The Flag Flies At Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

• Was used by the Japanese as a radar warning station and a base for fighter interceptors

• U.S. wanted to use it to provide fighter escorts for the huge B-29’s

• Island was highly fortified

Iwo Jima

• There was virtually no Allied cover on the exposed beaches.

• Japanese gunners take a terrible toll among American Marines

• Colonel Harry Liversedge leads assault on Mount Suribachi

Iwo Jima

• Mount Suribachi was Iwo Jima’s highest ground

• Feb. 23, 1945- the Marines raise the flag

» Flag was too small and couldn’t be seen

• 2nd flag raised in its place– Associated Press photographer

Joe Rosenthal took the picture – One of the war’s most famous

pictures

Iwo Jima

• The Stars and Stripes inspired the Marines below

• Most Japanese fought to the death

• Island of Iwo Hima was declared secure on March 26, 1945.

Iwo Jima

• “Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

--Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Okinawa: The Last Battle

• U.S. wanted Okinawa to help stage an invasion against Japan

• Japanese used Kamikaze fighters

• Caused Americans to be at their battle stations 24 hours on end.

Okinawa: The Last Battle

• Okinawa’s most miserable feature was the mud.

• May 29, 1945- American flag flew over Shuri Castle, the ancient capital of the nation

The End of the Conflict

• Americans did not expect Okinawa to be last battle– Preliminary to a Japanese invasion

• Japan had lost her navy and air force– Bombings of Japan were taking place

• Japanese people at the point of starvation

The Manhattan Project

• Was the collaboration of American, British and French scientists to develop the atomic bomb

• Was highly secretive

• It would remain for Truman to decide if, how, where, and when this fantastic weapon should be used.

Potsdam Conference

• Truman meets with Churchill and Stalin– Churchill later replaced by Clement Attlee

• Last of the wartime conferences

• Most important was the Potsdam Declaration- a surrender ultimatum to Japan.

The End of the Conflict

• Japanese refused to talk peace• August 6, 1945- The Enola Gay

drops the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima

• Japanese still refuse to surrender• Aug. 8, 1945- Russia declares

war on Japan.• Aug. 9, 1945- atomic bomb

dropped on Nagasaki

The Japanese Surrender

• August 14, 1945- Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese surrender

• August 15, 1945- V-J Day– Hirohito addresses the Japanese for the first

time in history and tells them Japan surrendered

Significant Events of World War IIWorld War II Is Over!!!