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.

Pacific Theater

Fatal Pride at Peleliu

By John McManus

Inside the shabby tent that served as his command post on Peleliu, a despondent Maj. Gen. William Rupertus sat on his bunk, slumped over with his head in his hands. Read more

Pacific Theater

Wake Island: Alamo in the Pacific

By Kelly Bell

It was already December 8, 1941, on Wake Island’s side of the international date line. The Americans on the tiny specks of land in the western Pacific Ocean roused themselves at 6 am. Read more

The bloody battle for Okinawa is displayed in graphic detail in this painting. In the last major land battle of the Pacific War, Okinawa was fiercely defended by the Japanese, who developed fortified defensive lines in the southern section of the island. Offshore, kamikaze aircraft assaulted U.S. naval vessels.

Pacific Theater

Final Conflict on Okinawa

By Dr. Carl H. Marcoux

Although neither side was aware of it at the time, the battle for Okinawa would be the last major battle of World War II. Read more

Pacific Theater

Tactical Thunder: The Ninth Air Force

By Sam McGowan

As the landing craft carrying the invading Allied ground forces of Operation Overlord motored toward the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, they were protected and supported by the largest aerial armada the world has ever seen. Read more

Pacific Theater

The Los Baños Raid

By Gene Eric Salecker

On January 9, 1945, after almost three years, General Douglas MacArthur and the United States Army returned to the Philippine island of Luzon, landing at Lingayen Gulf on the northwest coast. Read more

Pacific Theater

Medal of Honor Recipient: Henry “Red” Erwin

By Robert F. Dorr

In the closing months of World War II, Staff Sergeant Henry E. “Red” Erwin, Sr., picked up a burning phosphorus flare inside the cramped fuselage of his Boeing  B-29 Superfortress bomber high over Japan. Read more

Pacific Theater

Was Admiral Richmond K. Turner One of the Worst of WWII’s Leaders?

By Brad Reynolds

Historical controversy has famously surrounded Admiral Richmond K. Turner. In his responsibility as Director of the War Plans Division, he was to inform Admiral Kimmel, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, of Japanese diplomatic threats alluding to military retribution for souring political relations. Read more

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  • In his painting Suicide in Pairs, artist James Turnbull depicts a flaming Japanese kamikaze diving toward a stricken U.S. Navy transport vessel. Off Okinawa, the U.S. Navy endured the full fury of the desperate kamikaze attacks. (Naval Historical Foundation)

    WWII

    The USS Goodhue & A Torrent of Kamikazes at Okinawa
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  • A view of two Japanese defenders inside their bunker on Tarawa as U.S. Marines storm the island, November 19, 1943.

    WWII

    Tarawa Through Japanese Eyes
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