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After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had a lot of work to do to stop Japanese expansion.

General MacArthur in the Philippines.
General MacArthur in the Philippines.
The Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. At 3:00 a.m. on December 8, in Manila, the Philippines, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, got word of the attack. The U.S. had expected an attack on its base in the Philippines, not its base in Hawaii, so General MacArthur had been ordered to make sure that the U.S. ships stationed there were well protected.

Nine hours later, at noon on December 8, the Japanese struck the Philippines. MacArthur failed to react, and in a replay of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese pilots dropped bombs on U.S. fighter planes lined up in neat rows at Clark Field and Iba Field. Over 100 planes were destroyed, and over 200 Americans were killed or wounded. When FDR got word of the attack, he is said to have pounded his desk in frustration at MacArthur's failure to get the planes in the air to fight the Japanese, and yelled that "they were destroyed on the ground, by God—on the ground!"


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Three days after the attack on the Philippines, Britain's two top battleships were sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. As of December 12, 1941, there was not a single Allied battleship active in East Asia. Japan had complete control of the war in the Pacific. The fighting in the Pacific is often called the "Pacific theater" (just like the fighting in Europe is called the "European theater"). From December 1941 to May 1942, things went from bad to worse for the U.S. and the Allies in the Pacific. Read each row in this table to learn how and to learn how the U.S. turned things around.

In December 1941, the Japanese invaded the Philippines and began a siege of U.S. forces in Bataan. What was the U.S. response? FDR ordered General MacArthur to get out while he could so that he would not be taken prisoner and could lead the U.S. effort from Australia. MacArthur left on March 12, 1942. The Japanese broke the siege on April 3, 1942, and the U.S. was forced to surrender on April 9.
After the U.S. forces surrendered in the Philippines, what happened to them? The day after the U.S. surrender, the Japanese forced the soldiers on a 60-mile march from Bataan to a prisoner-of-war camp. The Americans were given no food or water and were not allowed to rest in the hot jungle sun. 5,000 American soldiers died on what became known as the Bataan Death March. Coming on top of the loss of the Philippines, the march was a terrible blow to U.S. fighting forces and American morale.
Burma and Singapore fell to the Japanese along with the Philippines, and Japan was getting ready to invade Australia. How did the U.S. turn things around at this low point in the war in the Pacific? In early May 1942, the U.S. won an important victory called the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Coral Sea is east of New Guinea and north of Australia. The Battle of the Coral Sea was Japan's first loss in the Pacific, and it stopped Japan from invading Australia.
How could the U.S. fight and win in the Pacific after its battleships were destroyed at Pearl Harbor? The U.S. found that it didn't need those battleships after all. All of its aircraft carriers were still in action because they had not been stationed at Pearl Harbor. So the U.S. used its aircraft carriers to launch fighter planes and torpedoes to attack Japanese ships. The U.S. also used submarines.
What did it mean to fight with aircraft carriers and submarines instead of battleships? Instead of two battleships trying to sink each other, fighter planes dropped bombs on battleships and occupied territory. Japan was not expecting this kind of fight, and the U.S. got the edge in the Pacific by putting carriers into action long before it had new battleships to fight with.
Why was Guadalcanal important? On August 7, 1942, the U.S. landed forces on the small island of Guadalcanal, in the Coral Sea. The Japanese had been building an air base there to send bombers to Australia. Japan fought to retake Guadalcanal from August 1942 to February 1943, when it was finally forced to give up. Holding that island prevented the Japanese from attacking Australia.

What were the lows and highs of the early U.S. campaign in the Pacific theater? Answer these questions to check your understanding.

What was the greatest blow to the U.S. war effort early on in the Pacific?

  1. losing so many planes at Clark and Iba fields
  2. the Bataan Death March
  3. not having any battleships
  4. having to surrender the Philippines

All of these were bad, but losing the Philippines was the worst because it was America’s stronghold in the Pacific and now its resources would be used by Japan to fight the U.S.

All of these were bad, but losing the Philippines was the worst because it was America’s stronghold in the Pacific and now its resources would be used by Japan to fight the U.S.

All of these were bad, but losing the Philippines was the worst because it was America’s stronghold in the Pacific and now its resources would be used by Japan to fight the U.S.

All of these were bad, but losing the Philippines was the worst because it was America’s stronghold in the Pacific and now its resources would be used by Japan to fight the U.S.

Why did the U.S. fight the Battle of the Coral Sea and fight to keep Guadalcanal?

  1. to protect Australia from Japanese invasion
  2. to buy time until its battleships could fight
  3. to avenge the loss of the Philippines
  4. to destroy Japanese battleships

The U.S. was not relying on battleships, and the only way to avenge the Philippines was to re-take them. The battles mentioned were fought to protect Australia from Japanese invasion. It was the last free territory in the Pacific.

The U.S. was not relying on battleships, and the only way to avenge the Philippines was to re-take them. The battles mentioned were fought to protect Australia from Japanese invasion. It was the last free territory in the Pacific.

The U.S. was not relying on battleships, and the only way to avenge the Philippines was to re-take them. The battles mentioned were fought to protect Australia from Japanese invasion. It was the last free territory in the Pacific.

The U.S. was not relying on battleships, and the only way to avenge the Philippines was to re-take them. The battles mentioned were fought to protect Australia from Japanese invasion. It was the last free territory in the Pacific.

Why was the fighting in the Pacific unusual?

  1. It was spread out over a wide area.
  2. It had heavy casualties on both sides.
  3. It was mostly fought by aircraft carriers and submarines.
  4. It was characterized by quick U.S. victories.

The fighting at Guadalcanal lasted for months, and the fighting in Europe was also over a large area—the entire continent. Heavy casualties were the norm in WWII. The unusual thing was fighting without battleships. The Pacific war was mostly fought by planes and subs.

The fighting at Guadalcanal lasted for months, and the fighting in Europe was also over a large area—the entire continent. Heavy casualties were the norm in WWII. The unusual thing was fighting without battleships. The Pacific war was mostly fought by planes and subs.

The fighting at Guadalcanal lasted for months, and the fighting in Europe was also over a large area—the entire continent. Heavy casualties were the norm in WWII. The unusual thing was fighting without battleships. The Pacific war was mostly fought by planes and subs.

The fighting at Guadalcanal lasted for months, and the fighting in Europe was also over a large area—the entire continent. Heavy casualties were the norm in WWII. The unusual thing was fighting without battleships. The Pacific war was mostly fought by planes and subs.

Summary

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