Introduction
April 1, 1945 the United States Military had its sights set on a small island chain known as the Ryukyu Islands. The main island of Okinawa would be the primary target. Sixty miles long and two to eighteen miles wide, this island was only three hundred and forty miles from mainland Japan. This island would put U.S. forces in air bombing range of mainland Japan. The Tenth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Butler, consisted of two Army divisions and Two Marine divisions. Also the United States Navy 5th Fleet commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance. The thirty second Japanese Army, commanded by General Mitsuru Ushijima, would try to defend Okinawa. United States forces were met with little resistance during the invasion however this battle would prove to be one of the fiercest in the Pacific. A cost that did not have to be paid considering the atomic bomb would end the war weeks after the fighting had halted.
History
On December 7th 1941, the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor and Americans were caught completely off guard. Eight United States Navy ships were damaged and five were sunk. 2,403 Americans lost their lives with 1,178 wounded. This incident thrust the U.S. military into World War 2. The next three years the United States found themselves in fierce battles throughout the Pacific. The technique used is referred to as island hopping. After Midway, the Philippines, the Marianas, and Iwo Jima it was now time for Okinawa. Okinawa its self is a territory of Japan. The civilian populous, once a monarchy, was caught in the middle of a bloody battle.
Planning and Preparation
The original plan was to take the Island of Formosa, or Taiwan as it is commonly known. After...
... middle of paper ...
...
The staggering cost of this battle was one that didn’t necessarily have to be paid. On August 6th the first atomic bomb named Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later a second atomic bomb, named Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 15th, just six weeks after the fighting on Okinawa was over, Japan announced its surrender. On September 2nd the official declaration of surrender was signed by the Japanese.
References
Fiefer, George Tennozan the Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb, Ticnor and Fields 1992
Leckie, Robert Okinawa the Last Battle of World War II, Viking Penguin 1995
Pryce, Richard O.K.K.A. “The Battle of Okinawa”, www.okka.co.uk/battleofokinawa.html
Thomas, Evan Sea of Thunder, Simon and Schuster 2006
“World war II in Europe”, History Place 1997, www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.html
In the middle of Lost in the Pacific 1942, after they crash land the have to get into three rafts they have eight people they have to split up into the rafts, two of the rafts are 3 man rafts and one of the rafts is a two seater raft. So after they split up into the rafts all they have for food is four oranges because, they forgot the thermos and their food on the plane, and their plane is sunk by now so they have to survive off of four oranges and no water.About one week later they manage to get a rain storm and they collect as much water as they can and a couple of days later hey manage to catch a couple of fingerlings, which are fish that are like an inch long.
Japanese stood their ground and on December 7,1941.The surprise attack on the Americans that destroyed or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded at Pearl Harbor(document
The Battle of Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious events that happened in U.S. history. On December 7, 1941, Japan made a surprise aerial attack on the United States naval base and airfields at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than two thousand Americans died and a thousand two hundred were wounded. Eighteen ships were badly damaged, including five battleships. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt with the support of the Congress, declared war on Japan. It led United States’ official involvement in World War II. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a deteriorating relationship with the U. S. The “New World Order”, expansion and resources, and economic sanctions were factors that conducted to another disaster on the Second World War.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 15th, the Japan announced unconditional surrender in World War II. To this day historians still discuss why the U.S. decided to use the atomic bombs. Orthodox historians argue that the decision to drop the bombs was a military one designed purely to defeat the Japanese.
World War II, along with its numerous battles, brought great tension between two of the strongest countries during the 1940s: the United States and Japan. Conflict between these two countries started with Japan’s push past Chinese borders into Manchuria in search of the natural resources Japan lacks. At first, the United States avoided military action with Japan by waging economic warfare on them. This economic pressure included the passing of the Neutrality Act, which prohibited the sale of weapons to nations at war (Nash 513). Additionally, the United States placed oil embargoes on Japan hoping it would force Japan to shut down military operations in China. Japan, at a critical decision point, decided to bomb the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941 at 6 a.m., Japan pilots bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, taking out the United States’ strongest battleships, killing thousands of people, and destroying hundreds of planes (Sherman). The day after Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. Over the next few years, the United States and Japan fought fierce battles for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. One of the most important battles during the United States and Japanese war was the Battle of Midway. Japan was destroying the United States at sea, until the Battle of Midway gave the United States Pacific Fleet an edge on Japanese forces. The Battle of Midway was the most important naval engagement of World War II: it was a decisive battle that allowed the United States to be the dominant naval power in the Pacific and it marked a turning point in World War II for the United States.
... held on to until 1968 when the Johnson administration turned it back over to Japan. This is has become a sore subject for some Marines who fought and watched brothers die for a piece of rock. The Marine Corp veterans believe we should have kept it as a memorial to those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice. Japan has since built a memorial for all WWII veterans and continues to do investigations on the island.
