The U.S. Enters WWII

It seems through history that no matter how hard America tries they cannot stay out of

the World Wars. Through most of the devastating prowess of World War I the U.S. stayed a

neutral party. Unfortunately it seemed that neutrality just was not in the cards for the U.S.

After various events such as Zimmerman’s Note, and the sinking of the Lusitania; America set

on the fast track to war. The similar idea that neutrality is the best answer are seen again in

World War II. America tried to uphold their ideals on neutrality as long as they could, but the

overbearing pressure and weight of the war eventually crushed all pretense of neutrality. Like

World War I there were specific events that had led up to America’s entrance into World War II.

The expansion of the Nazi party is a great influence on The United States’ choice to participate

in the war, many Americans were very anti-Hitler and anti-Nazi. Most well known for bringing

the U.S. into World War II is the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, many believe that this

anger inspiring event itself was the greatest influence on bringing America into the terrible war.

Although these events can be thought of as catalysts for America’s venture into the war, the

responses of the government, and FDR, are what in itself brought the once neutral country to

the front lines. Through the events of Nazi Expansion, Pearl Harbor, and the responses of the

government, a path toward war is set in the ground for America.

Pearl Harbor is a Navy base located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Strategically

this Navy base gained importance when relations with the Japanese started to take a decline in

the 1930’s. This important base would soon be etched into the memories of American’s as one of

the worst catastrophes on American soils. On December 7th 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto employed the aid of Commander Minoru Genda to devise a plan to

destroy the American fleets and then conquer the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies.

The Japanese First Air Fleet consisted of six aircrafts the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku,

and Zuikaku carrying 400 Kate torpedo bombers, Val dive-bombers, and Zero fighters in total,

and was commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. Previous to the attack a code was

broken that rose a suspicion that the Japanese may be planning an offensive attack on the Pacific.

Initial contact with the Japanese on December the 7th came when the destroyer Ward saw and

then fired upon one of five mini-submarines that had attempted to infiltrate the harbor, and attack

the battleships. Wheeler Field was struck by the Japanese at 7:52 A.M., this destroyed most of

the fighters that were lined at the center of the field. Minutes later at 7:55 A.M., the battleships

anchored along Ford Island were hit by torpedoes and other bombs. The torpedos ripped through

the West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Utah, and sank the California. In the forward ammunition

magazine of the Arizona a bomb was denoted, destroying the ship, and taking the lives of 1,200

crew members. Thirteen Japanese crafts were shot down, but at 8:55 more 170 more aircrafts had

arrived. In total the Japanese ended up losing 29 aircrafts, five mini-submarines, and 65 people.

Admiral Nagumo retreated back to Japan shortly after the second wave returned after noon. A

third strike at the oil tanks, submarines, and maintenance facilities was never made. After the

devastating attack the numbers were tallied. The americans had lost 2,500 sailors and soldiers,

and had 1,176 wounded. No aircraft had made it out in perfect condition, they were either

damaged or completely destroyed. All of the battleships had been sunk or damaged, along with

two destroyers. U.S. Admiral Kimmel and Major General Short were both forced to step down

from their positions because they had not acted even after receiving substantial warning. The

events that unfolded on December 7th, 1941 had left a deep and gaping scar on the American

people, and pulled them one step closer to war.

The rise and spread of the dangerous Nazi party also greatly impacted America’s choice

to enter the Second World War. The rise of Hitler and the Nazi party can be called a fault of the

Treaty of Versailles, which in part sent Germany into a long lasting depression. During this dark

time Adolf hitler stepped in to guide the broken country through his Nazi beliefs. In 1933,

Germany withdrew from the League of Nations on Hitlers word, and a dark time would approach

the horizon. Once withdrawn from the League of Nations, Hitler would end up breaking the

Treaty of Versailles by occupying the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936. In 1938 Hitler would

then annex Austria and demand part of Czechoslovakia. Eventually Hitler would expand from

just a small part of Czechoslovakia to occupying the entire country. The war finally started in

1939 when Hitler attacked Poland, to which Britain and France responded with a declaration of

war. Germany quickly conquered Poland and then defeated France. By July 1940, Germany

controlled almost all of Europe except for Britain. These actions of Germany did not go over

well with Americans. The United States responded with a highly anti-Hitler atmosphere. The

actions of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party would put a large crack in America’s wall of

neutrality.

One of the most important things that brought America into the war is the reactions of

those who led the U.S. During the dawn of the war Americans had voiced an opinion that was

strongly anti-Axis. After viewing some of the events that had occurred in Europe, like the Nazi

expansionism, and the imperialism of the Japanese; America started getting ready. Similar to

World War I how the U.S. had started to prepare before even entering the war. On July 26, 1939

President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced a treaty made with Japan in response to their recent

actions and imperialism. Later on, in June 19, 1940 President Roosevelt signs a bill to increase

military spending, allowed U.S. to begin construction of a two-ocean navy. Soon after that, on

September 4th, 1940 FDR orders Navy ships to fire upon German vessels without warning if

they cross into American waters. Roosevelt had also sent materials and supplies to countries who

still had hope in resisting the Axis Powers. The final blow came on December 7th with the Pearl

Harbor attack. The day after the attack the President gave a speech including his declaration of

war. In this speech FDR had said, “We are now fighting to maintain our right to live among our

world neighbors in freedom and in common decency, without fear of assault.” The President

called the attack a cheapshot, and had compared the way Japan acted to that of Hitler, and

Mussolini. Roosevelt along with the rest of the American people were visibly shaken and now

fully prepared to enter the war. After early preparing, and now a strong motivation; the United

States was now fully capable to charge to the front lines of one of the most gruesome wars in

history.

America’s entrance into World War II was a crucial and important part of the 1940’s and

America’s History in general. It had taught America the consequences being a neutral party can

bring. America’s entrance also had brought a new power into the war effort, one that had not

been fighting as long as the others. America was a large power, still full of energy to fight the

Germans. It also had improved the way the United States built up their defenses and military.

After the actions of Pearl Harbor steps were taken to increase the strength of the navy, air force,

and military. Knowing the events that lead to America’s entrance into the war can help us better

understand events going on today. It can aid the preparedness in times of emergency, and give an

example of how acting such ways affect the U.S over all. These actions are relevant to today’s

world because it can help the U.S recognize danger easier, and possibly prevent future violent

acts. They also can help America make faster decisions on how to act in war times, and whether

neutrality really is the best way to go. All in all, the events leading up to World War II are not

only important historically but, teach lessons that can be put forth and used to this very day.

Pacific Theater

The Battle of Bataan began in December 1941 and ended in April 1942. The Americans

were assisting the Filipinos in battle located at the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. It is

important to understand  the battle in order to comprehend  what comes afterwards. The Filipinos

significantly outnumbered the assisting American soldiers, but there was only one line of

supplies to share between both nations’ troops. Due to the massive amount of forces between the

Americans and Filipinos, the soldiers were starving because they were barely being fed. Not only

were the Allied troops starved, but also inexperienced, and they lacked the weaponry needed to

fight the Japanese. Compared to the Japanese weapons, the American/Filipino arms were

antiquated. Because of these sufferings, the Allied troops at the Battle of Bataan called

themselves, “The Battling Bastards of Bataan.” They were receiving the supplies needed to hold

the lines, and the Japanese were advancing rapidly until eventually the Allies lost. The Allied

soldiers recited the lines, “No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam... No pills, no planes, no artillery

pieces, and nobody gives a damn.” The Allied troops ceased fire on April 9th, 1942, and General

Wainwright surrendered to Japanese commander Homma on June 9th.

Although the surrender at the Battle of Bataan was the largest in American history at the

time, the Bataan Death March was what most people remember. The march was up the Bataan

Peninsula and it carried 12,000 Americans and 64,000 Filipino soldiers to prisoner of war (POW)

camps. This march was considered cruel, harsh, painful, and merciless. Anyone who was seen

limping or falling behind during the march would be shot on sight or executed in some form.

Japanese butchered the heads of Americans and Filipinos using their samurai swords showing no

remorse. Allied troops suffered from disease, starvation, dehydration, the burning sunlight, and

wounds from battle. People forced to participate in the march would create makeshift stretchers

to help the people falling behind. If they were not quick enough they would be shot or executed

as well as the ones having trouble catching up. There were so many deaths during the march that

historians were unable to determine the exact number, but know it is between 3,000 and 10,000.

Once the march was over, and they reached the POW camps, prisoners were forced to do

extreme physical labor for the enemy under severe conditions. Prisoners of war were troubled the

most by the inhumane lack of water rather than the food given. General Jonathan Wainwright

was treated the exact same way as his troops, and in fact was beaten, starved, as well as

dehydrated. No one thought what would happen after the surrender would be as horrendous as it

turned out to be.

The Battle of Bataan was one of the biggest Japanese victories of WWII. During the

battle, there were so many American and Filipino soldiers that there was not enough food to go

around to everyone. The consequence of having too many soldiers is that there is more food

needed to feed everyone. The largest consequence of the American/Filipino loss was the Bataan

Death March. The losers of the battle realized the consequences of defeat. The death march was

extremely cruel and mentally exhausting for the soldiers forced to participate. Commanding

officers now know not to waste troops who are unprepared for battle, and have little amounts of

food, weapons, and supplies at their disposal. They realized the winner of the battle is not

determined by the amount of numbers on each side, but by the strength and amount of supplies

an army has. After WWI, citizens of all countries participating in warfare were sick of having

their family members thrown into battle and not given the materials or training needed to put up

a fight. There can be less numbers on a certain side and they would still able to win if they are

properly trained and have what they need to fight.

Because of the Battle of Bataan and the subsequent death march, there are now rules in

place that prevent events similar to these from happening again. The results of this battle will

have an everlasting effect or influence on anyone who is deciding whether or not to join the

military. This is important because it reflects the past military experiences which makes them

better able to learn from their mistakes. All things incorporated with the Battle of Bataan make

us better Americans because it gives us a sense of respect and appreciation for those who

participate in the military. Anything can happen in a time of war and it will surprise anyone,

which is why those who serve the army are so well respected, because they have the courage to

go wherever needed to defend our nation.

        The Battle of Midway was a crucial battle to stopping the Japanese advancement of

the Pacific in 1942. The Battle started June 3, 1942 and ended 3 days later. The Battle of

Midway was for the islands of midway, which were between Japan and America. The battle was

supposed to be a surprise attack by the Japanese. The attack was fortunately not a surprise

because we, the Americans, intercepted their communication, in which they planned the attack.

The American ships involved in this battle were the Hornet, the Yorktown, and the Enterprise.

Americans didn’t have the proper air cover at the start of the battle, and that really put them at a

great risk because Japan had proper air support. This was a disadvantage to the Americans but it

was also to their advantage. The lack of American air support brought Japan’s air cover lower.

