Turning Points Of The Pacific War Essay

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Chaos and continual disorder encompassed the people across the globe in the years prior to the declaration of war between the Axis and Allied powers in 1939. The Great Depression that had struck soon after the First World War left much of the world unemployed and desperate for relief. Nationalism swept through Germany in response to the terms of the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I. China and Japan had been at war since Japanese troops invaded Manchuria in 1931. Germany, Italy, and Japan began multiple invasions and occupations of nearby countries. When they received no meaningful consequences for their aggressive actions, they felt emboldened and World War II began. In the midst of war and the growing totalitarian aggression, the …show more content…

Orders were sail to Port Hueneme, pick up 68th Seabee Battalion, and transport them to Guadalcanal. When Japanese troops landed at Guadalcanal on June 8, 1942, to construct an air base, and then American marines landed two months later in efforts to take the take over the Island (Calvocoressi, Wint, p.781, 1999). Very few people outside of the South Pacific had ever heard of this Island but after the long six-month campaign, Guadalcanal proved to be one of the major turning points of the Pacific war. After discharging the battalion and their materials back in the states, the USS LaSalle was ordered to New Zealand. In New Zealand the LaSalle would load the Second Marine Division and transport them over to Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. In the Battle of Tarawa (November 20-23, 1943) the U.S. began another campaign against Japan by taking over the the heavily fortified Island (Calvocoressi, Wint, p.4822, 1999 ) . Chavez described this battle as gruesome. The American casualties were high in result of negligence of tide reports. Chavez stated, “Because of the unexpected low tide the marines were stuck and unable to move their boats forward or backward forcing them to walk to shore in water waist deep.”(Chavez, p.12, 2011) …show more content…

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