Operation Iceberg Research Paper

Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan ("Battle of Okinawa," 1996). The Battle of Okinawa remembered more for its iconic photograph of US Marines raising the US flag on Okinawa more so than any other war or battle ever fought. Okinawa the largest of the Ryukus islands played a major role in the American forces overall strategic efforts to advance to the mainland’s of Japan. Because it was the last major battle of WWII, the battle of Okinawa used lessons learned and TTP’s from all previous

2 massive atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. America hoped for mass destruction and death, which is the exact result given. Only 5 days after, Japan gave in and brought World War II to an end (Hall, 2003). America reached victory, and no one would ever doubt or underestimate the United States ever again.

The fight for control of Iwo Jima lasted thirty eight days. Over that course of time the U.S. lost almost six thousand Marines with another eighteen thousand men wounded. The Japanese however lost around twenty one thousand men. This was the only battle during the war with Japan when the U.S. suffered more casualties than the Japanese. Being one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the taking of Iwo Jima served as a valuable lesson for the upcoming Okinawa campaign. In the weeks following, the battle fell under heavy scrutiny from the press and the public. Many viewed it as an unnecessary fight and loss of

The battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were two of the most important American operations in the Pacific Theatre against the Empire of Japan during World War Two. The goal of the two operations was to secure strategically important islands close to Japan to use for bombing campaigns. The battles for Iwo Jima(February-March 1945) and Okinawa f(April-June 1945) killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and helped to win the war for the United States.

There were 26,000 casualties and 6,800 dead Americans at Iwo Jima, with 20,000 casualties and 1083 dead Japanese. (1. "Battle for Iwo Jima, 1945." The Navy Department Library) At Okinawa there were 65,000 American casualties and 14,000 dead, while the Japanese lost 70,000 soldiers out of the 130,000 stationed on Okinawa. (2. "Battle of Okinawa." History.com) The bloodshed from these two battles gave the Americans a taste of the militaristic Japanese, and that a battle for the homeland of Japan would be astronomically worse. The Japanese were prepared to use any means necessary to stop the Americans because of “Yamato Damashii”, which was a virtue of the samurai that went hand in hand with the Bushido code, and it made the Japanese value the country and the emperor above all else, and that fighting to the death was greater than surrender. and it came in the form of Kamikaze attacks, suicide troops, and guerilla warfare. At Okinawa, 193 kamikaze attacks were launched at the Americans damaging 368 ships and destroying 36. (3. "The Battle of Okinawa." History Learning Site) The Japanese were prepared to sacrifice everything they had to destroy American ships and troops. The Japanese also used their own people to fight against the Americans.

” No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.” A quote from President Franklin Roosevelt December 8, 1941 speech to Congress, declaring war on Japan. By the summer of 1945, 3 years after the Declaration of War on Japan began, intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy in ruins. Americans captured Okinawa, a Japanese island from which the Allies used to launch invasions off the main Japanese home islands.

Okinawa, Japan was the site of the largest amphibious battle of World War II. The Battle of Okinawa resulted in the death of over 12,000 American and 100,000 Japanese soldiers, which lasted from late March through June 1945. The Battle of Okinawa was one of the main reasons President Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The main reason for the bombing was to put a stop to the American death toll. Approximately two months later on August 6, 1945, the massive nuclear weapon was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb destroyed about four square miles of the city and also caused the death of 65,000 Japanese citizens. Because of this bombing, the Japanese government surrendered a week later.

On August 15th Japan surrendered, and on September 2nd, 1945 they signed the “Instrument of Surrender”. Hospitals were filled with patients who had not seemed sick before. People vomited, bled from their gums, and spots had begun to appear on their skin. Later Japanese doctors discovered that the people were dying from radiation that came from the atomic bomb. {look up: conspiracy theory} When considering using the atomic bombs, President Truman took into account the lowest possible cost for ending the war, he also wanted to end the war quickly. Truman once stated, “When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.” After the Pearl Harbor invasion. The U.S. started with “Operation Downfall,” invading Kyushu, many casualties where estimated, but this war proved to be even more deadly than predicted. General MacArthur thought that dropping more bombs, and using air power by itself would protect American lives, while also bringing forth a quicker surrender from the Japanese. When I look at both sides of the 1945 Japan bombing I really tried to stay open about the different viewpoints. The fact that the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands crippled Japan was interesting to find. I felt that the Japanese did not want to compromise, and in some way bit the hands that fed them. It seems these allies had allot of power. The Japanese seemed to only

The battle of Iwo Jima started off as an amphibious invasion by the Americans; a strong desire for claiming the island to create a base on the land flourishing with the ever-growing American spirit. Three U.S. marine divisions executed a carefully well thought plan during February of 1945. The Japanese were not very well prepared, having roughly 23,000 people defending Iwo Jima, a fifth of how many Americans there were. However, they did have strong beliefs and would refuse to surrender, giving their all to the battle until they died.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the most ferocious battles of the Pacific Campaign in World War II. This battle would be fought between the United States and Japan, and would begin in February 1945 and end in March 1945 causing well over 48,000 casualties of war. The main goal of this battle for the United States was to provide a tactical advantage against Japan. The seizure of this island would give the United States this advantage in victory. The Japanese reasoning would be much different, they had a legacy to withhold over 5000 years of Japans existence, no foreign Army has ever

The battle for Iwo Jima was a bloody battle against the Japanese forces. The island took the heaviest and longest bombardment compared to any battles in the Pacific during the war ("Battle for Iwo Jima, 1945", 1960). The battle for Iwo Jima started in June of 1944 but the invasion of the island didn't start until February 19,

The Battle of Iwo Jima started on February 19 and lasted until March 26, 1945. It was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the Island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deeps within the volcanic rocks. Around 70,000 U.S Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in this battle. In the thirty-six days of fighting on the island nearly 7,000 U.S Marines were killed. Another 20,000 were badly wounded. Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers; the rest were killed in action. The island was finally declared secured on March 16, 1945. It had been one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.

By October 1944, the US had strung together a series of victories successfully pushing the Japanese troops further and further back. It was clear that the US had the upper hand Naval wise and it was apparent. Japan for the first time in the war, began using kamikaze suicide bombers in an attempt to destroy American support vessels. The last major campaigns of the Pacific war were Luzon and Okinawa. The battle at Luzon lasted a total of 7 months and was the army's longest land campaign of the Pacific War. MacArthur’s army took nearly 40,000 casualties before successfully subduing the Japanese troops there. The battle at Okinawa was headed up by Admiral Nimitz who was in charge of the POA. The battle began on April 1, 1945 and would last 3 months.

On August 6th 1945, an American bomber plane dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan and took out approximately 90 percent of the city. Hiroshima itself ended up killing 140,000 people. 3 days after the Americans dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the Americans decide to drop another one in Japan on the city of Nagasaki. The second attack killing only about half of what the first attack killed on the spot. Only hundreds survived, many of those hundreds died very shortly later because of cancer and the weak immune systems. Japan’s response to these bombings was when the Emperor announced the Japanese “unconditional surrender” from World War II on August 15th 1945. These two bombings were

With the war in Europe complete the last hurdle to end World War II was the surrender of Japan. Beginning in January 1944, the United States was engaged in a full spectrum air, land and sea, island-hopping campaign across the pacific with the target of Japan. The capture of the island of Okinawa in June 1945 provided the lily pad for the future bombings and invasion of the Japanese home islands. However, heavy losses for both sides on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and the continual build up of defenses and forces on the Japanese homeland foreshadowed the horrific future battles that would be required to force the militaristic and fanatical Japanese into unconditional surrender.