World War II was a horrific time in not only in the United States, but throughout the entire world. There were horrendous things going on in Europe at this time. World War II began in 1939. The Battle of Midway had a great impact on World War II. The Battle of Midway was a battle between America and Japan; Germany was not involved in this. By examining why Japan attempted to take control over Midway, Japan’s plan, and the battle itself, a connection can be made to The Battle of Midway and its effects on World War II. The Battle of Midway was a huge part in World War II.
On December 7th 1941, Japanese Planes and submarines attacked the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor. This event singlehandedly brought the U.S from its then neutral stance in World War Two to a fighting member of the “Allied Powers.” Pearl Harbor was the first of a long series of confrontations between the U.S and the Japanese in an effort to gain control of the Pacific. Unlike the “War in Europe” the Pacific strategy was dominated by naval and aerial battles, with the occasional land-based “Island Hopping” Campaign. As such, one of the most important factors in the war in the pacific was Fleet Size, the more ships a country could send to war, the better. Pearl Harbor was the Japanese’s way of trying to deal with the massive U.S Pacific fleet. However, Pearl Harbor was not the turning point of the war. After December 7th the United States began work on numerous technological developments which would ultimately help them in one of the most important battles of WWII, the largest naval confrontation of the war, The Battle of Midway. The battle, which took place from June 4th to June 7th , 1942 is widely considered the turning point of the Pacific Theater (James & Wells). Through the Post-Pearl Harbor desire for “Revenge” and various technological advantages including code breaking and radar, the U.S were able to outsmart the Japanese at Midway and ultimately win the battle, eventually leading to a victory in the Pacific.
In December of 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, pulling the US into WWII. The Japanese commander in charge of the Navy, Admiral Yamamoto, was looking for an opportunity to pull the US Navy into a battle in which he could decisively engage and destroy its carriers. He decided that the best target available would be Midway. However, as a distraction, in June of 1942, Yamamoto opened up a second front by attacking the Aleutian Islands.
...or both sides; casualties were increasing. This was what mostly led to the U.S to drop the atomic bomb. The Japanese surrender did not occur until after the first bomb dropped of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and a second on Nagasaki. The atomic bomb was the result of a top secret experiment called the Manhattan Project (The Americans. Reconstruction to the 21st Century) the war was finally over when Japan surrendered on August 14th.
Pearl Harbor is easily one of the most disastrous events that occurred on American soil. It was a deliberate attack against the United States from Japan. Before December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, America had decided not to get involved in European affairs, which included the beginning of World War II. However, once the United States saw how much Britain and the Soviet Union were suffering from fighting with the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan), America felt obligated to help in some way to help without actually entering the war. Weapons, money, and food were sent over seas to help aid them in any way it could. It was very obvious that if America had entered the war, we would join the side of the Allies (Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union). The day after Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt approached congress and asked for a declaration of war against Japan. Pearl Harbor affected many events that occurred in World War II. Not only the United States, but the world was affected that day.
On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with the possibility of forcing the U.S. to join World War II. About 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships had been sunk, and 188 aircrafts were destroyed. On August 6 and 9 of 1945, the U.S. retaliated and dropped two atomic bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The U.S. was not justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan because of the locations that were bombed, the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and the lack of previous bomb testing.
World War II consisted of many devastating battles in both the European and the Pacific Theater. The Battle of Okinawa was fought in the Pacific theater. In the beginning of the battle there was little opposition from the Japanese soldiers but as the American troops traveled more inland the more resistance they met. Eventually, the 10th Army came against the fierce challenge of the intricate defense lines the Japanese held up. Many caves and pillboxes in the hills created a formidable challenge for American troops. Slowly though the Allies gained ground and continued to push back the defensive lines of General Ushijima and his troops. The Japanese tried to use kamikaze air and land attacks as successful offensive measures, these continued to produce little effect and failed each time. Finally, the Allies started to gain ground quite quickly. The Japanese had to move their defensive lines several time because the Americans were boxing them in. At las,t General Ushijima ordered everyman to fight till the death and the fighting became very disorganized. On June 21, all the loss ends were tied up. America had won Okinawa.
America was not the only one who suffered casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan lost five midget submarines and nine of the men who piloted the small, war submersibles. The tenth man, Ensign Sakamaki, became our first Japanese WWII prisoner of war. Jap...
Also, many messages between the United States and Japan declared that if the Japanese didn’t surrender, they would face ultimate annihilation (Atomic bomb). Consequently, when the Japanese refused to budge, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, the Little Boy and the Fat Man, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, the Japanese people faced ultimate plight.