This was played to the American advantage when their air support finally came they had an easy

target on the Japanese air support. This also left the Japanese ships open to fire and bombing

from American planes. As a result of the battle the Americans destroyed 3 Japanese Naval ships

and the only damage to American ships was an attack on the USS Yorktown which was hit by

the Hiryu. Japan also lost two heavy cruisers in the battle after they tried to do evasive

maneuvers to avoid an American submarine and they crashed into each other. 2 days later, June

5th, American “Dauntless” Dive-bombers sank the Hiryu and the Mikuma. As revenge to this

attack the Japanese destroyed the USS Yorktown. After this Japan abandon the invasion on

midway. They stopped due to the lack of air support and with having a battleship out

commission. The battle of Midway is a very important battle in American history because it was

the first clear-cut victory against Japan. It is also very important because it put Japan forces at a

severe disadvantage going into the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The Battle of Guadalcanal started right after Midway, in August of 1942 and ended in

November that same year. After Midway, it came to the attention of the U.S. commanders that

they could now go on the offensive in the Pacific. They set their sights on a group of five islands

called the Solomon Islands. A few days before the invasion of the islands, reconnaissance planes

spotted the Japanese constructing an airfield on a nearby island called Guadalcanal. So the U.S.

decided to include Guadalcanal in the invasion. On August 7th, the invasion began and a total of

about 19,000 marines invaded the 5 islands (Little Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo and

Guadalcanal). The islands were taken in two days with little resistance.The invasion looked like

a huge success, but the Japanese had other intentions. After the Japanese lost the islands, they

came back hard with constant air raids damaging the airfield on Guadalcanal that the Americans

were hastily trying to finish building. One night a small Japanese fleet of 5 heavy cruisers, 2 light

cruisers, and a destroyer snuck past the American ships on guard and into the “Slot” (the strait of

water separating the 5 islands) under the cover of darkness. Just after midnight, the small

Japanese fleet made a surprise attack on the American destroyers that were protecting the aircraft

carriers. The Americans were taken by surprise and suffered heavy losses. The Americans had 4

of their cruisers sunk, and 1 other cruiser and a destroyer badly damaged, while the Japanese

only had 3 ships slightly damaged.

After the battle, U.S. Admiral Turner felt that his aircraft carriers were vulnerable to an

air attack. He decided to evacuate all his ships and left the marines to defend the newly taken

islands themselves with no naval support. The marines had enough food for about a month and

enough ammunition for about two days of hard fighting. The Japanese took advantage of the

evacuating U.S fleet and sent in their own ships and planes to bombard the islands and prevent

the Americans from finishing the airfield. Six days after Admiral Turner left, he sent 4 destroyers

under the cover of darkness with supplies, and with 123 seabees (Engineers from the U.S Naval

Construction Battalion). With the help of the trained engineers, the airfield was finally finished

on August 18th, and two days later 12 marine dive bombers and 19 marine fighter planes landed.

They were nicknamed the “Cactus Air Force” because of Guadalcanal’s codename “Cactus.”

Japan wanted Guadalcanal back, and they were under the impression that there were only

about 2,000 marines on the island. The Japanese thought that they could take back the island

with only 1,000 of their trained, experienced soldiers. On August 21st, the Japanese landed next

to the river Tenaru. They attacked with two wild sudden rush waves of men, and both times were

pushed back by the waiting Americans. Thanks to the locals, who informed the Americans of the

Japanese landing and their position, the marines were ready and waiting for the Japanese to make

a push for the airfield. At the end of the day, the marines had 35 dead and 75 wounded while the

Japanese had about 800 dead and 15 captured. The rest of the surviving Japanese scattered into

the jungle.

The Japanese were distraught and embarrassed, and within a few days they sent a fleet

greater than 60 ships with 1,500 Japanese marines and veteran army troops. The fleet included

two aircraft carriers, a light aircraft carrier, 4 battleships, 16 cruisers, 34 destroyers, and several

other ships. Their plan was to air bomb Guadalcanal by day and use their Naval guns to blast

away by night, and if any American ships came to the aid of the marines, the carriers would

launch planes to attack them. It seemed like a good plan until American scout planes warned of

the advancing fleet. The U.S. fleet of 1 battleship, 3 aircraft carriers, 7 cruisers, and 18 destroyers

was cruising nearby the Solomon Islands and received word of the advancing fleet. They then

turned toward the Islands, but vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher made a bad mistake. He thought

the Japanese fleet would not make it to Guadalcanal by August 26th, so he sent one of his

carriers and a guard of 10 destroyers off to refuel. The Japanese were closing in on Guadalcanal

by the 24th, so the U.S. carriers sent scout planes and located the Japanese light carrier. The U.S.

carrier Saratoga launched 30 bombers and 10 torpedo planes to go sink the enemy light carrier,

and that was exactly what they did. At the same time, Japanese scout planes located the two

American carriers and they sent up 81 planes in two waves. The first wave found the carriers and

attacked, but the U.S. carriers only suffered a slight amount of damage. It was a miracle that the

second wave of Japanese planes were unable to find the U.S. carriers, otherwise they would have

been able to sink them.

The next morning, the marine dive bombers took off from the airfield on Guadalcanal to

locate the enemy aircraft carriers, but instead they found the Japanese troop transports that were

carrying their marines toward Guadalcanal. The U.S. dive bombers radioed their position and in

45 minutes roaring B-17’s (from a base on Espiritu Santo island) appeared over the horizon. The

bomber planes unloaded their fury on the troop transports. The Japanese suffered another

devastating blow. Two Japanese transports were sunk and several others were severely damaged.

Japanese commanders realized that it was no longer possible to carry out their plan, and turned

their fleet around and sailed back to their base on Rabaul. This battle was known as the “Battle

of the Eastern Solomon Islands” and it was obviously and American victory.

This battle was a major turning point of the war in the Pacific, and now showed the

Japanese what the Americans were capable of. The Battle of Guadalcanal put the Japanese on the

defensive for the rest of the war, and made the Americans gladly take the offensive. It was also a

learning experience for both sides. For the Japanese, they learned not to focus all their attention

and units on one small island. If something did not go the way they planned, they learned to let it

be and move on. They also learned that the element of surprise could be the deciding factor of

who wins a battle and who loses. For the Americans, they learned that being prepared for an

attack at a moment’s notice could never hurt. Even at night they should not let their guard down.

They also learned that having the locals on their side is a great advantage because they  know the

land, and if they know where the enemy is, they will gladly share the information. Future

soldiers defending our country will know and understand why it helps to treat the locals with

respect, and to be prepared for an attack at any moment. One lesson that anyone could take away

from this to make them a better person would be to treat others the way you want to be treated,

because karma will always come back around.

Europe 1941-1943

 In early 1941 the world was buzzing with talks of a great war. Germany was posing as a

huge threat to the rest of Europe striving to take over the world and create a “perfect world.” At

the time the United States was practicing isolationism trying to stay out of the war. They were

dragged in eventually after the bombings at pearl harbor by Japan but that didn’t make them

instantly jump into the war. By this time Germany had already taken most of Europe and only

the British were left after most of France and Poland fell. Britain was in search of some serious

help and they needed someone else to help them out. Europe in 1941 to 1943 was a the time that

the United States got into the war and how they started to learn the ways of this war and how

awful it actually was. This gave America even more motivation to help defeat these evil

dictators. This stage of the war is the United States going to alliance from isolizationalized, them

learning to fight the new war and how they had to try new things to win battles.

In 1941 Benito Mussolini the dictator of Italy had troops stationed in Libya located in

Northern Africa called the Afrika Korps. The British also had land in North Africa along with

other European countries such as France. At the time British had a headquarters located in Egypt

and Mussolini sent his troops to try and capture the English controlled base. This base was

important for trade with the East India Company using the Suez Canal to transport oil and trade

with the Middle East. This area was very important and the British found out and tried to prevent

them at all costs so they kept their forces strong. Both sides had camouflaged stations to look out

along with tanks and planes and other vehicles Mussolini’s 200,000 men never made it to Egypt

they only traveled 60 miles when they found out that England was stationed strong. Some small

skirmishes occurred but no real battles with outrageous casualties that will occur in the next few

years. This angered Mussolini and Hitler so they were soon going to come back even stronger

and taking French North Africa was a good way to give them the advantage. While the Italian

army and German armies went to conquer North Africa the US was still back home minding

their own business. This remained until the end of the year on December 7th 1941 when Japan

surprise attacked America on home ground which made them make some serious decisions on

what they should do concerning the war. On june 22, 1941 german armor attacked the Soviet

Union as part of Operation Barbarossa.

By 1942 the United States was on and off but was never officially in the war. While the

US was going on and off. They started working on some small operations in Africa in May of

1942. By September, 1942 the US was ready for their biggest attack and operation yet, Operation

Torch. Operation Torch was the name of their newest mission to recapture the French North

Africa and take over airfields and other advantages that come with controlling that area. They

started the operation November, 8th, 1942. There were three task forces Eastern, Central and

Western who landed in French Morocco and Algeria. England and America set their first major

amphibious attack in three different locations in North Africa. Amphibious attacks are attacks

from the sea that was unique to WWII with all of the new technology and equipment. They

arrived with planes, DUKW’s (Land & Water tanks) and an infantry units led by General Patton

who would soon lead the invasion of Sicily. Patton led his troops but the troops were sloppy and

uneducated. There were also some airborne attacks along with help from the 509 Parachute

Infantry Regiment that helped the allies. This parachuting worked well and inspired them to keep

doing it to try and get the upper hand on battles. Overall the allied forces of the United States and

England came out on top with only about 430 dead opposed to Italy with more than 1,346 dead.

After this battle Commander Rommel moved to Tunisia which would later be the grounds of the

battle of Kasserine Pass.

In 1943 the Tunisia Campaign was still going on. The Tunisia Campaign was a series of

battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign. The battles were fought by

the Allies, who were the British Imperial Forces along with the Americans and French Corps,

and the Axis, who were the Germans along with the Italians and the Japanese. In February of

1943 the battle of Kasserine Pass took place in North Africa at Kasserine. It was a series of four

battles. This battle was the first large scale meeting of American and German Forces. The battle

of Kasserine Pass was very important being the rise to military prestige of General George

Patton. It also showed the United States that the soldiers needed more combat training to keep up

with the opposing forces. He was against an amazing Nazi general named Erwin Rommel who

lead and created the Afrika Korps. This led to the Invasion of Sicily the biggest most impacting

battle of the beginning stage of the war. On September, 3rd 1943 the troops reached mainland. It

was the largest amphibious attack of the war so far on Sicily an island just off of Italy. The

terrain was a huge coastline that led to hills and plains inland. The American army arrived by sea

in the south and the British army in the south east. Omar Bradley was the new leader of the 7th

army who was supposed to lead the Invasion of Sicily but didn’t. Instead General George Patton

and future president Dwight Eisenhower led the army for the American side. Meanwhile British

Generals Arthur Tedder led the air units and Bernard Montgomery led the ground force. There

was constant gunfire as the sides struggled to fend each other off. The allies had 600 tanks and

more than 450,000 troops and the axis only has around 260 tanks and combined with the German

personal Italy had 300,000 men. They were trying to storm the beach and eventually capture

Benito Mussolini. DUKW’s carrying men hit the beach and dropped loads of men off at a time.

