Japan Advances

Japan attacked the American-controlled ___ the same day. American and ___ forces under the command of American ___ could not stop Japan's advance in the Philippines. MacArthur left the islands in March 1942, ___ to return.

Japan Advances

More than ___ American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese. The ___ soldiers were forced to march ___ miles up the Bataan Peninsula to ___ camps. Many prisoners were ___ and beaten by Japanese soldiers. More than ___ Americans and about ___ Filipinos died in the Bataan Death March.

Key Allied Victories

The Allies feared the Japanese might next attack India, Australia, or even the United States ___. Admiral ___ led the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Nimitz was determined to stop the Japanese advance, and he had an important advantage---the ability to crack ___ Japanese ___.

Key Allied Victories

American code ___ helped the Allies in two key naval battles in the ___. Nimitz learned that the Japanese were planning an attack on Port Moresby, ___, an island just north of ___. If the Japanese took New Guinea, they would have a ___ from which to invade Australia.

Key Allied Victories

In May 1942 Nimitz sent ___ forces to stop the Japanese fleet. American and Japanese aircraft ___ and fighter ___ clashed in the Battle of the ___. Neither side ___ a clear victory, but the Japanese assault on Port Moresby ___.

Key Allied Victories

Allied leaders then learned that the Japanese planned a surprise attack on ___. ___ was prepared. The ___ began on June 4, 1942, when Japan started bombing the islands. American aircraft carriers ___ their planes, catching the Japanese aircraft carriers while many of their planes were ___ on deck.

Key Allied Victories

American ___ bombers destroyed four of Japan's aircraft carriers, ___ weakening Japanese ___ power. "Pearl Harbor has now been partially avenged," said ___.

Key Allied Victories

The Allies then began the enormous and difficult task of recapturing territory from ___. In August 1942 American ___ invaded ___, one of the Solomon Islands northeast of of ___. Intense fighting raged for nearly ___ months.

Key Allied Victories

___ Louis Ortega remembered that enemy ___ and bullets were only part of the danger in the hot, rainy jungles of Guadalcanal. Soldiers also suffered from diseases, such as ___, and from ___ due to lack of supplies. American forces finally took control of the ___ in February 1943.

Battling toward Japan

Allied victories at ___ and ___ helped change the course of the war in the ___. The Allies now saw their chance to go on the ___, with the goal of reaching ___ itself.

Island Hopping

To fight their way toward Japan, Allied ___ planners developed a ___ called island hopping, where Allied forces took only the most strategically important islands, instead of each ___-held island. They could use each ___ island as a ___ for the next attack, while isolating the Japanese forces on the ___ islands.

Island Hopping

Island hopping proved to be a ___strategy, though very costly to ___. Japanese forces fortified key islands and fought ___ to hold on to them. In November 1943, U.S. ___ leapt off their boats, and waded toward Tarawa, one of the ___ Islands.

Island Hopping

Both sides sustained heavy ___ at Tarawa, but the Marines captured the island. The ___ won similar victories in the Marshall, Volcano, and ___ Islands.

Island Hopping

In October 1944 General MacArthur led a mission to retake the ___. The Japanese ___ confronted the Allies at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the ___ naval battle in history. The Allies crushed the Japanese ___, crippling Japan's naval power for the ___ of the war. It also gave the the Allies a base from which to attack the main shipping ___ that supplied Japan.

Island Hopping

Securing the ___ took many more months of ___. Allied forces and ___ guerrillas finally drove out or captured all of the ___ defenders by the summer of 1945.

Final Battles

With key islands close to Japan secured, Allied planes began ___ targets in Japan in November ___. American ___, able to carry 20,000 pounds of ___ each, led bombing raids on 60 ___ Japanese cities.

Final Battles

A March 1945 raid set Japan's capital city of ___ on fire, leaving 1 million people ___. Japanese ___ were destroyed, and food became so ___ that many people neared starvation. Still Japan ___ to surrender.

Final Battles

Two of the war's ___ battles occurred on Japan's outer islands early in 1945. In February U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of ___. Japanese defenders were dug into ___, with orders to fight to the ___. After the Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima, a month of ___ fighting followed.

Final Battles

Of the more than 20,000 Japanese ___ on Iwo Jima, about a ___ were taken prisoner---the rest were killed or ___ in battle. Around 6,800 ___ had died.

Final Battles

Beginning in April an even deadlier battle was fought for the island of ___. There an estimated ___ Japanese soldiers on the island when U.S. forces began their __.

In the waters near the island, Japanese planes struck U.S. ___ with the tactic of Kamikaze---purposely ___ piloted planes into ___ ships. In wave after wave, kamikaze pilots flew planes loaded with ___ straight down onto the decks of Allied ships.

Final Battles

By the time the island was secure, some ___ Allied troops were dead and 36,000 wounded. The Japanese losses were ___---some 110,000 troops and ___ civilians had been killed.

Final Battles

After their victories at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Allies were one ___ closer to final victory. ___ leaders began to plan for an all-out ___ on the ___ Japanese islands.