Its black sand beaches are known worldwide by courageous fighting men and is home to one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Today it is still an icon of courage and sacrifice, a source of national pride. It is Iwo Jima. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 by the Japanese signaled the start of Japanese military control throughout the Pacific and the start of World War II. June of 1942 the Japanese Navy is defeated at the Battle of Midway and it is considered by most to be the turning point of the war. The American military began a campaign of island hoping to take control of strategic islands in the south pacific. Even with the islands they had already controlled Americans knew if they wanted to win they would have to capture the entire island of Iwo Jima, including its three airfields, to provide an area for damaged bombers and other aircrafts. Iwo Jima is needed to save the lives of the Americans flying the B-29 bombers to help prevent losing more Americans in the dangerous Pacific Ocean. The decision was quickly made to attack and take the island of Iwo Jima, code named operation detachment. June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was chosen as command of Iwo Jima (National Geographics). Kuribayashi had lived and trained in the United States so knew the only way to have a chance against the American’s superior fire power was to fight the battle from underground where they would be protected (Hickman). Iwo Jima was an important island for the Japanese because it provided an area of attack and functioned as a buffer zone for Americans attempting to bomb their homeland. Initial bombing raids against Iwo Jima began in June 1944 (Navy Department Library). The B-29’s and naval ships’ bombing destroyed ... ... middle of paper ... .... March 11th operation detachment entered the final phase. During this phase the Marines took out small section of enemy forces and by March 26 the island was officially secure. The “36-day assault resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead” and only “1,083” out of “20,000 Japanese survived” (Hickman). Iwo Jima was won by the relentless fighting spirit of the Marines, strategic planning and support provided by the Navy and Army. The Americans won this war with superior fire power and strategic fighting tactics planned days in advance; however, the Japanese put up a well fought battle considering the few resources they had. The Battle of Iwo Jima is a battle of sacrifice and one that will never be forgotten. It is a source of pride due to the strategic accomplishes made by the United States. The Battle of Iwo Jima will never be forgotten.
1. THE FLAG RAISING: Mount Suribachi is a 550 foot volcanic cone at the island’s southern tip. It dominates both possible-landing beaches, from this point Japanese gunners have every inch of the beaches covered. Every marine on the island was in range of Japanese guns.
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.
The island of Iwo Jima is just one of the many islands in the pacific that make up the island chain of Ogasawara. The Ogasawara chain of islands are located approximately 750 miles south of Tokyo. In comparison to most of the other islands in the pacific Iwo Jima is relatively small, in fact it is only four and a half miles long by two and a half miles wide. The geographic layout of Iwo Jima consists of a dormant volcano on the northern side called Mount Suribachi and a flat stretch of land to the south. So why is such a small island so important? After the surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor America needed a place to stage aircraft for conducting bombing runs on Tokyo, Iwo Jima provided the best place to host our fleet of bombers.
This battle was the start of America taking control of the war over the Pacific. This battle took place six months after Japan first struck Pearl Harbor. Many historians say this was the greatest air battle of all time. America not only proved that numbers didn’t matter, but showed that only leaders with clear eyes and soldiers with heart can win a battle of any size. Even before the battle started, America saw his attack coming.
Because of the desperation felt by the Japanese forces leading up to the battle and American forces making steady advances toward Japan, the Japanese forces felt the battle could not be won. They were ordered to by time for Japan to build its defenses around the homeland. Japanese were not only dying for their county but taking their own lives as ... ... middle of paper ... ... 6 wounded.
In the course of history, the United States Military has participated in numerous and significant conflicts with other nations that have led to dramatic and essential changes in the world. Several of these wars created good relations and alliance with other countries that remained to this date, and others affected the way nations relate to each other. One of the most remembered battles was the Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg during World War II.
During the Revolutionary War, our founding fathers fought for our freedom. We could have never been able to do it without our armed forces. The Marine Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, is a sculpture standing in Arlington Virginia. It shows the country’s gratitude to Marines and those who have fought beside them.
...er 'Phelps' finished off the 'Lexington' with five torpedoes, the Lexington sank. Japanese later called off trying to capture Port Moresby, for they feared that the American still has the power to destroy many of their landing crafts. The Japanese came out the best in Battle of Coral Sea. The loss of the 'Lexington' was great and far outweighed the loss of the “Shoho'. In total the Japanese lost 43 planes to the Americans. The battle is seen as an American victory because in the end it stopped the Japanese from doing what their plan was to do, and that is capture Port Moresby and it excluded Australia. This was a great victory for the Americans. The Battle of Midway did more damage to the Japanese, then the others did.
