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On December 7, 1941 the United States got attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, causing the United States of America to enter World War II -
Although the Japanese sank the Lexington and badly damaged the Yorktown, the American attacks prevented the Japanese from landing on New Guinea's south coast and kept the supply lines to Australia open.
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The weary defenders of the Bataan Peninsula finally surrendered. Nearly 78,000 prisoners of war were forced to march-sick, exhausted, and starving-65 miles (105km) to a Japanese prison camp.
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President Roosevelt put Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle in command of the mission to bomb Tokyo. On April 18, American bombs fell on Japan for the first time.
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The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the way. The United States had stopped the Japanese advance.
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On June 15, 1944, American forces invaded the island of Saipan, part of the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific.
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The Battle of Leyte Gulf in Philippines destroyed the Japanese Navy as an effective fighting force. It was during this battle that U.S. sailors first witnessed the kamikaze attacks that would become commonplace five months later in the battle of Okinawa.
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On February 19, 1945, American forces invaded the tiny island of Iwo Jima to secure airstrips for American B-29 flyers. They encountered 21,000 well-entrenched Japanese defenders. -
By April 1945, the war in Europe had ended with Allied victory, but the Pacific theater was yet to see its deadliest days. The final land battle of World War II took place a mere 350 miles from the main islands of Japan. -
Even before the bomb was tested, American officials began debating how to use it. Admiral William Leahy, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrendered. The atomic bombs was dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Then it was dropped in Nagasaki on August 15, 1945,