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Towards the end of WWII
U.S. military decided to take action against the Japanese
for the attack on the Pacific Islands on December 7th
They planned to invade the Pacific islands
in order to gain a greater advantage in their attacks on mainland Japan
The U.S. attacked
Their strategy was to take control of each island
getting closer to the mainland Japan to gain more air and naval bases
The U.S. first attacked Guadalcanal in August 1942
This attack lasted for six months and ended in February 1943
During the six months, the United States and its Pacific Allies
fought a brutally hard air-sea-land campaign against the Japanese for control of Guadalcanal
It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan
On August 7, Allied forces, mostly American
landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands
With Japanese troops stationed in this section of the Solomon Islands
U.S. marines launched a surprise attack and took control of an air base under construction
The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders and captured Tulagi and Florida
as well as an airfield that was under construction on Guadalcanal
Powerful U.S. naval forces supported the landings
By the end of the battle in 1943, February 9th
the Japanese had lost two-thirds of the 31,400 army troops on the island
while the U.S. Marines and Army had lost less than 2,000 soldiers out of 60,000
The ship losses on both sides were heavy
But the most significant loss for the Japanese was the destruction of their elite group of naval aviators
After Guadalcanal
Japan no longer had a realistic hope of withstanding the counteroffensive of the United States
The U.S. then set its sight on Peleliu
Peleliu is one of the Palau Islands of the Western Pacific
At the time, it was occupied by more than 10,000 Japanese troops
The island's airfield would give the Japanese the ability
to threaten any Allied operation in the Philippines
General Douglas MacArthur wanted to attack the Japanese in Peleliu in order to neutralize this threat
while Admiral William Halsey argued that there was no need
Instead, Halsey suggested that the landings on Peleliu should be canceled
In the end, they decided to go through with the attack
The U.S. Marines landed on Peleliu on September 15, 1944
As the battle in Peleliu wore on
the Japanese defenders refused to surrender
resulting in the death of nearly all the Japanese on the island
The battle ended on November 27, 1944 with an American victory
The Battle of Peleliu had the highest casualty rate of any amphibious assault in American military history
Out of around 28,000 Marines and infantry troops involved
40 percent of these soldiers either died or were wounded
The casualties totaled to about 9,800 men with 1,800 killed in action and 8,000 wounded
The lessons learned at Peleliu gave U.S. forces insight into the new Japanese military strategy
which would later help them in their struggles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa
The U.S. decided to attack Iwo Jima next
each attack getting closer and closer to mainland Japan
Iwo Jima was known as Sulfur Island
The battle started on February 19, 1945 and ended on March 26, 1945, lasting only 36 days
The US planned to turn Iwo Jima into an air base
for troops to support long range attacks to mainland Japan
The raid attack on Iwo Jima began on June 1994
The military planned to take the enemy away from high grounds
The goal was to capture the area that became known as "Mind Grinder"
which included Hill 382, "Turkey ***," and "Amphitheater"
By March 9, the third division cut Japan's defense in two separate parts
On March 11, the final phase of attack on Iwo Jima was planned
and the U.S. captured the individual resistance one by one
On March 26, the island of Iwo Jima was named secure
and the navy took control of the island on 1945 April 4th
There were 26,000 American soldiers coming into the war and 6,800 were found dead
While there were 20,000 Japanese defenders, only 1,083 survived
On February 23, 1945
the U.S. flagged was raised and this gave support and strength to all the US soldiers during the war
The Battle of Iwo Jima resulted in another victory for the U.S.
The U.S. planned their last attack on Okinawa
which was schedule for April 1st 1945
In the days leading up to it
the Americans had landed some units twenty miles southwest of Hagushi Bay to secure an anchorage
The capture of Okinawa was a part of the three point plan
that the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East
It involved involved 287,000 troops of the U.S. army against 130,000 Japanese soldiers
The first landing of the U.S. Marines took place on April 1st
and they were met with little opposition
By the end of the day 60,000 American peronnels had landed at Hagushi Bay
By April 20th, all Japanese resistance, except for guerrilla activity, had been eliminated
In the end, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers
and the Americans had over 12,000 men killed along with over 36,000 men wounded
They also lost 36 ships along with 763 aircrafts
The Japanese lost 16 ships and over 4,000 aircrafts
Okinawa was proven to be a bloody battle and it was the final major battle of World War II
The battles of Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa
played an important role to the Japanese surrender during World War II
The Pacific Wars were revenge for Pearl Harbor
Each battle was an attempt to gain leverage and control over the Japanese
Eventually, the control of the islands led to the Japanese surrender