<p>US Marines during the final stage of the fight for Peleliu Island in the Pacific theater of war. September 14, 1944.</p>
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All Content Tagged 'Pacific theater'

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.
Photo
A US PT boat off the coast of New Guinea
Smoke billows out from US ships hit during the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.
Timeline Event
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Smoke billows out from US ships hit during the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.
Photo
Attack on Pearl Harbor
US Marines head for the front lines in the jungles of Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. 1943.
Photo
Fighting in the Pacific theater
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.
Film
Fighting in the Philippines
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.
Timeline Event
Japan Surrenders
Manzanar relocation center for Japanese Americans, photographed by Ansel Adams. Bird's-eye view of the grounds from the guard tower.
Article
Japanese American Relocation
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.
Film
Japanese surrender
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.
Film
Kamikaze attacks on US ships, 1945
Map
Pacific Basin, Japanese expansion
Media Essay
Pacific Theater
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Article
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Photo
Pearl Harbor
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.
Photo
Scene during the US invasion of Okinawa
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Article
The United States: Isolation-Intervention
World War II began with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and ended in Allied victory in Europe with the German surrender in May 1945. May 8 was proclaimed VE (Victory in Europe) Day. In this footage, United States president Harry S. Truman proclaims victory in Europe and promises to continue the war in the pacific until the unconditional surrender of Japan.
Film
Truman proclaims victory in Europe

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