Pacific Theater
The USS Houston and the Battle of Sunda Strait
By A.B. FeuerThe heavy cruiser USS Houston ventured into the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java on the dark night of February 28, 1942, and was never heard from again. Read more
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Theater during World War II is generally regarded as the area of military confrontation between the Allied powers and Imperial Japan. The Pacific Theater consists of the entire operational expanse of the war from the Aleutian Islands in the north to Australia in the south, including island chains such as the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas. The China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater is also considered a major component of the Pacific Theater.
Pacific Theater
Desmond Doss: The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge
By Nicholas Varangis“One of the greatest heroes in American history never fired a bullet.” That is the tagline of Director Mel Gibson’s 2016 film, Hacksaw Ridge. Read more
Pacific Theater
A Newspaper Headline Nearly Exposed the U.S. Navy’s Codebreaking Success Against Japan
By Colonel James W. Hammond, Jr.Stanley Johnston, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune accredited to the Navy as a correspondent, had made two forays into the South Pacific aboard the aircraft carrier Lexington. Read more
Pacific Theater
Torpedo Squadron 8: Their Heroic Flight at the Battle of Midway
By John DomagalskiThe pilots of Bombing Squadron 6 could not believe what they were seeing on the morning of June 4, 1942. Read more
Pacific Theater
Richard Bong (1920-1945)
By Sam McGowanWithout dispute, the P-38 was the airplane of the aces. While other fighter types had their share of aces, the P-38 was flown by most of the top scorers, of whom Major Richard Ira Bong was at the top of the heap. Read more
Pacific Theater
The M2 4.2-Inch Chemical Mortar
By Christopher MiskimonIn the last days of March 1945, a soldier named Carl Getzel sat on a hill outside the city of Aschaffenburg and watched as it was slowly destroyed. Read more
Pacific Theater
How the Men of the USS West Virginia Died During Pearl Harbor
By Don HainesWhen Nathan and Jane Olds of Stanton, ND; Ralph and Vera Endicott of Aberdeen, Wash.; and Effie Costin of Henryville, Ind., Read more
Pacific Theater
Donald R. Lobaugh: From Delinquent to Medal of Honor Recipient
By Richard A. BerantyDonald R. Lobaugh was a juvenile delinquent, a kid sent to reform school when he was 16 years old. Read more
Pacific Theater
The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair: Whistling Death in the South Pacific
by Sam McGowanThanks to the rather far-fetched mid-1970s TV series Black Sheep Squadron, the bent-wing image of the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair is no doubt one of the most vivid of the World War II fighters in the minds of most Americans. Read more
Pacific Theater
Famous Navy Ships: The Triumph of the USS Batfish
By Robert Barr SmithShe was a sleek, efficient, deadly killer, a home to six officers and 60 enlisted men, and a holy terror to the enemy. Read more
Pacific Theater
Kamikazes Caught on the Ground: Raid on Clark Field
By Robert F. McEniry, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.)General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander Southwest Pacific Area, kept his promise to return to the Philippine Islands when his Sixth Army under the command of Lt. Read more
Pacific Theater
Hiro Onoda’s Surrender: Fighting World War II Until 1974
By Glenn BarnettThe Japanese empire was a fine place for young Hiro Onoda. In 1939, at age 17, he hired on with a lacquerware company that posted him to Hankow (Wuhan) in Japanese-occupied China. Read more
Pacific Theater
The USS Goodhue & A Torrent of Kamikazes at Okinawa
By Duane E. ShafferMore than 60 years ago, in April 1945, the war in Europe was winding down to its inevitable conclusion. Read more
Pacific Theater
Bloody Tarawa: Betio’s Lagoon
By John WukovitsColonel Merritt A. Edson, the 2nd Marine Division’s chief of staff, and Colonel David M. Shoup designed a simple plan to seize Betio—land along its northern beaches, drive straight across the narrow island, and kill the defenders. Read more
Pacific Theater
Terrible Tide at Tarawa: Interview with Stan Bowen
By John WukovitsStan Bowen spent the entire war in the U.S. Navy as a pharmacist’s mate, first in the operation at Tarawa, then Saipan and Tinian. Read more
Pacific Theater
The Azimuth “Smart” Bombs of World War II
By Joseph Frantiska, Jr.As soon as one caveman threw a rock in anger at another, the human race took a giant step forward in warfare. Read more
Pacific Theater
First Strike Against Japanese Industry
By Phil ScearceConsolidated B-24 Liberator bomber crews of the U.S. 11th Bombardment Group spent the first three months of 1943 organizing on Hawaiian airfields and flying practice and patrol missions around the islands. Read more
Pacific Theater
“This is the Army”: Irving Berlin’s War
By Sheldon WinklerThe most successful and popular patriotic show of World War II and one of the most unique productions in the history of entertainment was Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army, which originally began as a Broadway musical. Read more
Pacific Theater
MacArthur’s Occupation of Japan: Lessons on Counterinsurgency
By Lieutenant Colonel Michael F. TrivetAs the months of 1945 passed at an agonizingly slow pace, Allied forces in the Pacific struggled unwaveringly toward Japan. Read more
Pacific Theater
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto: Japan’s Naval War Leader
By Michael D. HullBrave, urbane, and complex, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was Japan’s greatest naval strategist and the architect of one of the most stunning achievements in the history of modern warfare. Read more