The Battle of Midway was a “four-day sea-and-air battle” the U.S Pacific fleet had completely destroyed the four Japanese aircraft carriers, but in order to do that they had to lose one of their carriers the Yorktown which they had lost to the Japanese navy.
The attack on December 7th, 1941 was declared “a day that will live in infamy,” by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). It was devastating to the naval powers of the United States. By December of 1941, Germany has achieved victory after victory in Europe. The United States, though officially neutral, sends war supplies and munitions to the allied powers of Europe. The Japanese deploy a fleet to attack the US naval installations on the island of Hawaii. The Japanese hope to win the entire war with one attack. However, deep in the hearts of Japanese leadership, they know they could not possibly win. Why did they enter a war they could not win? The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because they felt that a preemptive strike could end the war much faster, the Japanese hierarchy thought they had the best fighters and navy, and the Japanese economy was being crippled by allied embargoes.
The Pacific war was long a with extremely large casualties on both sides of Japan, AMerica and Great Britain. Many of them occurring in Leyte which was an American island base in the Philippines. Japan had made the Philippines a prime target due to the location which made it easier for them to get supplies and resources from the east Indies while at the same time gaining access to the abundant resources in the Philippines. On October 20,1944 Japanese soldiers streamed onto the island attacking the American soldiers who lied in wait for the attack on the island and in their ships. The battle would become on of the most intense naval battles in World War Two and the fighting on the island would come to resemble the fighting from World War One. The Japanese would attack ships, and even American Airfields with the american fighting back the major counteroffensive attack. The Japanese continued fighting until April 1945 then the Americans gained back control of most of Leyte by Christmas with thousands of Japanese and American soldiers dead. Next, the fighting of Okinawa island, which was a small island four hundred miles off the coast of Japan, making it a prime target for a United States military base for the remainder of World War Two since then they would be able to launch attacks on Japan’s mainland and keep an eye on their movements. The battle began on April 1,
In retrospect, Japan reached some of their goals. However, they did not achieve most of them. For example, they did not sink as many battleships as they would’ve liked to, and they failed to destroy oil tanks and naval dockyards. 2,403 people were killed, and in addition to the attack, it had provoked many other conflicts to the U.S.. In particular, two years after the attack took place, the United States entered WWII.
Before going into World War II, America was placed under defense to protect its main possessions, this led to early battlefronts with japan. The general, Douglass MacArthur, appointed a new commander of US army forces by President Franklin Roosevelt, demanding the American troops in the Philippines to treat the south’s Bataan peninsula until reinforcements arrived. However, in 1941 the attack on the Pearl Harbor acted so brutally that it distracted the flow of reinforcements, which then led to the troops being on their own. From the year 1941-1942, the troops in Bataan overly resisted the Japanese conquest from the crack of dawn to sunset. On April 3rd the japan flotilla originally destined for Australia arrived in the Philippines, which led to new surge of Japanese attacks. During this horrifying time the Americans and Philippines had no other choice but to wait, wait to die, and wait to live, or wait for an absolution. On April 9th 1942 the 12,000 Americans and nearly 58,000 Filipino soldiers decided to surrender. By this time, a third of them were already sick and dying. Getting deeper in to the death march, Japanese rounded up the captured troops in to long lines and told them to start marching for the next seven consecutive days with no food or water and had very little rest with temperatures constantly increasing by the minute. This torturous march caused over five thousand deaths. During this time, there was a code called “the bushido code” that the
On December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, officially bringing the United States into World War II. In May of 1945, the tragic and costly war in Europe finally came to a close with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers, however the war in the Pacific was still looming and unsettled. The Allies had a strategy to capture a series of islands in an attempt to use them as supply bases from which a new assault on Japan could be launched. The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered the largest naval battle in history as the U.S. lost six warships and the Japanese twenty six. In this time, the Japanese resorted to the Kamikaze suicide pilots who directly flew into American and British ships
This exploratory essay will analyze Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. On February 23, 1945, Joe Rosenthal captured the photograph of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. The image illustrates five U.S. Marine and Navy corpsman triumphantly raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The history behind this cultural text is extremely critical because it speaks to the bloodiest fight in Marine history, losing around 6,000 marines. The triumph was noteworthy to America since it made Japan surrender, finishing World War II. The Iconic symbol created an extensive disputation over its authenticity whether it was intentionally staged and not taken spontaneously. Nevertheless,