Meanwhile battleships were barraging the land with mortars and artillery. From the air,

paratroopers were gliding down in better positions to ambush the Italian troops who were

diminishing in numbers. Eventually the allied forces advanced and Benito Mussolini surrendered

to the allies. This was a major win for the allies because it took out one dictator so that they

could focus on the big one, Adolf Hitler. But it along with the battle at Kasserine Pass showed

the allied forces that they needed to train their troops better and that they needed better

communication. This was due to many mistakes that happened in battle such as men friendly

firing, charging without proper command, lack of knowledge of equipment (getting the DUKW

doors open) and friendly firing at friendly paratroopers. It was a large scale airborne and

amphibious operation that later turned into land combat for six weeks. During the Invasion of

Sicily in September the main invasion landed around Salerno. Salerno was the first encounter of

the American troops with German troops opposed to the Italian troops they were versing before.

This time period from 1941 to 1943 was extremely important in WWII especially

America. It was a period of the United States joining and learning what this second world war

actually had in store. It was like the early stages of life when you develop the most, but it was the

early stages of the war when the allied forces had to switch things around like tactics and

communications to adapt to there new war. With new intelligent and devious enemies that didn’t

really care about who lived and who died even if it was there own soldier made the American

soldiers intimidated and only strong leaders like General George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower

had to train the soldiers to intimidate and back it up. This fearlessness was going to be shown in

all future battles such as D-Day. This time was the time that America and England needed to root

themselves a strong base into the war and showed Germany that they meant business.

Minorities and Segregation at War

After the Japanese intelligence experts cracked numerous American secret codes,

America was in desperate need to develop more codes quickly and accurately. After the Japanese

cracked yet another code, Phillip Johnston came to the rescue with an idea. He was the son of a

Protestant missionary, and grew up hearing the Navajo language. Johnston felt it was the perfect

language for sending secret messages because it was so difficult, and did not have an alphabet.

The only way to learn the language is by being exposed to it at a young age. After presenting his

idea, it was established in 1942.

After the code establishment in 1942, Johnston had to recruit native Navajos to help

further develop the codes. These people became known as Navajo “Wind talkers,” or more

famously known as the Code Talkers. Originally, there were 29 members, which later grew to be

about 420. In their language, there was no individual term for words like ”submarine” or even

“America.” Instead of having to create words to represent them, they would combine existing

terms to create similar meanings. For example, submarine became “iron fish” and “besh-lo” was

used to represent it, and American became “our mother” and “Ne-he-mah” was used to represent

it. Not only was this code based of the Navajo language difficult to crack down, but it was also

extremely quicker. Typically, it took nearly a half an hour to send a message using machines, but

it only took the Wind talkers a mere 20 seconds.

When the Navajo code was first introduced, military leaders were non-accepting and

skeptical. It took a little bit of time for the leaders to realize how much quicker and effective the

new code was than their machines. Being Native Americans, the unfamiliarity of their features

caused confusion in Americans. There were many cases where they were even shot at by the

soldiers. Because of this, it was rumored that the Navajos were assigned bodyguards. However,

the rumor has not yet been confirmed, but it is said that there were bodyguards for the command

posts.

The Wind talkers were a very important group during World War II. They developed oral

codes (never written down), which were nearly impossible to crack by the Japanese. In the

beginning of their times, they had 200 code words, and by the end of the war, it was over 400.

The Wind talkers are the reason why many battles such as the Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Okinawa,

and Iwo Jima were won. Not only were they there to communicate but also some brave

Windtalkers stood side by side with soldiers and fought in battles. Major Howard Conner says it

himself that, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iowa Jima”

(Navajo Code Talkers). Without their help, the outcome of the war could have been very

different than what it has turned out to be. Enemies could have easily cracked down code after

code, which would mean they would learn America’s plans and tactics. If that were to happen,

there is no doubt that America would have become the underdog of World War II.

It was obvious that because of the Windtalkers, America had a great advantage. They

made it hard for their enemies to learn their movements, allowing them to attack unsuspected.

The code was so difficult to crack that they kept it in use for 23 years until it was declassified in

1968. Also, some Wind talkers even fought in battles with soldiers. When World War II was

over, it took awhile for America to honor their services. President Ronald Reagan gave them

recognition in 1982, which named August 14 “National Code Talkers Day.” It was not until 10

years later on September 17, 1992 that the Navajo Code Talkers were honored at the Pentagon in

Washington, DC, and finally in December 2000, gold medals were given to the original 29

Navajo Windtalkers, and silver medals to the rest that qualified.

The Tuskegee Airmen went through a lot of adversity because they were African

Americans. The Fighters had trouble with receiving proper equipment and also getting clearance

to go into open combat. Superior officials thought the Tuskegee Airmen were inferior to the

white fighters. Tuskegee Airmen would often get used aircrafts that went through combat. The

Tuskegee Airmen were not able to succeed in open combat due to the poor quality aircrafts.

Although the Tuskegee Airmen went through so much adversity they did the most they could

and will forever be remembered for their accomplishments.

The men of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th bombardment more commonly

known as the Tuskegee Airmen faced a great deal of adversity in a out of the call of duty, and

turned that adversity into a form of motivation to gain their long awaited respect. The Tuskegee

Airmen flew in two major aircrafts one was the P-47 Thunderbolt and the other was the P-51

Mustang. The Thunderbolt was nicknamed “Jug” it was one of the most famous heavy duty

fighter aircrafts of World War II, fighter pilots took a liking to this plane because it was rugged,

fast and had great performance at high altitudes. The Mustang was one of the most widely used

aircrafts of World War II, especially by the Airmen. Also all of the tail surfaces of the P-51

Mustangs piloted by the Tuskegee Airmen were painted a bright red, and the men of the 332nd

Fighter Group soon came to be known as the “Red Tails.”

The main job for these “Red Tails” was to escort these bombers into areas and protect

them from attacking enemy fighter crafts. The Airman's Strategic way of surrounding the

bombers was by Fighter Pilots in 6 different positions around the bomber one above, below, to

the left, right, in the rear and at point. Of course the Mustang would move from below the

bomber when it started to bomb. With this formation and the mix of very talented pilots it made

it almost impossible for enemies to penetrate the bombers. Due to a break in communication, a

Fighter Group did not get the call to protect a specific bomber squadron that had already been

deployed, Col. Davis and his men were soon called to action to find and protect the Bomber

squadron without disrupting the mission and that they did. Col. Davis and his men soon came to

be recognized for their heroism but only by a few other bomber and fighter groups, but to the rest

of the world they remained uncredited. After that mission the men of the 332nd Fighter Group

were soon called to more and more missions mainly with the 15th Bomber Squadron.The

members of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 15th Bomber squadron flew 200 bomber escort

missions all through Europe without the loss of even one American bomber to any enemy

aircraft. This record hasn't even been threatened by any other squadron and still stands strong

today. The 332nd Group also received credit destroying and damaging 9 German ME 262-jet

Fighter Aircrafts which is reported to be the largest number of victories in a single mission trip

against the Germans in World War II.

Overall, the Tuskegee Airmen accomplished above and beyond their specific Call of

Duty especially with the amount of adversity faced and overcame. They worked hard and fought

harder not for any personal or individual reasons or even for their own race, but for the want and

desire to fight for their country.

As mentioned many times earlier, America might not have done so well in WWII if it

wasn’t for the development of the Navajo code. It affected America’s performance during the

war. Also, in the time it was used up to 1968, it helped during the Korean War, and some of the

war in Vietnam. The Red Tails served many dangerous duties during aircraft battles. Each group

is responsible for saving lives of uncountable soldiers. Students should know that minorities

played a huge role in history, especially during times of war. However, they rarely receive the

credit that they deserve because of their differences. By knowing this information, it makes

Americans better citizens because they know not only should soldiers be honored, but groups

that assist the soldiers are just as important. It is important to understand the topic of minorities

during World War II because it shows the hardships and colored barriers that America had to

overcome as a whole country to reach where we are today.

Japanese Internment Camps

On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a harbor in Hawaii, killing

thousands and destroying much of our navy stationed there. The attack featured many bombings and truly

devastated many citizens of the United States. This created madness in the United States of America.

People were enraged and began showing hatred towards the Japanese. This affected those in the US that

were Japanese-American even though they were born here and are citizens. These people were no longer

trusted by the rest of America, including the U.S. Government. The government decided they could not

risk another attack from Japan because it would cripple us.

In the summer of 1942, The United States incarcerated the entire Japanese-American

population on the West Coast. The West Coast was the forbidden zone which contained California,

Western Washington, and Oregon. Executive Order 9066 gave the army authority to relocate people from

sensitive areas.  This document was signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When the order was given to

evacuate Japanese Americans from the west coast one week to sell their businesses before their houses

were foreclosed.  They were placed in camps, bringing only bedding, toiletries, clothes, and utensils and

what they could carry, to isolate them from the rest of the world and prevent any further attacks on the

US.

There were only ten of these camps. Over two-thirds of the people resided in these camps or

what the government called assembly centers and relocation centers for as long as forty-seven months.

After being in there for almost four years and being innocent, many of the residents of these camps called

them concentration camps. These assembly centers were made from existing buildings; families had to

stay in horse stalls at racetracks and cattle pens at fairgrounds. The relocation centers were thrown

together one-floor houses that were very long accommodating many different families to stay, these

centers were located in desolate places on purpose to isolate the inmates. Life in the camps was severe but

not brutal, however at three different camps, soldiers guarding the camps killed unarmed inmates due to

protesting.

Japanese Americans had the choice of going to the internment camps, or had the option to join

the army. Originally the government classified Japanese unfit to serve in the war because of their

nationality. The government let Japanese into the army when it became obvious that translators were

crucial in the war. In November 1941, The Fourth Army Intelligence School was created in San Francisco

to teach Japanese soldiers a useful amount of their ancestral language before being sent to the Pacific. The

soldiers that came out of The Fourth Army Intelligence School used their skills to interrogate prisoners,

analyze documents, and to have knowledge about Japan. The need for Japanese translators was so big that

the program was expanded to the Military Intelligence Service Language School on June 1, 1942.

