the battle of the pacific the sleeping giant wakes up
TRANSCRIPT
The Battle of the Pacific
The Sleeping Giant Wakes Up
Six months after Pearl Harbor(May 7, 1942)
• Japan Controls Philippines
• 300,000 sq. Miles of Ocean / Islands
• Japan is ready to attack Australia
• U.S. is nervous - West Coast
• Japan has 3 times as many ships in Pacific as the U.S.
U.S.A. Plan to Win Pacific
• Two Pronged Attack-South Pacific
Central Pacific
• Island Hopping – Taking key islands to cut off Japanese supply
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Japan’s Empire within 6 months of Pearl Harbor
Doolittle Raid – April 18,1942
• Designed to boost American morale.
• B-25 Bombers launched from carriers.
• Bombed Tokyo• Crews are forced to
bail out over China.
Major Battles of the Pacific Campaign
• Coral Sea – May 1942
• Philippines – May 1942 and Oct. 1944
• Midway Island – June 1942
• Iwo Jima – February, 1945
• Okinawa – April, 1945
Battle of the Coral Sea
• May 1942
• Stops advance on Australia
• First battle at sea fought entirely in the air.
Philippines• May 1942
• Japan seizes Philippines.
• Americans soldiers surrender and are forced to march 75 miles to “camp”
• U.S. recaptures in October 1944Bataan Death March
Navajo Code Talkers:
Japanese could not understand the Navajo language
The U.S. used the “Code Breakers” to pin point locations of the
Japanese troops.
Battle of Midway – June 1942
• First Major victory for U.S.A. against Japan
• Stops advance of Japanese towards Hawaii
• U.S. sinks four Japanese carriers.
Kamikaze (Divine Wind) Pilots
• Japanese Pilots commit suicide with an airplane.
• Tactic begins in 1944 when Japanese Become desperate.
• Few Skilled Pilots left.
Fire Bombing of Japan – 1945
• U.S. uses napalm to incinerate the Japanese.
• Attacks are often at night and in areas with large concentrations of civilians.
• Hundreds of Thousands of civilians die in the raids.
• Tactic is questioned during and after the war.
IWO JIMA – February 1945
Battle of Okinawa - April 1945
• 400 Miles south of Japan
• Last step for U.S.A. / Last chance for Japan
• 1300 U.S. Ships for Invasion
• Japan Reinforced with 100,000 troops
Desmond T. Doss• Conscientious Objector.
• Refused to carry a weapon.
• Saved many lives during the Battle of Okinawa.
• Won the Medal of Honor
War Ends in Europe• May 7th , 1945 Germany Surrenders
• V-E Day May 8th, 1945
• Now ALL attention can be focused on Japan…………