WWII+Research+and+Symposium+MSCW

Primary Source 1:

This primary source is a picture of a young Japanese American waiting for relocation, along with over 127 thousand others whose only crime was being Japanese. In the early spring of 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was skeptical of Japanese Americans helping Japan instead of America with war efforts. For this reason and added security, he signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This order forced all Japanese Americans to move out of their homes and into concentration camps in the interrior of the country. This was a crime against humanity and violated the laws of war comitted by the Allied Powers in World War II.

Primary Source 2:

"There was never any doubt that the bomb would be used,"

This is a quote from President Harry Truman, which he stated in his memoirs years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is admitting that the bombing was on purpose, and even though they knew it would be dangerous and harmful, they were set on the war crime of bombing Japan. He also stated, expressing his feelings towards Japan and trying to justify the reasoning behind the bombings, "When you deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast." Over 215,000 people were killed in total, 80,000 imediatley following the first blast, 55,000 after the second, then thousands more with complications from the the wounds and radiation.

Primary source 3:

"We shall destroy Germany's will to fight. Now that we have the planes and crews, in 1943 and 1944 we shall drop one and a quarter million tons of bombs, render 25 million Germans homeless, kill 900,000 and seriously injure one million."

This is quote was stated by Air Vice Marshall Harris at a meeting with Cheifs of Staff Comittee explaining their future plans for war air tactics. These air rades were of huge significance and have had a lasting influence on geopolitics for decades. At first, they were thought to be a form of sabatoge, but as they were used so frequently in war as tactiacl weapons, they ultimately determined the outcome of war. The United States and Great Britain joined forces to create the Combined Bomber offensive, and worked together against the Axis Powers, even though they had different approaches. The British used the security of darkness and area bombing, which had less accuracy with multiple bombs in a designated area, while the U.S. used precision bombing hitting specific targets during the day. Throughout the war, there were hundreds of these cruel air attacks, killing millions of people, as they were intended to.

Facts:

1. The Battle of Okinawa, on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, was one of the largest land and water battles of World War II. It lasted 82 days and killed tens of thousands of American and Japanese people, accomponied by the thousands wounded and people who committed suicide.

2. Okinawan historians have estimated that there were over 17,000 rapes of Okinawan women during the Battle of Okinawa by American soldiers. In the village of Katsuyama, reported by //The New York Times// in 2000, civillians created a group to kill and ambush American black soldiers who admitted guilty to frequently raping the local girls.

3. On April 18th, 1942, the Doolittle Raid bombed Tokyo. This attack was Americas retalliation against the Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbor and did no damage to Japan's capability of war, but boosted America's credability significantly. Thirteen thousand died and 160,000 were injured by the 16 bombers.

4.Firebombing cut Tokyos industries outputs in half due to the deaths of workers and destruction of factories.

5. There were no firebombings in Hiroshima, however, the threat was still present. This prompted officials to appoint students of 11-14 years of age to demolish houses and create firebreaks in their place. These firebreaks were gaps in flammable materials, such as vegitation, to prevent the spreading of fires if under an attack.

6. Hiroshima was the first atomic bomb America ever dropped, and was nicknamed Little Boy. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the second was dropped, nicknamed Fat Man, on Nagasaki.

7. The internment camps, which held the Japanese Americans in the interior of the country after Executive Order 9066 was enforced, were the cause of death to some of their inhabitants. The camp's main goal was not to kill, but the poor conditions caused life threatening complications.

8. When the Japanese Americans were forced into the internment camps, they had to either sell their property and belongings, put them in storage, or abandondon them all together. This ultimitley ended in large sums of casualties.

9. From February 19 to March 26, 1945, American soldiers fought the Japanese empire for the island of Iwo Jima, in the Battle of Iwo Jima, also reffered to as Operation Detatchment.

10. After the Battle of Iwo Jima, 21,844 of the 22,060 Japanese soldiers were dead from combat or ritual suicides.