Japanese soldiers were in all major engagements. They contributed so much in the war effort,

and gained so much information. Major General Charles A. Willoughby, General MacArthur’s chief of

intelligence, said, “Never before in History did an army know so much concerning it’s enemy, prior to its

actual engagement, as did the American Army during most of the Pacific campaigns.” Also, General

Joseph Stilwell said, “The Nisei bought an awful big hunk of America with their blood.” About 6,000

Japanese soldiers guided the Allied fighting forces, and also saved countless American and Allied lives

with their information. The group made up of almost only Japanese-American soldiers was called The

442nd Regimental Combat Team. The combat team was started in February of 1943. This force was made

up of mostly Nisei, or second-generation Japanese people born in the U.S. It might have seemed weird to

some at the time because these people were Japanese and were fighting for the United States, who was

certainly not allies with the country of Japan at the time. For these men, it was either war or the so-called

“concentration camps.” Many of these men did not no which way to go because both paths seemed so

hard to overcome and for each path, the light at the end of the tunnel was far away and hard to reach. This

team had a motto, “Go For Broke,” and it showed their perseverance and persistence. It truly served as a

way of life for these soldiers and served as a reason for these fighters to lay it all on the line during these

cold times. They also had a special fight song that pertained to their journey and how they were going to

win the war. The soldiers that made up this team were mostly fathers of families that were part of

Japanese-American internment. Fathers serving in the war did not give families a free pass on internment,

hence the other members of the families that were still staying in the “concentration camps.” In the end,

twenty-one members of this team received Medals of Honor for their contributions to their nation during

World War II. Along with these medals, many more accolades were achieved by the soldiers who fought

for the United States of America against other nations.

Three legal matters made it to the U.S Supreme Court due to people trying to hide under

aliases to escape capture from government and isolation in internment camps. In June 1943, in the case

Hirabayashi v. United States, Hirabayashi, a student of University of Washington was accused of

violating curfew order. This was a misdemeanor according to Executive order 9066. The Department of

Justice ran test cases to prepare themselves for situations where individuals such as Hirabayashi that

would challenge the government about the entire internment policy. This case reached the Supreme Court

and due to the similarity of this case to the Yasui v. United States they uphold the curfew order and sent

both Hirabayashi and Yasui to internment camps. In the following year, on December 18, Korematsu was

in a case against the United States because he did not want to obey the evacuation from the military. He

was out voted 6 to 3 , they ruled that a citizen must obey the military evacuation orders. That same day,

Mitsuye Endo, a native Californian and a state employee had been put into a detention camp by the

presidential order. She challenged the violation of her civil rights and filed to obtain right to leave her

camp, which was known as Topaz. She argued that the government cannot detain someone without

charges being filed; she also made a point that segregation of United States citizens based on the

ancestors is a violations of the U.S.

Constitution. Mitsuye’s case was important for that it showed the hypocrisy of the

Government. She was released from the camps and soon after the election in 1944, President Roosevelt

rescinded the internment order.

The Japanese internment was cruel and unfair to Japanese Americans. The American government

made rash decisions off their paranoia. Even after internment the Japanese were left impoverished and

persecuted against. Although the internment ended, it was as if parts of it were still there because of the

discrimination of these people due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This created a never-ending hatred of

innocent Japanese people who had nothing to do with the attack that still occurs today.

Women’s Roles During the War

Women played a significant key role during the time of World War Two. Before the war

broke out women were commonly at home pursuing roles as a wife, mother, or both. As the war

quickly approached, men were being drafted into the armed forces (Bigelow 72). This left

women with an open opportunity. This war brought sacrifices, but also new jobs. With that,

came new opportunities (NWHM). Many women probably pondered the idea of joining in on the

war and participating, or staying home and continuing their duties there. At the time, lower class

women opposed to entering the war, as well as the middle class women were not eager to leave

home for work (Lewis 1072). Several women made the choice to step up and take the place of

men while they were away at war.

At first, being in the work force was a challenge for several women. Taking over the

responsibilities of men was an intense task, one that many women had never experienced before

in her lifetime. Higher education for women was socially acceptable, but the opportunity to use

education in the workplace was limited (NWHM). During the time of 1941-1945, women could

commonly be seen working as bus drivers, railway employees, security guards, welders, riveters,

and even electricians. The government used propaganda to encourage women to join the labor

force and assist the country (Lewis 1072). When men went to war, women received higher

ranking positions in the work force. It has been said that women took “white collar” jobs,

meaning they took some of the best jobs available. Many states suspended laws that prohibited

women from working at night or overtime (Khan 1579). Women unfortunately faced

discrimination in the work force. Many employers did not believe women could do the work that

men did. They were all very reluctant when it came to hiring women. Women faced on the job

harassment, humiliation, and even sexual harassment. Also, male and female pay roles were

unequal, which caused discrimination to increase throughout the war. These negative influences

and actions made women doubt themselves at times (Lewis 1072). Not only were women

working, but they also were involved in the service as well, just like men. Luckily, some of these

women had pre-war experience in the labor force. Surprisingly, several women served as

auxiliary military forces (NWHM). Many establishments were also made due to women serving.

In 1943, the Women’s Navy and Marine Corps was established. It is estimated that 350,000

women were members of the armed services (Feldman 198). Women were also nurses, which

was a common job for them during this war. Overall, about half of these women performed

tedious office work, while others could be found performing diverse jobs. Some of these jobs

include weather observing and forecasting, radio operating, photography, and analyzing maps

(Feldman 198). All of these jobs contributed to the armed services and helped prove women

were a needed significance. The women’s Naval and Marine branches were not the only military

based corporations that were formed. Following that, the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots was

established in 1942. These women pilots were commonly known as “Wasps” (Feldman 198). It

is approximated that nearly 1000 women served as pilots in WASP, flying a total of 60 million

miles (Feldman 198). These courageous women would fly planes from factories to the air fields.

Women were responsible for testing various aspects of the aircraft they flew (Feldman 198). This

act of flying and participating in the Air Force displayed how courageous and willing these

women were, as well as helping the country while it was in need. Unfortunately, many people

found it disturbing that women were flying planes. Approximately 12 million women were in the

labor force across the country (Lewis 1072). Before this time, women had not been seen in the

work force as much as they were now. In all, the entry of women in the labor force did not usher

in an era of true equality. Society was simply adapting to a state of national emergency (Khan

1579). This time truly marked an era of social change which helped mold and shape United

States history as a whole

Throughout the whole time of women working in the work force and the service, they

had an iconic inspiration, one that gave them hope and determination. Rosie the Riveter was a

strong, independent, and fierce woman figure who was known for her appearance. She was a

factory worker who exhorted fellow women to “get the job done” (Kutler 397). Many people are

familiar with the painting “Rosie Riveter” by Norman Rockwell. This painting became a very

powerful recruiting tool and an enduring image of the female worker throughout the war. Rosie

represents a strong and competent worker who remains very feminine. This is clearly portrayed

by her polished nails, curly hair, and even a makeup compact in her pocket (Lewis 1072). Rosie

the Riveter was extremely successful, as it is still around today and viewed as an important

artifact of the women during this particular war. Rosie forever changed the face of industry. She

became an inspirational figure for women who were taking on new roles and contributing to the

warfront (Bigelow 72).

Serving in the war and working in the labor force provided women with benefits, but with

these benefits came problems too. On the positive side, women eventually gained more respect.

People realized that they were capable of being independent and hard working. They proved that

they could do the work that men did. They also were able to establish female service

corporations, which was a huge positive step and influence in history. These women paved the

path for future females and their endeavors. Had these women not stepped up to the challenge,

the country would have been in shambles, as no one would have been working or taking the

place of absent men. More and more people believed and supported women because of their

actions and work ethic during this time of war. With these benefits though came difficulties and

problems which were faced on a daily basis. Not only were women working very hard, they still

had the responsibilities of keeping the house in order and caring for their children (Lewis 1072).

Balancing a full time job and these tasks made it even more difficult for women, as they typically

did not have a husband around to help them at all. Throughout all of these issues, women still

pressed on. Throughout their communities, women raised money for war bonds, collected blood,

rolled bandages and hosted troops. They found ways to recycle scarce meals and dealt with

shortages of food. They continued to raise the children, and sadly mourn the dead (NWHM).

After the war ended, women’s lives were changed again. Women's employment was only

encouraged as long as the war was on. With men away to serve, and demands for war material

increasing, jobs opened up to women. Once the war was over, federal and civilian policies

replaced women workers with men again (PBS). Although it was unfortunate women were once

again replaced with men, they definitely left their mark on the labor industry. These women

throughout this time proved they could work just as diligently as men. During this time women

were seen working all sorts of jobs such as being maids, laundresses and factory employees.

They also took things a step further and served a great amount in the military. Women proved

how strong they were by completely altering their lives and taking on a new responsibility such

as a job.

Without the role of women in the war, we would have seen a totally different outcome.

Without women, there would have been no one back home to work while they men were gone.

Had these women not stepped up and worked for our country, things would have been a lot

different, most likely for the worse. Women at this time were strong and independent, as they

took the duties of the men who were gone fighting the war. This time period is crucial and

depicts the history of true American women. Without these women, American history would

have been altered forever and not the same as it is now. Women’s roles during the war were

significant to the people of this time period, as well as the people of today. These women will

forever be remembered as molding American History, especially for women today and the

future.

Europe 1944 - 1945

WWII was possibly the most important war in human history. It had unfathomably high

death tolls, and involved the likes of many different peoples and cultures. The final two years

held some of the most exciting events in the European theater, and the American troops were one

of the strongest causes of the end of the war. The storming of Normandy Beach, or D-Day, was

the beginning of the end for Hitler’s success. American troops were then able to spread

throughout Europe, and defeat the Nazis in their quest for domination. The Americans’

intervention in the European theater of the war is incredibly important. It was with their help that

the many people that were imprisoned in concentration camps were freed. If the Americans had

not supported the Allies, Germany could have been successful in their quest for dominance. This

would have been an enormous impact in modern society, and the Nazi dictatorship could have

spanned further than we could imagine.

Audie Murphy was the most decorated WWII soldier. He was born in Texas and grew up

with a sharp eye and outstanding marksmanship. Audie was drafted into the war after the attack

on Pearl Harbor. After receiving basic training, he was stationed in Morocco during the

beginning of his military career and then transferred over to Sicily and Italy as well. Audie

became well known after his famous and outstanding actions of heroism in Southern France. On

January 26, 1945, Audie and his troops were under heavy fire when German soldiers were in the

offensive position, trying to push them back. Audie ordered his men to fall back for their safety.

All alone, he single handedly went straight toward the German line, killing 50 German soldiers.

From that day forward, Audie’s heroic story spread like wildfire through the American lines. His

actions secured the thought of knowing the war was coming to an end. Audie’s story also raised

the morale of thousands of soldiers in the front line. After the war, Murphy was awarded 28 U.S

medals and 3 from Allied Countries. Audie then had a career in Hollywood once he reached U.S

soil.

During the war, American journalists did not publicize any stories about concentration

camps. Only Anti-Jewish riots were reported to the American people. In 1945, U.S soldiers saw

first hand what monstrosity Hitler had planned. In the rural area of Bauchenwald, soldiers had

discovered a concentration camp. Many concentration camps had already been discovered by the

Soviet and British soldiers. Days before the U.S soldiers had arrived, the SS guards ordered the

prisoners on a march to another camp. Eventually, they were caught and tens of thousands of

Jews, political leaders and countless others were rescued. None of the men knew what had

occurred in the camps. A soldier reported, “ I’ve seen the ovens where the bodies were burned

and I’ve seen the thousands of people who were treated so inhumanely”. After the soldiers

secured the area, General Eisenhower and General Patton had visited and paid homage to the

victims. Later on, General Eisenhower spread the news to the American people about their

findings.

