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The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched an unexpected attack against the US fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. -
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The War against Japan
From 1941 to 1945 the US fought against Japan in an attempt to stop Japan from expanding into Eastern Asia. -
The US Declared War on Japan
On December 8, the US declared war on Japan and joined the Allies. -
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The Battle of Midway
On the morning of June 4, aircraft from Japan attacked and severely damaged the US base on Midway. These attacks caused the battle to rage on for an additional 5 days, but eventually, the US was able to drive the Japanese navy back and take complete control of Midway. -
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The Battle of Iwo Jima
U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima, a strategic air base located between the Mariana Islands and Japan, on February 19, 1945. The Japanese had been driven out of caves and other strongholds in merciless point-blank assaults. About 70,000 U.S. Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. In thirty-six days of fighting, nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines were killed. The U.S. captured 216 Japanese troops; the rest were killed in action. The island was finally declared secure on March 26, 1945. -
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The Nuke of Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, dropped the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The helpless city vanished under a deadly column of poisonous gas, smoke, and dust that rose 40,000 feet into the sky. -
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The Bombing of Nagasaki, and the end of the war
On August 9, 1945, the United States detonated another atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II. The aerial bombing killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remains the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. Japan then announced its surrender on September 2, 1945.