With the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, and the imminent invasion of the home islands, Japan surrendered. Strategic bombing directed by General Curtis Lemay destroyed all the major Japanese cities, as the US captured Okinawa after heavy losses in spring 1945. With its merchant fleet sunk by American submarines, Japan ran short of aviation gasoline and fuel oil, as the US Navy in June 1944 captured islands within bombing range of the Japanese home islands. The Army, based in Australia under General Douglas MacArthur, steadily advanced across New Guinea to the Philippines, with plans to invade the Japanese home islands in late 1945. The Pacific War became one of island hopping, so as to move air bases closer and closer to Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy had the advantage, taking the Philippines as well as British and Dutch possessions, and threatening Australia but in June 1942, its main carriers were sunk during the Battle of Midway, and the Americans seized the initiative. Nimitz, based in Hawaii, in charge of the Pacific War against Japan. The defeat of the Nazis was the US's official highest priority per its agreement with Britain, however in practice the US devoted more resources to the Pacific than Europe and Africa until 1944.Īdmiral King put Admiral Chester W. Overall priorities were set by Roosevelt and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, chaired by William Leahy. The Navy, led by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Admiral Ernest King, proved more autonomous. Stimson, who mobilized the nation's industries and induction centers to supply the Army, commanded by General George Marshall and the Army Air Forces under General Hap Arnold. Key civilian advisors to President Roosevelt included Secretary of War Henry L. There were also 130,201 American prisoners of war, of whom 116,129 returned home after the war. In the Pacific Theater, there was unofficial early US combat activity such as the Flying Tigers.ĭuring the war, some 16,112,566 Americans served in the United States Armed Forces, with 405,399 killed and 671,278 wounded. Following the " Greer incident" Roosevelt publicly confirmed the "shoot on sight" order on 11 September 1941, effectively declaring naval war on Germany and Italy in the Battle of the Atlantic. While officially neutral, the US supplied Britain, the Soviet Union, and China with war materiel through the Lend-Lease Act signed into law on 11 March 1941, and deployed the US military to replace the British forces stationed in Iceland. During the first two years of World War II, the United States had maintained formal neutrality, which was officially announced in the Quarantine Speech delivered by US President Franklin D. The military history of the United States during World War II covers the victorious Allied war against the Axis Powers, starting with the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and ending with the 2 September 1945 surrender of Japan. Marine Corps with the nation's flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima
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