan will be finished.”

8. Ending WWII in the Pacific February 19, 2013

9. President Truman makes decision 1. Ethical???
Civilian deaths
2. Knew Axis working on atomic bomb
Don’t know how close Japan is
3. Priority: Save American lives
Invasion of Japan could cost up to 1 million soldier lives
Did not agonize over decision
Needed to end war & save lives
August 6, :14AM
U.S. pilots drop atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima
60,000 dead

10. Finally…Hirohito surrenders August 15, 1945
Next 3 days…
Debate whether to surrender or keep fighting
August 9, 1945
USSR declare war on Japan & invade Manchuria
U.S. dropped 2nd atomic bomb “Fat Man” on Nagasaki
Killed 35,000
Finally…Hirohito surrenders
August 15, 1945
Allies celebrate V-J Day (Victory in Japan)
Japan OFFICIALLY surrendered September 2, 1945 on USS Missouri
Most costly war in history OVER
Estimates of over 60 million died