United States In World War Ii

The United States hoped to stay out of the escalating war in Europe. Drawing on its experience from World War I, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1939, which were intended to prevent Americans becoming entangled in European conflicts. Americans in general, however, while not wanting to fight the war, were definitely not neutral in their sympathies and the acts were overlooked, to the frustration of genuine isolationists, to lend more support to the Allies than the Axis.

America's neutrality ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian naval base where much of the US Pacific Fleet was moored. In a two-hour attack, Japanese warplanes sank or damaged 18 warships and destroyed 164 aircraft. Over US 2,400 servicemen and civilians lost their lives.

The Road to War[edit]

North African Theater[edit]

European Theater[edit]

The Allied Forces landed in Sicily in July 1943 in Operation Husky that toppled the Italian Fascist Regime from power. US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Commander-in-Chief of the operation. He wrote: "The successful conclusion of these operations will not only strike closer to the heart of the Axis, but also will remove the last threat to the free sea lanes of the Mediterranean."Allied commanders still had a great respect for the Italian Navy.^[1][2]

On June 6, 1944, 156,000 Allied soldiers embarked on the long-awaited invasion of occupied Europe, Operation Overlord. This was an Allied effort, but American fighting men bore the brunt of the combat and the resulting casualties.

The Allied landings rested squarely on the shoulders of General Eisenhower, the supreme allied commander. The weather was bad; the chance of failure real; the logistics of coordinating the largest amphibious invasion in history challenging. The initial target date was June 5. but faced with terrible weather, Eisenhower ordered a postponement – not an easy feat to accomplish with a million men, 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft restless and ready to hit the beaches. When the weather showed no sign of improving on June 6, Eisenhower summoned up his own personal courage and made the decision to invade nonetheless.

The invasion forces began landing in Normandy at about 6:30 a.m. on June 6 along a 50-mile sweep of rocky beaches. British troops spearheaded operations against sectors codenamed Gold, Juno and Sword, while Americans attacked Utah and Omaha beaches. The fight for Omaha was the most costly. There, the soldiers of the US 1st Infantry Division teamed with the US 29th Infantry Division and two battalions of rangers for the assault.

The price for Operation Overlord on June 6, was 4,413 Allied dead, of whom 2,499 were Americans.

Nevertheless, the D-Day invasion were successful and within a week of the June 6 landings, the Normandy beachheads were secure and more than 325,000 troops and 100,000 tons of equipment and supplies were ready to race across France, eventually liberating Paris on August 25.

The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive in World War II. A few battle-weary or inexperienced US divisions, assigned to what was supposed to be a quiet sector in the Ardennes front in Belgium, were attacked by 30 German infantry and panzer divisions with 600 tanks in a massive surprise offensive. 6,000 soldiers of the encircled US 106th Infantry Division fell into German hands.

The fallen Americans of the fighting in western Europe were buried in the Normandy American Cemetery on the bluffs overlooking Omaha Beach. The first military burials there were made on June 8, and eventually more than 9,300 Americans were buried there.

Pacific Theater[edit]

Launched on April 1, 1945, the American. assault on Okinawa’s main island was one of the largest operations ever undertaken by the US military. For the actual invasion, America had gathered together 300 warships and 1,139 support ships.

There were over 130,000 Japanese troops on the island with more than 450,000 civilians. The Japanese troops on the island were commanded by Lieutenant-General Ushijima who had been ordered to defend the islands at all costs.

The Americans land forces commander was Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner. He had 180,000 men under his command. The bay selected for the American landings was Hagushi Bay on the western side of the island. As with Iwo Jima, the Japanese defenders were subjected to a period of intense bombardment but American warships were also open to attack from Japanese fighters flying out from Japan itself.

The first landing of US Marines did take place on April 1st. They met little opposition and by the end of the day 60,000 American military personnel had landed at Hagushi Bay. By April 20th, all Japanese resistance in the north of the island had been eradicated except for some guerrilla activity.

The real battle for Okinawa was in the south of the island. On April 4th the US 14th Corps (7th, 27th, 77th and 96th infantry Divisions) ran into the Machinato Line. This brought to a halt the advance of the Americans in the south of Okinawa. The Machinato Line was finally breached on April 24th. However, it then had to confront the Shuri Line which further slowed the American advance. Together with the success of the Japanese pilots who had sunk 21 American warships and badly damaged 66 other warships, American forces experienced crippling losses.

On May 3rd, Ushijima ordered a counter-attack but this failed. By May 21st, Ushijima ordered his men to pull back from the Shuri Line. However, the solid resistance by the Japanese continued. It was only in June that it became obvious that the Japanese had lost the fight for Okinawa. On July 2nd, Okinawa was finally declared secure by the Americans – Ushijima had committed suicide some days before.

The attack on Okinawa had taken a heavy toll on both sides. The Americans lost 7,373 men killed and 32,056 wounded on land. At sea, the Americans lost another 5,000 killed and 4,600 wounded. The Americans also lost 36 ships and 368 ships were also damaged. 763 US aircraft were destroyed.

The Japanese lost 107,000 killed and 7,400 men taken prisoner. The Japanese also lost 16 ships sunk and over 4,000 aircraft

Aftermath[edit]

World War II brought an end to the Depression in America. Industries had been revived for the production of arms and resources to equip the US war effort. US industrial might helped shorten the war. In 1943 alone, American steel plants and shipyards built 1,949 ships and 68,600 aircraft. On the beaches of Normandy came thousands of the landing craft and tens of thousands of the tanks, jeeps and trucks churned out by American factories and often produced by American women manning the assembly lines of the home front. American scientists also made it possible to produce large quantities of penicillin to fight a wide range of diseases, as well as DDT to fight malaria.

Notes[edit]