By Jessica Dunaway and Nathania Swasisa
• When: Started on February 19th
and ended on March 26th 1945
• Significance:
• Where: Iwo Jima, Japan
• This was the first American battle on
Japanese homeland
• What: The American troops invade Iwo
Jima to take over and use this land as a
base for U.S fighter planes
• Iwo Jima was also very close to Saipan
where the Americans had they’re bases set
up
• Why: Iwo Jima would serve as a important
air base for what later turned out to be the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
• The capture of Iwo Jima was necessary to
provide an emergency landing strip for
crippled B-29’s returning from bombing
runs
• Outcome: Iwo Jima was captured by
Americans after just over a month of
fighting
• The Americans were covered by
extensive naval and air support,
capable of putting an enormous
amount of firepower onto the
Japanese above ground positions
• The Japanese positions on the
island were heavily protected, A lot
of they’re bases were
underground.
• The U.S forces held an
overwhelming advancement in
arms and numbers over the
Japanese
•26,000 Americans were killed or
wounded of the 110,000
• After the battle ended nearly
all Japanese soldiers were
captured, killed or committed
suicide. Only 34 survived out of
the 18,000 that started.
• This Battle was also known as
Operation Detachment
• Iwo Jima was also the only U.S.
Marine battle where the American
casualties exceeded the Japanese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y0gdFisD9k
• When: started on April 1st and
ended on June 22nd 1945
• Where: Okinawa, Japan
• What: After Iwo Jima the
Americans went on to take over
Okinawa
• Why: Just like Iwo Jima it served
as an important strategic piece of
land to make an air base
• Outcome: Okinawa fell to the
Americans in what was the
bloodiest battle of world war II
• Significance:
• Okinawa, was a large island only 340
miles away from mainland Japan, and was
also used as a base for air operations
• The nickname for this battle was “Typhoon
of steel” because the Japanese put up such
a forceful resistance against the Americans
• Simultaneously, tens of thousands of
local civilians were killed, wounded, or
committed suicide.
• The atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki caused Japan to
surrender just weeks after the end of
the fighting at Okinawa
• The Japanese lost 100,000 men at war
• U.S. losses were over 62,000
casualties of whom over 12,000
were killed or missing
• In Iwo Jima there had been no civilians
involved, but in Okinawa a large civilian
population was killed
• According to various estimates,
somewhere between 1/10 and 1/3
of them died during the battle
•Iwo Jima and Okinawa were basically
foreshadowing for the upcoming events
of Hiroshima
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Lbv0K8gCs
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa
• http://www.history.army.mil/BOOKS/WWII/OKINAWA/
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/426511/Battle-of-Okinawa
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/298382/Battle-of-Iwo-Jima
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima