On December 7, 1941, Japan launched an attack on the American navel base at Pearl Harbor. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan, entering into World War II.
World War II in the Pacific ended when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
While Japanese diplomats in Washington, DC, negotiated with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Japanese planes bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor. American outrage at the surprise attack overcame isolationist sentiment and the United States declared war on Japan the following day.
Item ViewUS enters World War II
Portion of the speech in which President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the US Congress to declare war on Japan following the previous day's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Item ViewUS troops land on Guadalcanal
US troops land on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands group. Guadalcanal was the focus of crucial battles in 1942–43. American victory in the Solomons halted the Japanese advance in the South Pacific. Guadalcanal, August 1942.
Item ViewUS troops landing on Guadalcanal
US troops land on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands groups. Guadalcanal was the focus of crucial battles in 1942–43. American victory in the Solomons halted the Japanese advance in the South Pacific. Guadalcanal, date uncertain.
Item ViewA US PT boat off the coast of New Guinea
A US PT (Patrol Torpedo) boat off the coast of New Guinea, during an American counteroffensive against Japanese advances in the Solomon Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 1943.
Item ViewFighting in the Pacific theater
US Marines head for the front lines in the jungles of Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. 1943.
Item ViewUS Marines head for the beaches of Tinian
An amphibious troop carrier loaded with US Marines heads for the beaches of Tinian, an island in the Pacific Ocean. July 1944.
Item ViewUS Marines on Peleliu Island
US Marines during the final stage of the fight for Peleliu Island in the Pacific theater of war. September 14, 1944.
Item ViewUS supply ships in the Philippines
Supply ships reinforce US forces on the Philippine island of Leyte during the US invasion of the Philippines. 1944.
Item ViewScene during the US invasion of Okinawa
US sailors struggle to contain damage from Kamikaze attacks during the US invasion of Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands (the islands closest to the Japanese home islands). May 11, 1945.
Item ViewKamikaze attacks on US ships, 1945
Japanese pilots used the tactic of Kamikaze (suicidal) dive-bombing attacks on enemy warships in 1944 and 1945. The "USS Nevada," despite an escort and efforts to fight off a Kamikaze attack, sustained such a hit in early 1945 off the coast of Japan. The "USS Ticonderoga," a carrier, also sustained such a hit in early 1945 off Formosa (Taiwan). The impact of Kamikaze attacks decreased during the final months of the war in the Pacific, in part because of an improvement in Allied evasion tactics.
Item ViewFighting in the Philippines
Japanese forces took the Philippine islands between December 1941 and May 1942. After US naval victory in the Battle of Midway (June 1942), Allied forces slowly gained naval and air supremacy in the Pacific war. In October 1944, US forces began the liberation of the Philippines. The campaign on Luzon, largest and most northern of the islands, began in December 1944. This battle footage shows many Japanese soldiers being taken as prisoners of war.
Item ViewJapanese surrender
World War II in the Pacific theater ended with the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay aboard the American battleship USS "Missouri." Foreign Minister Shigemitsu headed the Japanese delegation. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allies. Admiral Nimitz signed for the US and Admiral Fraser for Britain. Representatives of all the Allied nations attended the signing.
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