United States in World War II

Normandy.

Doolittle raid.

Hiroshima.

Bombing of Hiroshima: the scientists insisted upon a visual delivery of each bomb. At the time the photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atom. - NARA.

Six planes from 509th Composite Group, performed mission; one to carry the bomb "Enola Gay", one to take scientific measurements of the blast "The Great Artiste", the third to take photographs Necessary Evil". The other planes were an hour ahead to act as weather scouts, 08/06/1945. Bad weather disqualified one target. The primary target was Hiroshima, secondary was Kokura, and tertiary was Nagasaki.

Nagasaki Fat Man.

COMMANDERS

Major General James E. Chaney,

U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower

General Omar N. Bradley

American Generals

• American public supported the war effort by buying war bonds, enduring a few items rationed, such as nylons for women, sugar, sending care packages to the troops, and work in the factories.

Roosevelt and Generals

BATTLES

• Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
• Battle of Wake Island and Guam, December 8, 1941
• Battle of Bataan, Philippines and Corregidor, December 1941
• Jan.13, 1942 - Germans begin a U-boat offensive along east coast of USA.
• Doolittle Raid- April 18, 1942
• Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4 – 8, 1942
• Battle of Midway, June 3 - 7, 1942
• Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942
• Operation Torch - Invasion of North Africa, November 8, 1942
• Battle of Buna Mission, New Guinea,16 Nov, 1942 - 22 Jan, 1943.
• Battle of Attu, May 1943
• Guadalcanal Campaign, August 1942 - February 1943
• Operation Husky, invasion of Sicily, 9 July 1943
• Operation Baytown, the British invasion of Italy, 3 Sept 1943
• Operation Avalanche, Invasion at Salerno, 9 Sept 1943
• Battle of Tarawa, November 1943
• Bougainville Campaign, November 1943 – August 1945
• Battle of Cape Gloucester, December 1943 – April 1944
• Normandy Invasion (D-Day), June 6, 1944
• 1st, 2nd 3d Battles for Monte Cassino-- started on 22 Jan 1944 and last was 11 May 1944.
• Battle of Saipan, June – July 1944
• Battle of Noemfoor, July – August 1944
• Battle of Guam, July – August 1944
• Operation Dragoon - Invasion of Southern France, August 15, 1944
• Battle of Peleliu, September 15 – November 17, 1944
• Battle of the Philippine Sea, September – October 1944
• Battle of Morotai, September – October 1944
• Philippines Campaign, October 1944 – September 1945
• Battle of Iwo Jima, February – March 1945
• Battle of Okinawa, April – June 1945
• Operation Grapeshot - Spring offensive in Italy, April 6, 1945
• Hiroshima bombing by Enola Gay
• Nagasaki bombing

Wake Island

Iwo Jima.

• Guadalcanal: 7 August 1942 – 9 February 1943 - Was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. Initially Japanese troops arrived on Guadalcanal on June 8, 1942, to construct an air base. Few of the Allied forces, predominantly United States Marines, had ever heard of the Island. The men who took part in the six month battle to take and then to hold it, definitely never forgot it. The air base, renamed Henderson Field, was the home of the "Cactus Air Force" and helped the Allies secure air superiority. This long battle was arguably a turning point of the war in the Pacific as it marked the Allied transition from defensive operations to offensive operations. Twenty US servicemen were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on or around Guadalcanal.

• Oct 25-27, 1942 -Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, also known by Japanese sources as "Battle of South Pacific" occurred as a carrier and airplanes battle. It was fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy in the lengthy and Guadalcanal campaign sending airplanes from the carriers or any bases that were close enough. Other South Pacific battles were Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomons.

Guadalcanal.

Battle of the Santa Cruz Island.

Ships of the two were out of visual range of each other. Instead, almost all attacks by both sides were mounted by carrier and aircraft.

Japan made plans for the Imperial Japanese Army to carry out its battle In an attempt to drive Allied forces from Guadalcanal and nearby islands, blocking the supply routes of the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. September 1942, Japanese carriers, and warships moved into position near southern Solomon Islands. Oct. 20-25 the ground offensive began. The plan was to defeat any Allies by navy and air. The Allies were ready, and surprised the Japanese. The Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal began with the Battle for Henderson Field while the naval warships and aircraft from the two adversaries battled from sea and air, Oct. 26, 1942 near the Santa Cruz Islands. One carrier sunk and another badly damaged, Allied surface ships retreated from the area. Japanese ships and aircraft suffered also. It was a standoff for several days. The Japanese carrier forces, also had bad damage to 2 carriers. This along with other victories marked a transition for Allies to move from being on the defense to the the offense. Three major land battles, 7 naval and daily aerial battles led to the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal early November. The Japanese removed their forces by Feb. 7, 1943.!! ^[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign

REGIMENTS / DIVISIONS

• 1st Armored Division - North Africa Nov., 1942 to May, 1943. Italy - Oct., 1943 to end of war.
• 2nd Armored Division: North Africa from Nov., 1942 to May 1943. Sicily - July, 1943, part of liberation of France- June, 1944 to end of war.
• 3rd Armored Division, 4th Armored Division, 5th Armored Division, 6th Armored Division, 7th Armored Division, 8th Armored Division -NW Europe, June 1944 to end of war.
• 9th Armored Division, 10th Armored Division, 11th Armored Division, 12th Armored Division, 14th Armored Division: NW Europe Dec. 1944 to end of war.
• 13th Armored Division, : NW Europe, January 1945 to end of war.
• 14th Armored Divisio16th Armored Division, 20th Armored Division: NW Europe from October 1944 to end of war.
• 1st Cavalry Division: Pacific from Dec. 1943 to end of war.
• 2nd Cavalry Division: never engaged in combat. Constructed airfields in North Africa - 1944.
• 1st Infantry Division:- North Africa, Nov., 1942 to May 1943; Sicily, June 1943 to Aug., 1943, and NW Europe, June 1944 - end of war.
• 2nd Infantry Division, 4th Infantry Division, 5th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Division- NW Europe from June 1944 to end of war.
• 3rd Infantry Division: N. Africa, Nov., 1942, in Sicily, July 1943, in Italy Sept., 1943, and landed in S. France, Aug. 1944.
• L Company, 127th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Red Arrow Division, New Guinea Campaign, Pacific Theatre, Nov 16, 1942 - Jan, 1943.^[3]
• 6th Infantry Division: Pacific, January, 1944 to end of war.
• 7th Infantry Division: -Pacific from May 1943 to end of war.
• 9th Infantry Division: N. Africa in Nov., 1942, in Sicily, July 1943, in Italy, Sept., 1943, and NW Europe, June 1944 to end of war.
• 10th Infantry Division: Formed as the 10th Mountain Division - Italy, Feb 1945 to May 1945
• 11th Infantry Division: Formed as the 11th Airborne Division
• 12th Infantry Division: (Philippine Division)- surrendered at Bataan in 1942, reconstituted in 1944 - 1947
• 13th Infantry Division: Formed as the 13th Airborne Division
• 17th Infantry Division: Formed as the 17th Airborne Division
• 23rd Infantry Division, 25th, 24th, 27th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 47th Infantry Division - Pacific, October 1942 to end of war.
• 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 35th, 42nd, 44th Infantry Division: NW Europe from July 1944 to end of war.
• 34th Division -N Africa 1942-May 1943, 1943 to Italy-to end of war.
• 36th Infantry Division: - N. Africa, Nov., 1942 - May 1943, and Italy, Sept, 1943; sent to Southern France Aug, 1944.
• 37th, 38th, 40th, 41st Infantry Division: Pacific July 1943 to end of war.
• 43rd Infantry Division -New Guinea, Northern Solomons, Luzon. Oct 1942 to End of War.
• 45th Infantry Division: Sicily- July, August 1943, Italy through July 1944, and in NW Europe via S. France - Aug., 1944 to end of war
• 63rd, 65th, 66th, 100th Infantry Division: NW Europe , January 1945 to end of war
• 69th Infantry Division: Germany- 12 Feb. to 7 Sept. 1945.
• 70th Infantry Division: combat in Germany, 28 Dec., 1944 to end of war
• 71st Infantry Division: combat in Germany, 11 March, 1945 - deactivation, 1 March, 1946
• 75th Infantry Division: combat in Battle of the Bulge; active until 13 April 1945
• 77th, 81st Infantry Division: Pacific, 21 July 1944 to 15 March 1946
• 76th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 83rd, 84th, 94th,95th, 99th, 103rd, 104th, 106th Infantry Division,: NW and Central Europe, -27 June 1944 to 6 May 1945,
• 85th Infantry Division: Italy, 10 April, 1944 -2 May, 1945
• 86th Infantry Div.: Germany -24 March, 1945-Victory in Europe Day; Philippines, Aug., 1945
• 87th Infantry Division, 102nd Infantry Division, : Europe- 12 Nov., 1944 to end of war
• 88th Infantry Division: Italy, Dec. 1943 - 2 May 1945^[4]
• 89th Infantry Division: Central Europe -Jan., 1945 until Victory in Europe Day
• 90th Infantry Division: Europe -6 June 1944 to the end of the war
• 91st Infantry Division, Italy June 1944 to May 1945

91st & 92nd Infantry Division arrived piecemeal into combat. One regiment would go to the front before the entire division arrived.^[5]

• 92nd Buffalo Division: a segregated division- combat in Italy from 1944 to 1945
• 93rd Infantry Division: segregated division, - combat, S. Pacific from 1944 to end of war.
• 96th Infantry Division, : Pacific Theater from October 1944 to June 1945
• 97th Infantry Division: NW Europe-1945; Pacific Theater-1945 -March 1946—only one of two divisions to serve in these two theaters
• 98th Infantry Division: Pacific, and Occupation of Japan until its deactivation, Feb.1946.
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Marine Division

218,000 Americans are buried or memorialized overseas.

• Loyce Edward Deen

CHAPLAINS:

A torpedo from a German Uboat struck the USS Dorchester carrying US army troops on Feb 3, 1943. It was part if a naval convoy sailing to Greenland, it began sinking (Labrador Sea). Of 904 on board, 675 died. The 4 chaplains donated their life jackets to save others. They became known as the "Immortal Chaplains" Immortal Chaplains^[6]

• • Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist)
  • Lt. Alexander D. Goode (Jewish)
  • Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic)
  • Lt. Clark V. Poling (Reformed Church in America

• Army Chaplain Lawrence Lynch (Roman Catholic) was known as a member of New York’s “Fighting '’69th,” A fatally wounded soldier on Okinawa was near death 1945, Lynch served Communion and prayed for him under fire. He was killed in the process, apr 24, 1945. Lynch was the 21st Chaplain who died in the war.Later a Silver Star was awarded to him posthumously. He was the third Catholic chaplain to fall from enemy actions. ^[7][8]

Ships, Merchant Marines

• Space:James Sprunt Disaster