August 24th, 1944- the Liberation of Paris. Capturing Paris showed the world that Hitler

had extreme power in the European Theater and was a serious threat to the rest of Europe. Hitler

sought out Paris for its beauty and architecture. Hitler’s army had had a grasp on Paris since

March of 1940. He had set the local people in a sort of oppression. Famous landmarks were in

ruins. The Louvre, the most famous art museum was raided and hundreds of famous paintings

were taken and never to be seen again. Under the streets of Paris, French soldiers were plotting

on overthrowing Hitler’s rule. The French Resistance had communicated with the Americans a

few miles away from the outskirts of Paris. American and Allied soldiers fought their way into

Paris and were greeted in open arms by the Parisians. After the fighting had settled, a victory

parade was given to the French Resistance, the American troops, and other Allied troops.

Civilians lined the streets as soldiers passed by famous landmarks.

There is a personal attachment to the Liberation of Paris. My Great Grandfather, Georges

Lavau, was apart of the French Resistance. Under the streets of Paris, there was a maze of secret

bunkers for the rebels to plot against the Nazis. My Great Grandfather was very high in

command in the French Resistance. During the occupation of Paris, the city was controlled by

two Nazi Generals. Word had been sent down from the higher ruling Nazi officials, that the

Americans were on their way to Paris. Two couriers were sent out with this command and only

one general had received the message. Luckily, one general, Dietrich von Choltitz, fell in love

with the beauty of the streets of Paris. The other general on the other hand fell in favor of

destroying Paris. My great Grandfather had intercepted that courier, brought him back to the

undergrounds, and slit his throat. Not knowing what letter the messenger had, his findings

shocked everyone.

In WWII 1944-1945 there were many battles leading up to the end of the war. The first

battle in 1944 was Korsun Pocket, which was part of the Dniepe-Carpathian Offensive. It was

fought between the Soviet Union, and Germany. The next was the Siege of Leningrad, also

known as the Leningrad Blockade. On January 6th 1944 the Soviet troops advanced into Poland.

On January 17th there was a first attack toward Cassino, Italy by the Allies. Then soon after on

the 22nd the Allies landed at Anzio in Italy. The siege first started on the 8th of September in

1941, the siege then was lifted on the 27th of January in 1944. In all it lasted around 880 days,

and was one of the most destructive and the most costly parts of the war. The Germans counter-

attacked against the Anzio beachhead. Then on March 4th the Soviet began an offense on the

Belorussian front, it was also the first major daylight bombing raid on Berlin by the Allies. The

next battle that went on was the battle of battle of Narva which was the Soviet offense was

brought to the halt by German forces including Estonian conscript formations, which lasted from

February to July 1944. Then the Allies’ second attempt to capture Monte Cassino began on

March 15th. Then three days later the british dropped 3,000 tons of bombs during an air raid on

Hamburg, Germany. Then on March 18th the Soviet began an offensive to liberate Crimea. But

on May 9th the Soviet recapture Sevastopol. On June sixth in 1944 D-Day landing or also known

as the Normandy landing, happened on the Northern Coast of France, which was a major turning

point in the war in which the Americans started to get into the fight and started to push back the

Nazis. This allowed the Allies to have five beachheads established in Normandy. The Allies had

sent a fake plan to be caught by the Germans to attack Pas-de-Calais, which it convinced Adolf

to put more troops there than Normandy, which allowed US troops to penetrate the heavy

German machine gun lines. Then three days later the soviet offense against the Finnish front.

Then on June the 13th the first German V-1 rocket attack on Britain happened, not doing much

damage but scaring the British people and making them feel vulnerable. Another battle that was

fought was Operation bagration,which was the destruction of the German Army Group Centre

from the 22nd June to the 19th of August in 1944; the Operation was named after a 18th- 19th

century Georgian Prince, Pyotr Bagration which was a general of the Imperial Russian Army.

Then on the 27th of June the U.S. troops liberate Cherbourg, France Then in the 13th of July the

Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive started, a major Red Army operation to force the Germans to retreat

from Ukraine and Eastern Poland. In just one month the Red army achieved their goal, it ended

in the 29th of August in 1944. On July 18th the U.S. troops reached St. Lô, France, but then just

two days later an assassination attempt on Hitler was made by some of his officers, but he

survived only by a leg of a table. Only five days later Operation Cobra was carried out, the

purpose of it wasto break the U.S. troops out of west St. Lô, France, the Operation ended the

30th of July. On August first the U.S. troops arrive at the Avranches, but then six days later the

Germans begin a major counter-attack toward Avranches. The operation was called Operation

Lüttich, it only lasted six days, it ended up an allied victory. Soon after Operation Lüttich the

Allies began Operation Dragoon, and it was the Allied invasion of Southern France, which like

most battles so far, ended up a decisive Allied victory. August 25th Paris was Liberated from

Nazi power to its original government system. Then from September first through the fourth the

Allies liberated Verdun, Dieppe, Artois, Rouen, Abbeville, Antwerp, and Brussels. Then on the

13th U.S. troops arrived at the Siegfried line in Western Germany, putting more pressure on the

Germans. Then just four days later Operation Market Garden began, which was the Allied

Airborne Assault on Holland. It was the largest airborne assault but it was the costliest as well: a

third of the three Airborne landings in Ahrem was a complete failure, the British landed too far

away from from the bridges they needed to capture, letting the Germans recover very quickly,

killing 1,400 british, and capturing 6,000 out of the 10,000 that landed. Then on October 14th the

allies liberated Athens, but a high ranking officer known as Rommel, leader of the panzer

division that shattered France’s defense, committed suicide. Just seven days later there was a

massive Nazi surrender at Aachen, Germany, but then on October 30th it was the last use of the

Gas Chambers in Auschwitz. From December 16th, 1944 through the 16th of January 1945 was

the Battle of the Bulge, also known as Ardennes Counteroffensive, and the Von Rundstedt

Offensive. The Nazi’s plans were to split the Americans and British in half then capture Antwerp

and then circle and destroy the four Allies armies. The offensive plan was under secrecy, they

used little to no radio, and only moved troops and equipment at night. They were also surprised

by the lack of aerial surveillance and the overconfidence they had. The Germans then near

surprise attacked the weakly defended Allies’ line, grounding the Allies mass of air units. The

weather did not help either, but later the weather cleared up and the Allies took off and attacked

the German supply lines, thus sealing the offensive, and is was a decisive allied victory. On

January 16th 1945 the U.S. first and third armies meet up after separation during the Battle of

Bulge. A month later on February 4th 1945 through the 11th Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin had

a meeting at Yalta, Ukraine. Just 3 days later Dresden is destroyed by a fire after allied bombing.

Then on March 7th 1945 the Allies take Cologne, Germany and get a working bridge across the

Rhine at Remagen. In April the Allies discovered stolen Nazi art, and wealth hidden in German

Salt mines too. The U.S. troops circled the Nazis in Ruhr, Germany on April 1st, but then April

18th the Germans surrender in Ruhr. 11 days later the Allies liberated Buchenwald and Belsen

Concentration camps, and President Roosevelt died, putting Harry Truman in the White House.

On the 16th of April the Soviets began their last and final attack on Berlin and the Americans

entered Nuremberg, Germany. Then just 5 days later the Soviets took Berlin. On the 28th of

April, Benito Mussolini was captured and hanged by Italian partisans; the Allies had also taken

Venice that day. A day later the U.S. Army liberated the Dachau concentration camp, then one

day after that the 30th of April, Hitler killed himself in his underground bunker. On May seventh

there was an unconditional surrender of all German forces to the Allies. One day later the V-E

day or Victory in Europe is announced. Hermann Göring is taken by the members of the U.S.

Army. Then on the fifth of June the Allies divided up Germany and Berlin and then take over the

Government. 21 days later the United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.

1944 and 1945 were the most important years for the war in the European front. The

Americans entered the thick of the battle around this time, and fought valiantly in the heart of the

war in Europe. The heroic actions of Audie Murphy inspired them to fight for their country. The

Americans’ intervention in the battle proved critical to the Allies’ ultimate success. The horrors

of WWII opened many people’s eyes to what could come of war, and helped to establish fair

rules of war for the future to prevent another war as brutal as this one. The American’s help in

defeating the German Nazi superpower proved that democracy and freedom would prevail over

fascism and dictatorship, and prevented the further spread of these policies. The American

strategy to cut off the Nazis before they became too powerful could be compared to the way

America tried to stop Iraq from becoming too powerful and having weapons of mass destruction

in their country.

Holocaust and Liberation

America and the Holocaust aren’t always associated with each other, but the role of

America in the Holocaust is significant. American forces played large roles in liberating

concentration camps and formed many different armed divisions and infantries to help fight

against Nazi Germany. The Holocaust is one of the darker sides in WWII, because of the amount

of individuals murdered under Hitler’s rule. Knowing what took place during the Holocaust,

helps us today because by understanding genocide we know why it needs to be stopped

immediately. It allows countries to know when to intervene before genocide takes place again.

The Wannsee conference was called by Reinhard Heydrich, a high ranking German Nazi

official, for January 20, 1942. High ranking officials such as Eichmann, Muller, and those of the

German foreign ministry, along with the interior, justice, and economic planning ministries, were

all in attendance. By this time, half a million Soviet Jews had been reported dead and a new

death camp, Chelmno, had been opened in Western Poland. Jews were being killed using gas

vans, a new form of devices, and Himmler ordered the conversion of Auschwitz into a massive

death camp. The purpose of the conference was not to decide what to do about the Jews, but to

inform all of the many German government branches about the final decision for the Final

Solution, and to ensure the agreement with its execution. Mass killings and forced emigration

were to start, and they wanted to smooth out all of the kinks and choices of how to start the

extermination. They discussed problems with the arresting and deporting of Jews of each country

under German control and how going about it in such ways could cause opposition in those

countries like Denmark, and how the Romanian government might protect Jews who could bribe

officials. The group also discussed the treatment of half or quarter Jews or those married to non-

Jews, along with certain exceptions like Jews that won medals or were injured in the German

army in World War I. They established that most of these people would be sent to a special camp

at Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, though most of them were later sent to Auschwitz and

killed anyway. The officials discussed pros and cons of different ways to kill the Jews like mass

shooting, poison gas, and slaughtering’s, along with the best forms of train and transportation of

Jews and productivity.

Due to Hitler’s strong influence over the German population and the German

government, his idea for the creation of concentration camps became effective almost

immediately after he came into power. The idea of the concentration camp became very popular

and convenient for the placement of Jews. By the late 1930’s there were hundreds of camps

scattered all over Germany. The conditions of these camps were horrible and unsanitary. The

death rates were high due to unhygienic conditions, malnutrition, typhus and exhaustion. These

were all a form of punishment for the incarcerated prisoners, criminals and security risks. In the

beginning, the camps were just work camps for prisoners and criminals but The Nazi Euthanasia

Project, or The T-4 Organization made way for the advancement of extermination camps. The T-

4 camouflage organization was created to legitimize government-sponsored killing. Because of

the Nazi belief on racial purity and national health, euthanasia was presented as necessary for

getting rid of people who carried defective genes, which might endanger the “Aryan” race. The

T-4 was also important in the technology that was used for mass murder. For an example, the

Euthanasia centers, which were equipped with Gas Chambers (using carbon monoxide), and

Crematoriums that were used for the construction of corpses; however there is no evidence that

they were used for mass extermination. In a way all of the camps in the end were extermination

camps because of the thousands of prisoners that died of starvation, being worked to death,

exposure to the elements, disease, or execution.

