World War 2
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. It lasted 2 hours but was very devastating to everyone. They destroyed 20 American naval vessels, 8 enormous battleships, 200 airplanes, 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died, and 1,000 were wounded. General Hideki Tojo was Japan's Chief of Staff of the Army and Minister of War. He had a lot of power and abused it, making people think he was a dictator. He turned over his position of Minister of War to Umezu because the militaries started to turn against Japan. Dorie Miller is an American War Hero because he was the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross, Purple Heart Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He protected the Captain on the USS West Virginia but then was told to abandon ship when it started sinking. He died on the USS Liscome Bay in the Gilbert Island by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine.
Battle of Coral Sea
In May 1942 was the first air-sea battle in history. The Japanese were wanting control of the Coral Sea by invasion of Port Moresby in southeast New Guinea. Aircraft carrier planes of the American task force attacked the Japanese when they landed in the area. The Japanese did not have enough planes to attack Port Moresby so they did not win the battle. Admiral Chester Nimitz was the commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The U.S. code-breakers broke the Japanese navy's secret code, then they were able to figure out where Japan was going to attack. He sent out the USS Lexington and the USS Yorktown to the Coral Sea to stop the Japanese.
Italian Campaign
From July 10, 1943 to May 2, 1945 were series of allied beach landings and land battles from Sicily and Southern Italy up to Italian mainland toward Nazi Germany. Allied armies severed the German-Italian Axis in fierce fighting and threatened the southern flank of Germany. The Allied advanced through Italy and produced some of the most bitter, costly fighting of the war.