The Flag Flies At Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
• Was used by the Japanese as a radar
warning station and a base for fighter
interceptors
• U.S. wanted to use it to provide fighter
escorts for the huge B-29’s
• Island was highly fortified
Iwo Jima
• There was virtually no Allied cover on the
exposed beaches.
• Japanese gunners take a terrible toll among
American Marines
• Colonel Harry Liversedge leads assault on
Mount Suribachi
Iwo Jima
• Mount Suribachi was Iwo
Jima’s highest ground
• Feb. 23, 1945- the Marines
raise the flag
» Flag was too small and
couldn’t be seen
• 2nd flag raised in its place
– Associated Press
photographer Joe Rosenthal
took the picture
– One of the war’s most
famous pictures
Iwo Jima
• The Stars and Stripes inspired the Marines
below
• Most Japanese fought to the death
• Island of Iwo Hima was declared secure on
March 26, 1945.
Iwo Jima
• “Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima,
uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
--Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Okinawa: The Last Battle
• U.S. wanted Okinawa to help stage an
invasion against Japan
• Japanese used Kamikaze fighters
• Caused Americans to be at their battle
stations 24 hours on end.
Okinawa: The Last Battle
• Okinawa’s most miserable feature was the
mud.
• May 29, 1945- American flag flew over
Shuri Castle, the ancient capital of the
nation
The End of the Conflict
• Americans did not expect Okinawa to be
last battle
– Preliminary to a Japanese invasion
• Japan had lost her navy and air force
– Bombings of Japan were taking place
• Japanese people at the point of starvation
The Manhattan Project
• Was the collaboration of American, British
and French scientists to develop the atomic
bomb
• Was highly secretive
• It would remain for Truman to decide if,
how, where, and when this fantastic weapon
should be used.
Potsdam Conference
• Truman meets with Churchill and Stalin
– Churchill later replaced by Clement Attlee
• Last of the wartime conferences
• Most important was the Potsdam
Declaration- a surrender ultimatum to
Japan.
The End of the Conflict
• Japanese refused to talk peace
• August 6, 1945- The Enola Gay
drops the world’s first atomic
bomb on Hiroshima
• Japanese still refuse to surrender
• Aug. 8, 1945- Russia declares
war on Japan.
• Aug. 9, 1945- atomic bomb
dropped on Nagasaki
The Japanese Surrender
• August 14, 1945- Emperor Hirohito and the
Japanese surrender
• August 15, 1945- V-J Day
– Hirohito addresses the Japanese for the first
time in history and tells them Japan surrendered
Significant Events of
World War II Is Over!!!
World War II