Many of the camps were established early in the Nazi reign under the “Protective

Custody Law “of February 28, 1933, which authorized police to make arrested because of

suspicious activity without legal counsel or a fair trial. The first camp created under this

regulation was Dachau, one of the biggest concentration camps in Germany. In early

concentration camps they used simple methods of execution. For example, the exhaust fume

from truck engines when then pumped into sealed vans or railroad cars. In later camps, Zyklon –

B pellets were then used. In other places lethal injection were used for sick inmates, but none of

these methods completely outlawed shootings, hangings, and beatings. An estimate of people

that were murdered in the Nazi death camps is around 3.5 million. Most were Jews who were

killed just because they were Jews. Combined with Hitler's quest for lebensraum, "living space,"

and his goals of world domination, and with World War II as a cover, the Nazi’s were able to

carry out the greatest crime in human history.

In early April of 1945 Allied forces were approaching the Buchenwald concentration

camp. Located on a mountainside in central-eastern Germany, Buchenwald was one of the

largest concentration camps in Germany. It contained 130 satellite camps and extension units.

Buchenwald was established in 1937 making it one of the oldest concentration camps in

Germany, as well as one of the main concentration camps used. When it opened in July of 1937,

Buchenwald held mostly male prisoners. Women prisoner weren’t held here until late 1943 or

early 1944. Prisoners were usually held in the main camps, located in the northern part of the

camp. The camp was highly protected to make sure no prisoners escaped. SS guards guarded the

entrances; there was an electric barbed-wire fence, chains of machine gun and watchtowers

surrounding the camps.

The concentration camp held many prisoners throughout its years of use. Most of the

early prisoners held in Buchenwald were political prisoners. In early November of 1938 after

Kristallnacht, a government outbreak of violence against Jews in Germany, about 10,000 Jews

were sent to this camp and faced very cruel treatment. But Buchenwald held many more groups

than prisoners and Jews. Criminals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), and

German military deserters were also held within the concentration camp. Each prisoner was

given an identification number and wore a triangle to classify them within a group. Political

prisoners wore a red triangle, Jews wore two yellow triangles that formed a Jewish Star of David,

and Jehovah's Witnesses wore a purple triangle. In 1941, the prisoners within the camp were

used for medical experiments, by physicians and scientists, who were testing vaccines and

treatment of various contagious diseases. This resulted in hundreds of deaths within the camp.

As the U.S. forces approached the camp, SS guards frantically tried evacuate all the prisoners out

of the camp and hide their deeds. In the last few days of the evacuation, resistance members

within the camp slowed down the pace of the evacuation, sabotaging the SS guard’s plans. Most

of the SS guards deserted the camp by April 11, 1945. Also many armed prisoners were able to

trap some of the remaining guards. On that same day, the American army reached Buchenwald

and liberated 21,000 prisoners. This included 4,000 Jews and 1,000 children. Since the opening

of the camp in 1937 to its liberation in 1945, 250,000 people were held in this camp. The

estimated amount of people killed at Buchenwald is at least 56,000 males; about 11,000 of them

were Jews.

Like the Buchenwald concentration camp, the liberation and condition of the Dachau

camp were very similar. The Dachau concentration camp was established in March of 1933 in

Germany. Located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory in southern Germany,

Dachau was the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazis. The camp held around

4,800 prisoners during its first year. These early prisoners were mostly political opponents of the

Nazi regime, but over time this camp held Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals,

and repeat criminal offenders. A very small amount of Jews were held during Dachau early years

as a concentration camp. The numbers of Jewish prisoners in the camp rose, especially after

November 10-11, 1938 and the aftermath of Kristallnacht. The Dachau camp was a training

center for the SS concentration camp guards as well as a model for all Nazi camps.

As allied forces advanced towards Germany, the prisoners were moved from

concentration camps to the front to prevent a large number of liberation. After days of travel, the

prisoners were weak, starved, and exhausted and a Typhus epidemic broke out. On April 26,

1945 American forces approached the camp and its sub camps. More than half of the register

prisoners were still on the main camp. Out of 67,665 prisoners, 43,350 were political prisoners,

22,100 were Jews, and the rest fell into various different categories. Dachau was liberated on

April 29, 1945. More than 7,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, were moved from Dachau to Tegernsee,

known as the death march. In early May of 1945, American forces liberated the prisoners who

were sent on the death march.

America sent many different divisions over to help stop Nazi crimes, shut down

concentration camps, and were part of an ally group against Germany. The second infantry

division was a division created by the US military to liberate many innocents throughout Europe

abused by the Nazi crimes, and to help shut down parts of the Nazi operation. It was created in

1917, and first saw action in World War I. In World War II, the infantry division stormed Omaha

Beach and moved out from Normandy into Belgium. In the Battle of the Bulge, the second

infantry held ground and prevented Germany’s attempts to regain control over Belgium. March

of 1945, the unit moved in on Germany, capturing Leipzig on April 19. The war ended in Europe

on May 8, which is when they moved into Pilsen, in Czechoslovakia to continue their prevention

against the Nazi movements throughout other countries.

The 2nd Infantry Division uncovered many areas of Nazi crime. In April 1945, they

overtook a German town called Hadamar, where there was a psychiatric clinic that had housed

and killed nearly 15,000 Jewish and associated adults and children in the past four years by

means of the Nazi euthanasia program. They also liberated over one thousand prisoners in the

“labor education” camp of Spergau, interviewing prisoners and interrogating guards about the

conditions in the camp and the identity and locations of perpetrators. They liberated many Jews

and worked to stop many Nazi crimes; the biggest thing they were looking to get was evidence

for war crimes prosecution, which could make a major case against Germany, and hopefully help

to shut down the Nazi camps and operations.

Another division was the fourth infantry division that was created in late 1917 and served

through World War I. In June of 1944, the unit was the first US unit at Utah Beach and two

months later was the first unit to enter the farther interior of France, where it liberated Paris. In

September, they entered Germany and engaged in the battles in the Hurtgen Forest and through

the Battle of the Bulge, where they fought alongside the second infantry division. In late March,

the unit captured Nuremberg, an active German city, and by the beginning of May, had already

moved into the depths of Bavaria. The fourth infantry division unit was one of the more well-

known divisions that were part of the US ranks, in the attempts at liberating European countries

under German rule.

Like the infantry divisions, the armored divisions were the ones to liberate the

concentration camps. The sixth armored division was assigned to General George S. Patton’s

Third Army, where they took part in the Allied counteroffensive against the German advances.

The army and its division fought against German advances in the Battle of the Bulge, where

afterward, they continued on into central Germany. On April 11, 1945, the division overran the

Buchenwald concentration camp while advancing farther into Thuringia, one of the German

states. By their arrival, the SS guards abandoned the camp and the prisoners had taken control,

offering very beneficial in tell to the unit, regarding the Nazi guards.

In late September, 1944, the tenth armored division surfaced in the French port,

Cherbourg. They moved eastward, advancing to the province of Lorraine and then through to the

Battle of the Bulge. When German forces turned to the offensive, the tenth armored US division

went north to Bastogne, Belgium to assist ally forces. They captured the city of Trier on March

2, 1945, after returning to the original path straight into Germany. The unit moved southward

into Bavaria and took another town, Oberammergau, and also overran one of the sub camps of

Dachau in the Landsberg area before reaching Innsbruck, Austria, where they were when the war

ended.

Pacific 1944-1945

            During the closing stages of World War II, key battles were fought that would determine

the overall outcome of the Pacific Theater. The battles for Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa

were strategic victories that sealed Japan’s fate in the war. However, many resources and soldiers

were lost during the imperative battles that helped turn the tide of World War II.  The Allies

faced a relentless enemy that did not fear death. The Japanese preferred to die honorably in

battle, rather than surrender. As the war dragged on, Japan was growing closer to defeat; their

situation became desperate day by day. Japan took any means to stop the inevitable Allied

advances, such as using kamikaze airplanes to cripple Allied naval warships.  However, the

Allies prevailed and fought the Japanese through their island hopping campaign. Their victories

brought them closer and closer to the Japanese mainland. The battles of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima,

and Okinawa proved to be one of the bloodiest and costliest engagements of the war, for both

sides. Ultimately, these decisive battles determined the course of the war in the Pacific.

            The battle of Leyte Gulf saw the end of the Japanese naval campaign in WWII. This

battle for the the Philippines was an absolute slaughter of the Japanese navy. The vital

archipelago supplied Japan with some resources. The capture of this group of islands would

make the rest of the fight against Japan much easier. This battle was the beginning of the end of

the war. By October of 1944 most of the troops underneath the split leadership of Admiral

Nimitz and General Macarthur had advanced on the western pacific. The Americans planned to

invade the Philippines on October 20th 1944. With so much military power bearing down on the

Philippines the odds looked much in the Americans favor. Anticipating an attack from the

Americans the Japanese planned a defensive strategy called Operation Victory One. This plan’s

goal was to distract a strong part of the American’s naval power while the Japanese came in to

stop the landing on Leyte. On October 20th 1944 the Americans began landing on Leyte. Two

patrolling submarines spotted a Japanese fleet and alerted Admiral Hasley. The subs then chased

down the fleet and sank two ships. The Japanese responded with an air assault on Hasley’s fleet;

they sunk one ship. After this crossfire the Japanese put Operation Victory One into action

sending Admiral Ozawa north to distract Hasley. Hasley took the bait and saw himself 300 miles

north of Leyte when he caught up with Ozawa. As Hasley was chasing Ozawa the Japanese sent

a fleet towards, not as heavily guarded, Leyte. American PT boats spotted the Japanese in the

Surigao Strait and fired their torpedoes at the ships but didn’t hit any of their targets. The PT

boats did however report the advancing Japanese fleet to Admiral Kinkaid who set up a nice

“welcome” blockade at the exit of the Surigao Strait. This blockade sunk two Japanese ships and

left the rest of the fleet crippled and fleeing. Kinkaid then sent planes to sink the fleeing ships.

This encounter cost the Japanese 7 ships. Meanwhile Hasley had caught up with Ozawa and his

defenseless fleet of carriers. Hasley began his demolition job but a distress call from Kinkaid,

who had noticed an Japanese fleet on his radar headed towards Leyte. Hasley debated turning

back because General Macarthur’s goal for this battle was to protect Leyte at all cost but the

other leader Admiral Nimitz gave other orders. These orders said, “In case opportunity for

destruction of major portion of the enemy fleet is offered or can be created, such destruction

becomes the primary task.” Hasley had to make the decision of whether to stay and finish off

Ozawa or race back to support Kinkaid. He chose to destroy Ozawa’s fleet and race back after

the battle. This decision might have cost the Americans the Philippines if a much smaller

American fleet, lead by Admiral Sprague, didn’t run into the Japanese fleet and decide to stay

and try to hold off the Japanese fleet. The leader of this Japanese fleet was admiral Kurita.

Sprague set up a smoke screen and sent planes at Kurita’s fleet. The pilots of these planes fought

relentlessly. When they ran out of ammo they fired whatever they could find; training bullets,

dummy bombs, doorknobs, etc. The Americans held of Kurita until help came. Kurita then fled

from the battle. Sprague’s, David vs Goliath, victory saved the Philippines for the Americans. In

the closing stages of the Battle of Leyte Gulf kamikaze pilots were introduced into the war taking

out an American ship. The battle ended on October 26th 1944. The Japanese ultimately failed in

stopping the Americans from landing on Leyte. The Japanese barely put a dent in the American

Navy, only sinking 6 american ships while the Americans took out an impressive 26 Japanese

ships. This battle disabled Japan from supporting another naval battle thus paving the way for

Japan’s defeat in the war.    

            Allied forces concentrated their focus on the small, volcanic island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima

is part of the Volcano Islands; the island itself is approximately 759 miles south of Tokyo.

Mount Suribachi, a dormant volcano, dominated the southern end with its massive 550 foot

height. Although, this tiny sulfuric island was never heard of before, the battle for Iwo Jima was

imperative to the success of knocking Japan out of the war. Taking Iwo Jima was important

because: Japanese aircraft used its airfields to wreak havoc on US forces, and the island warned

the Japanese mainland of incoming US bombers heading to Japan. Once Iwo Jima was captured,

the island would also provide an emergency pit stop for US bombers returning from their

bombing runs in Japan. The invasion of Iwo Jima was scheduled for February 19th, 1945. Major

General Harry Schmidt’s plan was to quickly capture the airfields and Mount Suribachi, then

combine all forces to sweep the rest of the island. Before D-Day, Iwo Jima was heavily barraged

by aerial and naval bombardment for many months. However, the damage proved to be

ineffective, as the Japanese defenders dug in deeper and created underground tunnels and caves.

They built more fortified pillboxes and bunkers within the battered sulfuric landscape. General

Tadamichi Kuribayashi knew that his twenty thousand men could not hold off against the

superior US forces. His plan was to defend the island as long as he could, and inflict many

casualties towards the Allied forces in order to discourage an  invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Instead of preparing beach defenses to directly face the US Marines when they landed, the

Japanese general moved his defenses inland. As the US Marines landed on the volcanic terrain,

they confronted no resistance until the whole beach was full of men and supplies. Then, the

Japanese garrison opened fire. The Marines faced a barrage of hellfire from all sides, including

artillery shells from Mount Suribachi. After suffering many casualties on the beach, the Marines

managed to surround and cut off the mountain.  It was there at Mt. Suribachi that the famous

photograph of the Marines raising the flag, was taken. Associated Press photographer Joe

Rosenthal took the picture, which would later become the most recognizable and iconic image of

the war. After Mt. Suribachi and the airfields were taken, the Marines drove north. General

Kuribayashi ordered his men to fight to the death, telling them, “Each man will make it his duty

to kill ten of the enemy before dying.” Relentless fighting took place as the Marines faced heavy

resistance throughout the rest of the island. Their daily routine consisted of clearing out

pillboxes, caves, and hills. Each day they gained only a few yards, at times taking more

casualties than they gave. After a month of savage fighting, the Marines had finally taken most

of the island. On the night of March 25, General Kuribayashi led his men in a final banzai charge

against American lines, but all of them were eventually killed. The next morning, Iwo Jima was

officially secure. The battle for Iwo Jima was the biggest and bloodiest in US Marine Corps

history. US forces suffered 20,000 wounded and 6,821 dead. Out of the 20,000 Japanese

defenders at Iwo, only 216 survived. The heroic valor of the Marines during the battle and the

picture that was taken at Mt. Suribachi both turned Iwo from an unknown island no one had even

heard of, into one of the most significant and important feats in US history.                

Okinawa was one of the last battles of World War II.  Okinawa is the largest island in

the Ryukyu Islands, which are 600 miles long.  Okinawa is 350 miles southwest of Japan and is

the last island before the Japanese home islands.  Both sides knew that this island was vital and

so each sent strong forces.  The Japanese defending force was the 32nd army numbering about

130,000 soldiers, commanded by General Mitsuru Ushijima.  General Ushijima wanted his

soldiers to abandon bushido, which is when they kill themselves, and kill as many Americans as

possible.  General Simon Bolivar Buckner commanded the Allies, and the invasion fleet

numbered 1,213 ships.  The invasion was called Operation Iceberg.  The Americans started the

battle on April 1st, 1945 by bombarding the island and destroying nearby airfields.  Soldiers then

started landing on Okinawa on April 1st, 1945 meeting little resistance, which stayed that way

for about one week.  It was nicknamed “Honeymoon Week”.  But then on April 6th the Japanese

attacked the ships with 700 planes, over half of them were kamikazes.  Nine more of these

kamikaze waves followed, each one getting smaller and smaller.   The attacks were called

Kikusui, named after the flower Chrysanthemum, which is highly cherished in Japan.  Most of

the kamikazes were shot down but some got through and killed many soldiers.  The Japanese

also sent their battleship Yamamoto, the biggest in the world, a cruiser and some destroyers with

orders to fight to the death.  On April 6th some scout planes spotted the ships and the American’s

sent many planes to meet it.  Later that day after constant bombing it went down. The fighting on

the ground was just as fierce.  The Allied soldiers took many casualties from the stiff Japanese

resistance.  The Japanese had connected an interlocking network of caves, bunkers, tunnels and

artillery mounted on tracks to try and stop the Allies.  Finally after much hard fighting the Allies

broke through the Japanese line and after that they just fought small groups of Japanese soldiers.

General Buckner and Ernie Pyle were both killed towards the end of the battle.  Finally, on June

22nd, after months of hard fighting the island was in allied hands.  That same day General

Ushijima killed himself using Bushido.  Okinawa was Japan’s last major defeat in the war before

they surrendered one month later.

              Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa were three key battles that heavily influenced

Japan’s downfall in World War II. However, these victories came at a huge cost. As Japan’s

situation became bleak and hopeless, they fought desperately to the last man. The US faced a

relentless enemy on the brink of defeat. The Japanese were willing to give up all their men and

ships if it meant delaying the US advances toward Japan. The final years in the Pacific saw some

of the bloodiest and ferocious fighting ever to take place during World War II.

The Manhattan Project

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a major U.S. naval port in the Pacific. The time, December 7th,

1941. This was about to become the site of the attack that would bring the United States into

World War Two. It was but two months before this fatal and horrifying attack that president

Franklin D. Roosevelt decided upon an intensified research for the development of the atom

bomb. The idea of an atom bomb to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, was brought up in

1939 when Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard wrote a letter to Albert Einstein asking him to write a

letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt urging him to look into the studies of atomic weaponry. Nuclear

fission had recently been discovered in Germany one-year prior. Using this method the US ended

up creating a full scale nuclear weapons project as a reaction to Pearl Harbor.

The secretive nuclear development program was started by the Manhattan Engineer

District of the US army corps of engineers near Columbia University. Colonial Leslie R. Grobes

commanded the project. At first the project was planning on using uranium 235, which tends to

be extremely rare and cost expensive so plutonium was used as well. Plutonium was stocked

piled underneath of the University of Chicago’s football stadium along side a nuclear reactor. It

was here that Enrico Fermi started the very first nuclear chain reaction. 40,000 people were

chosen and employed for the project at hand and in the next several years that number grew to be

around 120,000. Over 2 Billion dollars were spent in the investigation and production of this

project.

There were three nuclear facilities that were funded by the DuPont Corporation. These

facilities were located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee also Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New

Mexico. The Tennessee was named Clinton Engineer Works and was isolated from populated

areas and found near the Norris Dam. This useful dam created large amounts of hydroelectric

power, which was used to assist in the uranium enrichment process. The other facility in Hanford

Washington was located on the Columbia River. This allowed the heat stricken atomic pile to be

cooled much easier with the use of the cool river just outside of the facility.

For the third and final facility, the main problem facing the researchers in this project was

that nuclear fission needed to be incorporated into a practical weapon of mass destruction. For

this, a atomic weapons lab was built in Los Alamos, New Mexico under the dry hot sun with a

researcher named J. Robert Oppenheimer in charge of operations. Researchers at this nuclear

weapons lab finial developed a method to make a potentially effective atom bomb. This method

involved a small sphere of plutonium being compressed leading to a chain reaction. To test their

method they built a test bomb and code-named the test bomb “Trinity”. “Trinity” exploded in

Alamagordo, New Mexico on July 16th, 1945 at exactly 5:29 P.M. The explosion was the

equivalent to the explosion of 18,000 tons on TNT and windows that belong to local residents

over 235 miles away were shattered. The bomb “Trinity” had far exceeded the expectation of the

scientists working in Los Alamos.

As world war two intensified and the atrocities increased, the U.S realized that they

would need to turn toward atomic weaponry to save the lives of innocent Americans. A crippling

blow was needed to stop the enemies and this caused the research and development of “little

boy” and “fat man”. “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” may have been designed to carry out similar

tasks but their design was remarkably different in-between the two bombs. Inside “Little Boy”

conventional explosives would be used to fire a hollow uranium bullet down a gun barrel, which

would then strike a cylinder target causing a chain reaction that was extremely explosive. This

gave the “Little Boy” its long sleek design. As for the atom bomb “Fat Man” the main catalyst

for the explosion for this bomb was plutonium instead of uranium. At the center of the bomb

was a hollow plutonium sphere which using conventional explosives was rapidly compressed

until the point of instability in which point created a massive and devastating blow to the

surrounding area. (This is the method mentioned earlier that was discovered at Los Alamos.)

In 1945, the U.S. was ready to ship the atom bombs to Pacific bases for later use. They

called upon the USS Indianapolis to carry the bombs. The trip was risky because if anyone sank

the ship all of the hard work put into the project would go to waste. It is likely that if this

situation had happened life rafts would have been used to collect the plutonium and uranium

first. The ship transported the bombs to a base in the Pacific and from there the bombs were

placed on B-29 combat planes. From the base, Tinian, the planes would fly up to Japan and drop

their precious cargo on their targets. Meanwhile, the Japanese were looking for peace after

returning from the Potsdam conference but the American government thought that drastic

measures were necessary in order to end this war. At the pot spam conference, the United States,

Great Britain, and China demanded that Japan surrender immediately or face complete and utter

destruction. Thus when Japan did not surrender immediately, the American government started

their plan for the destruction.

