World War II ~ Lesson 7 The War in the Pacific
While the Americans were fighting in Europe, the Japanese army easily took American outposts such as Corregidor in the Philippine Islands. The prisoners of war were forced to go on long marches to prison camps. These were called "death marches" because so many men died during them.
General MacArthur was the commander of the troops in the Far East. He set up a three-part plan for defeating the Japanese.
-
Take the Philippines.
-
Cut Japan off from its empire.
-
Attack Japan.
The Japanese soon took over Indochina, Burma, and Hong Kong.
The Americans set up a base at Midway. This was an island halfway between the United States and Japan. In August 1942, the marines attacked Guadalcanal. In February 1943 after 6 months of fighting, the Americans were finally able to take Guadalcanal.
General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial landings at Leyte, Philippine Islands
For the next year and a half the Americans moved toward Japan. By December 1944, General MacArthur took back the Philippines.
In March 1945, the Americans took the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Japanese began purposely flying their planes loaded with bombs into the American ships. The pilots were called Kamikaze pilots. The Japanese believe that their ancestors would be happy because of the way they died.
On July 16, 1945, the American government tested a new type of bomb in New Mexico. It was called the atomic bomb.
On July 26, 1945, President Truman asked the Japanese to surrender. He warned them that they would be destroyed if they did not. The Japanese answered that the American warning was not even "worth public notice".
On August 6, 1945, one B-29 flew over the city of Hiroshima. It dropped the atomic bomb. The city was almost wiped out. A fire followed the explosion. More than 70,000 people were killed. Japan still would not surrender.
On August 9 another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Thousands more were killed. The Japanese then agreed to end the war.
The surrender papers were signed on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. World War II was over.
