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Understanding Pearl Harbor and the Bombing of Japan

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Through this selection you will explore how life changed for both Americans and the Japanese during the Second World War. Remember to refer back to the main page for your assignment directions as often as needed.

Record your notes, responses, and anchor chart rough draft in your social studies notebook. Pearl Harbor - WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN... Pvt. Joseph McDonald, a switchboard operator at Ft. Shafter’s Information Center, was on duty the morning of December 7, 1941. It was McDonald who received the call from the Opana radar operators. Although McDonald died in 1994, he left notes about what happened shortly after 7 a.m. Pvt. Beginning at 6 p.m. The Information Center had a large table with a map of Hawaii. At 7 a.m. Shortly after 7 a.m. the switchboard buzzed. There are a large number of planes coming in from the north 3 points east. Joseph replied: I am not sure what to do. At that point the connection was broken. I just received a call from 6QN Opana reporting a large number of planes coming in from the north 3 points east. The Lieutenant said that there was nothing to get excited about. Lockard was excited and stated that a large number of planes were “heading fast” towards Oahau: Hey Mac, there is a heck of a big flight of planes coming in and the whole scope is covered.

McDonald told Lockard to hold on. Pvt. Pvt. Japanese Relocation - U.S. Government Film. The U.S. federal government ordered that Japanese-Americans, living in certain areas throughout the country, had to be relocated to internment camps during World War II. The government's "Office of War Information - Bureau of Motion Pictures" - produced this 1942 propaganda film which explains the rationale behind the law. It was narrated by Milton Eisenhower, the first director of the War Relocation Authority. Sickened by what was happening to Japanese-Americans, including the treatment of young children, Eisenhower resigned as Relocation director on the 17th of June, 1942. Appointed by President Roosevelt on March 18, he had lasted in his position just three months. Atomic Bomb - Explosion Over Nagasaki. Einstein's Letter - BOMBING OF NAGASAKI. This image appears at page 10 of The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaski, United States Strategic Bombing Survey (published, in 1946, by the U.S.

Government Printing Office, Washington, DC). The aerial photo depicts ground zero, at Nagasaki, as it appeared before the August 9, 1945 atomic-bomb strike. As Bock's Car approached the cloud-covered city of Nagasaki on the morning of August 9th, she was running low on fuel. Her crew had originally planned to drop the B-29's payload - a Plutonium 239 bomb dubbed "Fat Man" - on the Japanese city of Kokura. Bad visibility over the primary target caused Bock's Car’s crew to divert to Nagasaki.

Although the skies above Nagasaki had been fairly clear earlier in the morning, a front was moving in. "Fat Man" detonated at about 11:02 a.m. Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki and its people were devastated. Later that day, Major Charles Sweeney, Bock's Car’s pilot, observed: The shock explosion was felt by those of us in the strike plane. Surrender Of Japan ~Today the guns are silent ~ General Douglas MacArthur September 2 1945. Fire bombing raids on Japan. Fire bombing raids on Japan The fire raids on Japan started in 1945. The fire raids were ordered by General Curtis LeMay, who some see as the ‘Bomber Harris’ of the Pacific War, in response to the difficulty B-29 crews had in completing pinpoint strategic bombing over Japanese cities.

LeMay, therefore, decided that blanket bombing raids on cities to undermine the morale of civilians were an appropriate response. After the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 (referred to as “unprovoked and dastardly” by President Roosevelt), no-one was willing to speak out on behalf of the Japanese citizens. On November 1st, 1944, a B-29 Superfortress flew over Tokyo for the first time in what was a propaganda victory flight as opposed to anything else.

The B-29 was designed to carry a 2000 lb bomb load for a distance of 5000 miles. It was designed for long flights and the crew had pressurised compartments to give them a degree of comfort on these flights. The raid had a massive impact on Tokyo. Was it Wrong to Drop the Atom Bomb on Japan? From Dust to Dominance.