In Tinian, the bombing crews were becoming prepared and ready for action. Each bomb

was flown in one of three planes in the squadron. Flying alongside the plane with the bomb

would be another plane for measuring the velocity and other statistics about the bomb and a

camera plane (purposively). A plane called the Enola Gay, named after the pilot’s father,

dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The plane that dropped “Fat Man” was called Bock’s Car,

named after pilot Fred Bock. Had there been a third bomb, it would have most likely been

dropped by one of these two squadrons. From over 20,000 feet up, the crews of the two

squadrons had no idea what they had done until they saw it in the newspaper or the news later

on. Japan surrendered just days after the second bomb was dropped and Americans rejoiced that

their troops would be coming home. However, deep down they felt some feelings of regret and

sorrow for the amount of Japanese lives that were taken in this so-called ‘necessary’ war-ending

attack.

After the bombings, President Truman, who was not in the country at the time,

conveyed a message to the American public through his press secretary. The message portrayed

the bombings as payback for the attacks on Pearl Harbor and other atrocities that had been

committed by the Japanese. Opinions on the atomic bomb attacks have varied diversely from the

time of the attacks until present day. President Truman is quoted as saying, “The experiment has

been an overwhelming success.” Many people would not agree, or maybe even find his words

just tasteful however, it is important to look at this issue through the eyes of the people at the

time. One of the main reasons why Americans thought that the actions were justified was the

propaganda that was being fed to them by the government. Therefore, the general thought

throughout the American public was that despite their sympathy for the victims in Japan, the

bombs were the best way to end the war, with minimal American casualties. This seemingly had

been the thought of the government as well and had been simply rubbed off on the people.

Eventually, after thinking about the massive loss of human life that had been created, Truman

regretted his words and previous thought about the project’s result, as many other American’s

had come to do as well. As a result, the Manhattan Energy District was formally disbanded and

the atomic energy commission took over the nuclear arsenal in 1947.

The Manhattan Project and its outcomes have had many effects on American history.

First off, not only did we successfully create atomic weaponry, but in the process, we discovered

how to successfully create nuclear fission. This has opened the door for our nuclear energy

projects, which is still widely used in modern society. Also, we have been left with our moral

question of whether or not we should have used the atom bomb or use similar weapons in the

future. As mentioned earlier, the immediate and post-bombing effects were horrific especially

because of Japanese civilian casualties. With such a powerful weapon, it is nearly impossible to

avoid killing civilians, which is why there is a major problem with them being used in warfare.

It is often said that fear is the most common and powerful motivation for human

behavior. Americans feared their powerful World War II enemy and felt that they had no other

choice than to act harshly. The fear started with Pearl Harbor, but did not end with Hiroshima or

Nagasaki. People in America feared the repercussions of their country’s actions for years

afterward. Luckily there was no reason for any other country to create such an atrocity and

massive loss of human life. In fact, no other atomic bombs have ever been used in an attack,

besides these two American bombs. There are, however, much larger atomic bombs available to

many different countries today that could cause even more destruction!

Leaders of the US

America played a huge role in the second World War. Many great leaders emerged and

technology evolved. FDR, one of the greatest presidents, won his third and fourth terms in office.

There were also many great and evil leaders emerging in Europe; Stalin from Russia, Hitler from

Germany, Mussolini from Italy, and Franco from Spain. Great battles and infamous tragedies

occurred. We experienced the true meaning of evil through Hitler in Germany and witnessed the

atrocious murders of millions of innocent people. The holocaust was one of the worst genocides

that occurred in the world. We also witnessed massive destruction by the Atomic Bomb at

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War II had a permanent effect on the way our society thinks and

acts.

FDR won his third term easily with 449 electoral votes. After reelection, FDR faced a

very difficult situation with the Japanese. Japan started to expand its military and the U.S. did not

agree with their expansion. So the U.S. tried to halt the expansion by placing an embargo on

crucial war materials and oil. This only made it worse for the U.S. because Japan planned a

surprise attack against them in an attempt to wipe out the American pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor.

Roosevelt declared December 7 as a day which would live in infamy.

During the war, Congress approved FDR to provide Britain and the Soviet Union with

lend-lease aid. This was simply just more credit to buy important wartime supplies, and allowed

the sale, transfer, exchange, or lease of weapons to any country that was crucial to the U.S. and

its defense. Congressional conservatives were able to take apart some of FDR’s new deal

programs. FDR was forced to carry out changes in the organization of the national economy.

This gave the head corporations considerable authority and profit opportunities.

Although Roosevelt was arguably one of the greatest presidents in the history of the U.S.,

he was greatly criticized during World War II for his many aspects on the war. But Roosevelt

behaved in his normal fashion. FDR’s goal was to win the war with the least amount of

American casualties. To do this, he needed to keep the United State’s alliances strong with the

British and Russians until Germany and Japan had been defeated.

Since many Americans believed that the U.S. was fighting for morally correct reasons in

the war, Roosevelt gained reelection to his fourth term in 1944. It was a fairly short term for

Roosevelt and he was not able to see the end of the war. When he attended the Yalta summit in

1945, he had been unable to free Poland of Soviet Domination. During Roosevelt’s last days, he

traveled to his favorite retreat in Warm Spring, Georgia where he suffered a large cerebral

hemorrhage and died on April 12, 1945.

After Roosevelt’s death, he was seen through many different perspectives by many

different people. Roosevelt helped the American people get through tough times and during the

war he made numerous crucial decisions that would cause turning points. He also made many

poor decisions, for example Australians warned him about an attack that might happen to Pearl

Harbor but he never took action. He also never told his vice president about the Manhattan

Project, and his vice president didn’t find out about it until Harry S. Truman was sworn into

presidency, which was after Roosevelt’s death. But in the end, there were no negatives of

Roosevelt’s presidency that managed to exceed the way Roosevelt and his New Deal had shaped

America. Just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a remarkable and hugely important leader,

Eisenhower was another very influential leader.

Dwight David Eisenhower was an American leader that played a large part both during

and post World War 2. He was the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in

World War 2 and a five star general, and because of that he lead the invasions of North Africa,

Italy, France, and Germany. He assisted in drafting the U.S. Military’s World War 2 global

strategy, designed the European Theater of Operations command, of which he was made a leader

in June of 1942. Eisenhower had monumental importance in D-Day, which took place on June

6th, 1944. On this day, an incredibly important battle took place, one of several that had

importance of ending World War 2. After Germany was finally defeated, Eisenhower had the

largely important duty of leading the American troops out of their stations and back to America.

In 1950, he was appointed supreme commander of NATO, or the North African Theater of

Operations, by Harry Truman.

General Eisenhower was known for being a “firm but calm leader,” which were very

positive traits to have as a general. "He has the power of drawing the hearts of men towards him

as a magnet attracts the bit of metal. He merely has to smile at you, and you trust him at once,"

said Gen. Montgomery, as he once explained his charismatic leadership.

Ike, as Eisenhower was nicknamed by reporters, won his presidential election with 442

electoral votes on January 20, 1953. He was again known for his calmness, and controlled most

problems through the government rather than select projects or programs, as some of those of the

New Deal. Although this was true, he did use some of the ideas contributed by the New Deal,

because of how popular it had become. Eisenhower then won his second election in 1956 with an

electoral vote of 457. He had made a huge impact on many wars of which America had

involvement, and on America as a whole. Eisenhower retired in 1961, and passed away on his

farm on March 28, 1969. Just as Eisenhower was a crucial leader in American history, Douglas

MacArthur was important as well.

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26th, 1880. He was the son of an army officer

and later in MacArthur’s life he would become an army officer as well, following his father’s

and grandfather’s footsteps. During World War one MacArthur became well known because his

division, rainbow division, and was shortly thereafter promoted. MacArthur was known for

being very flamboyant and for wearing sweaters instead of his military uniform.

Douglas MacArthur was an American Military leader who was pivotal in World War II.

He was in charge of all U.S. forces in the southwest pacific during World War 2. When the U.S.

initially went to war he did not have the supplies or soldiers, and this made the beginning of the

war very difficult for him. MacArthur had a huge success in the Philippines where he gave his

people of the Philippines a speech, and his success in New Guinea also. MacArthur thought of

the Philippines as very important and convinced FDR that the Philippines were needed to defeat

Japan. He did this despite the fact that most other generals thought the Philippines should be

forgotten about and we should attack the Japan directly. Once Japan surrendered, MacArthur

signed the treaty also on behalf of the U.S. By the time WWII was over, President Truman put

MacArthur in charge of American Forces in Japan to restructure Japanese society. It took him six

years but finally he formed Japan into a Democratic Government. As important as these three

leaders were, there were also two very important organizations that affected World War II in a

very large way. These two organizations are the Eastern Theater of Operations and the Pacific

Theater of Operations.

The Eastern Theater of operations or the Eastern Front was between the European Axis

powers against the Soviet Union, Poland, and other Allies. The names would vary depending on

the Country in which you are in. The Eastern Front is known as the largest military confrontation

in history. There were massive casualties, over 30 million of the total 70 million of World War 2.

The casualties in the Eastern Front were mainly civilians. The Eastern Front was known to be the

site of almost all extermination camps, death marches, ghettos and the majority of the programs

central to the Holocaust. The main powers in the Eastern Front were Nazi Germany and the

Soviet Union. The U.S. was not one of the main powers because they never fought in the Eastern

Front. Although that is true, the U.S. was a primary supplier of material aid to the Soviet Union.

The Eastern Front was crucial in deciding to what side would come out victorious in World War

2. This was mainly the reason for the German defeat. It concluded with the destruction of the

Third Reich or the Nazi state, which was the partition of Germany.

The Pacific Theater of Operations during World War 2 was an organization that had

importance in many areas of the general area of Southeast Asia. The PTO had involvement as far

west as the Bay of Bengal, as far east as many miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea, as far

North as Tokyo, Japan, and as far South as Hong Kong, China. There were many battles

involved with the Pacific Theater of Operations. one major battle was that of The Attack on Pearl

Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. On that battle, 350 Japanese aircrafts were to to attack

Pearl Harbor, and unfortunately succeeded. This battle caused a horrifying number of

approximately 2,400 deaths, total. The PTO was also responsible for the Atomic Bombing of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which took place on August 6 and August 9 of 1945, respectively. As

many as 200,000 casualties occurred from the bombing and radiation. The PTO came to an end

on September 2, 1945 when the Japanese signed the surrender documents. After MacArthur

accepted the surrender of Japan. MacArthur was appointed Military Governor during the allied

occupation of Japan. He was responsible for the demilitarization and the beginnings of a

democratic society post-war Japan. Obviously the Pacific Theater of Operations gave a huge

affect on World War II.

In conclusion, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight David Eisenhower, and Douglas

MacArthur were three of the most important leaders of America during and post World War two.

All of these leaders had an immense impact on the course of the war and resolution of it. World

War 2 and all the countries involved were in some way affected by each of these leaders.

America and the rest of the world in general would not be the same if they had not carried out

their role in America’s history. The Eastern and Pacific Theater of Operations played a

drastically important role as well. These organizations had involvement with the lives of many

and numerous countries.