Pacific Theater WWII

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.

American soldiers ford one of Guadalcanal’s numerous streams in Action on the River by Dwight Shepler. In the Solomons, U.S. troops battled both a determined enemy in the Japanese and the harsh tropical climate of the South Pacific. Guadalcanal was the first offensive land operation undertaken by American forces in the Pacific Theater. The island was secured after seven months of fighting.

Pacific Theater

The Ill-Fated Goettge Patrol

By John Wukovits

The summer of 1942 had brought uplifting news for the United States in the Pacific Theater. After a numbing series of setbacks, including the December 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent fall of Guam and the Philippines, the nation’s Navy had husbanded its depleted forces and, with the crucial aid of naval intelligence, halted the Japanese in the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea and the June Battle of Midway. Read more

Admirals Chester W. Nimitz and Isoroku Yamamoto took great risks in committing their fleets to the Battle of Midway—but for different reasons.

Pacific Theater

Comparing Admiral Chester Nimitz and Isoroku Yamamoto

by Michael Haskew

“Japan cannot defeat America; therefore, Japan should not go to war with America.” Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, spoke those words to a group of school children as his government contemplated just that. Read more

A column of M3 Stuart light tanks moves toward the front line on Guadalcanal. The American tanks were versatile combat assets on the island, their 37mm cannon and machine guns providing mobile fire support.

Pacific Theater

Marine Stand on Guadalcanal

By David Alan Johnson

At about 2:30 on the morning of August 21, 1942, U.S. Marine units east of Henderson Field on the embattled island of Guadalcanal were awakened by several bursts of machinegun fire. Read more

Major Richard Bong was America’s Ace of Aces.

Pacific Theater

Richard Bong (1920-1945)

By Sam McGowan

Without 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 Miskimon

In 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

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