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Philippines
The Japanese were well aware of the strategic advantages that would derived from occupying the Philippines. On December 8, 1941 Japanese planes destroyed US crafts and landed on Batan. In December the US troops were able to successfully retreat. This would not be the end leading to the 3 month battle of Bataan and Battle of Corregidor -
Aircraft Carriers
At the beginning of the war the US had only 3 aircraft carriers, this number expanded to 43. These fleets would be an important resource in America's ability to refuel planes and cross the sea. -
Pearl Harbor
A devastating yet amazingly organized attack on the US naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese had trained for an entire year using Kagoshima Bay as the base had the same geography as a training tool. Nicknamed Pearl Harbor's "twin sister", the base allowed for the coordination of a series of aircraft attacks. The strike was on a Sunday morning, the new radar monitor had ignored the planes because subsequently American air crafts were to arrive on the same day. -
Island Hopping
The US navy, under Admiral Chester Nimitz, took on a strategic push to capture and use only the islands necessary for success towards Japan. This would allow for the US bombers to come closer but it was not an easy task for the fleet. Marines fought amphibiously against the "honorable" Japanese soldiers. Japanese soldiers would die before surrender and used immoral tactics, such as using native islanders as decoys or even shields. -
Iwo Jima
The battle was a campaign between the US marines and Japanese imperial army. 21,000 Japanese and 7,000 marines died at this bloody 5 week battle.