Transcript Iwo Jima, the Atomic Bomb, & the End of WWII

Battles in the Pacific:
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
February 13, 2013
• 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
1. 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
2.
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Okinawa (April - June 1945)
Operation Iceberg
Deadliest Pacific battle (50,000 died)
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340 miles from Japan (vital airbase)
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500,000 involved/ 1200 warships involved
Need for invasion of Japan
Japan defenseless
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Short of pilots, planes, fuel, & weapons
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From Okinawa…
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Bombers hit factories, military bases, &
cities in Japan
Operation Meetinghouse
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Single night in March 1945
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Bomb 16 square miles of Tokyo, Japan
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Killed 83,000/ injured 100,000
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Killed more than atomic bomb alone***
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Single most destructive bomb raid in
history
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Allies & Axis in race to develop BEST
WEAPONS
End of WWII:
Europe & the Pacific
February 14, 2013
• 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
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
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July 16, 1945
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New Mexico
1st atomic bomb tested
LIGHT visible 180 miles away
SOUND heard 100 miles away
• 2 main scientists involved:
1. J. Robert Oppenheimer
“Now I am become death, the
destroyer of Worlds.”
2. General Groves
“The war is over…One or two of
those things and Japan will
be finished.”
Ending WWII in the Pacific
February 19, 2013
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, 1945 9:14AM
– U.S. pilots drop atomic bomb
“Little Boy” on Hiroshima
– 60,000 dead
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Next 3 days…
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Debate whether to surrender or keep
fighting
August 9, 1945
1. USSR declare war on Japan & invade
Manchuria
2. U.S. dropped 2nd atomic bomb “Fat Man”
on Nagasaki
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Killed 35,000
Finally…Hirohito surrenders
August 15, 1945
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Allies celebrate V-J Day (Victory in
Japan)
Japan OFFICIALLY surrendered
September 2, 1945 on USS Missouri
Most costly war in history OVER
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Estimates of over 60 million died