U.S. and Japan battle strategies

1774 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thesis for the spartan war

A. Plan of Investigation
This historical investigation explores the following question: To what extent were the battle strategies of Japan and the U.S. similar in the Battle of Iwo Jima, and how effective was each strategy? In order to fully evaluate the extent of the similarities and effectiveness of Japan and the U.S., this investigation examines the battle plans and strategies of both sides, stories from the soldiers and generals, and the final results from both sides.
The types of sources used for the investigation were books, movies, and websites. The two sources selected for evaluation were So Sad to Fall in Battle, Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s Letters from Iwo Jima, by Kumiko Kakehashi and American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq by James A. Warren. The two books were selected for evaluation because of their origins, purpose, limitations and overall value.

B. Summary of Evidence
Iwo Jima was known as a tiny, stinking island that isolated 660 miles from Tokyo but had very great value to the Americans (Warren 36). Because Iwo Jima was only 660 miles away from Tokyo, the United States wanted the island to be a base for damaged B-29s returning from bombing Japan (“Iwo Jima”). Another reason the island had to be taken was to stop the enemy from using its airfields against the U.S. as Iwo Jima had two airfields (Wheeler 19). Before the initial invasion on Iwo Jima, the island was attacked almost everyday starting on December 7, 1944 when Marine planes began bombing (“Iwo Jima”). The bombing raids took place from December 1944 until February 1945 and did little damage to the island itself because of the defense of the Japanese (“Iwo Jima”). Soon after the American’s realized ther...

... middle of paper ...

...N., and Raymond C. Miller. From the Volcano to the Gorge: Getting the Job Done on Iwo Jima. Standish, ME: Tower Pub., 2010. Print.
Wheeler, Richard. The Bloody Battle for Suribachi. New York: Crowell, 1965. Print.
Walker, Marion Frank, and Becky White. Preparing for the Rain on Iwo Jima Isle. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2009. Print.
"Department of Defense - Battle for Iwo Jima." Department of Defense - Battle for Iwo Jima. N.p., 17 Feb. 2006. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. .
"Iwo Jima." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2013. .
Letters from Iwo Jima. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Prod. Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz. By Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis. Perf. Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Tsuyoshi Ihara. Paramount Pictures, 2006.

Show More
Related

  • Review of Rudy Tomedi’s No Bugles No Drums

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    One limitation Tomedi’s book has is that it is very subjective, allowing the reader to only see a portion of the war through a single person’s view. For example Fred Lawson, an interviewee, stated “We has no idea what was happening over on the other side of the mountain” (Tomedi, 87). Tomedi does not present his readers with a story of “what was happening over the mountain.” The book also neglects various perspectives, such as officers and women in the war. The compilation of stories strictly focuses on combat veterans, many of whom did not know what was going on; they were simply “a bunch of kids…trying to do [their] job” (Tomedi, 8).

    Read More

  • Iwo Jima Speech

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iwo Jima is on Japanese home soil only 650 miles from Tokyo. No foreign army in Japan's 5000 year history has fought on Japanese soil. To the US, Iwo Jima was important because of its location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Marianas. Iwo Jima with its three airfields was an ideal location for fighter-escort stations and as a safe haven for damaged bombers. TRANSITION:

    Read More

  • Wake Island

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Initially, Japanese strategists assumed that the tiny island would be overwhelmed in a matter of hours. However, they underestimated the fighting spirit of the military personnel and civilians stationed on the island. For sixteen days these brave men fought against overwhelming odds, but demonstrated both to the Japanese and to their fellow Americans back at home that the Americans could and would put up a courageous fight.

    Read More

  • The Iwo Jima Memorial

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 32-foot-high sculpture of the Iwo Jima Memorial was inspired by a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of one of the most historic battles of World War II. Iwo Jima, a small island located 660 miles south of Tokyo, was the last territory that U.S. troops recaptured from the Japanese during World War II. The Iwo Jima Memorial statue depicts the scene of the flag raising by five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman that signaled the successful takeover of the island. The capture of Iwo Jima eventually led to the end of the war in 1945.

    Read More

  • Pacific Warfare: The Battle of Midway

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    White, Steve. The Battle of Midway. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • The Significance of the Battle of Midway

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    Blair Jr., Clay, (1975). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, p. 78. p. 1072. Buell, Thomas B. -. (1987)

    Read More

  • Seven Years War

    2264 Words  | 5 Pages

    5.     Margiotta, Franklin D., Ed. “Brassey’s Encyclopedia of Military History and Biography”, Washington: Brassey’s, Inc. 1994

    Read More

  • The Battle of Iwo Jima

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Battle of Iwo Jima or Operation Detachment, the events that caused the battle and the after effects it had on the United States. The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most major battles of WWII of 1945. Although, during WWII many battles were fought this was one of the most important because, American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island including its three airfields, to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. It was the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of War World II. The battles itself was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman.

    Read More

  • The Aleutians: The Battle For Kiska

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sometimes called the “Forgotten Front1” or the “Forgotten War2” the battle for the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska was one of the bloodiest of WWII. With the Battle for Attu still fresh in their minds, on August 14th, 1943 the US military sent over 100 ships and 30,000 men to land on the island of Kiska to attack a Japanese force estimated at 10,000 men. What they found on the island wound up shocking the Allied Forces.

    Read More

  • Battle of Okinawa

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Operation Iceberg was the official Okinawa campaign name. Because of its strategic importance to both the Japanese and the American’s, the Thirty-second Japanese Army commanded by General Mitsuri Ushijima, was ordered to defend Okinawa at all cost. The Japanese forces would change their typical tactics of strong defensive positions at the beaches and water’s edge as seen in the other pacific battles notable the battle of Iwo Jima. Instead they used burial tombs as forts so the Americans would have to bring the fight to them. 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 ...

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment After Pearl Harbor

    2439 Words  | 5 Pages

    23 .Roger Daniel, Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in the World War II 1993, Hill and Yang.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Pearl Harbor

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Okinawa Analysis

    1878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Leckie, Robert. Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II. New York: Penguin Group, 1995. Print.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Battle Of Midway

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S. carried through all of the vital actions necessary with much intelligence. They practiced the tactics in The Art of War by Sun Tzu, furthering the probability of their success. With the Japanese's lack of executing their plans with efficiency and their failure to follow those guidelines that Sun Tzu had set, there was much disappointment from the unsuccessful attempts to defeat the U.S. Navy. The Battle of Midway was a very decisive battle in World War II, as it stopped the Japanese advances in the Pacific and prevented further expansion. American forces had conquered the invincible Japanese Navy.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Singapore

    2567 Words  | 6 Pages

    Marston, Daniel. The Pacific War Companion From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Oxford: Osprey, 2007. .

    Read More

More about U.S. and Japan battle strategies

Open Document