World war 2
...e US planes practicing drills. Seven giant battleships were in the harbor on that day: Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Nevada, California, and Arizona. Japanese planes launched torpedoes at Battleship Row, as it was called, and open fired with machine guns. The ships were left defenseless because the ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns was locked below deck. The Japanese also attacked Hickam Airfield. Overall, the attack on Pearl Harbor was successful, but two things troubled Yamamoto. First, he knew the Americans would fight back- “No one can defeat angry Americans.” Second, there were no aircraft carriers in the Harbor, so that meant that they were still intact and could be used. Also on December 7th, the leader of Great Britain, requested the United States’ help in the European Theater to fight against Italy and Germany. The next day, December 8th, 1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the US, declared war on Japan. He gave his famous “Date of Infamy” speech on this day also. A three-pronged attack would have to be carried out, and each part would have to be successful in order to defeat Germany and Italy in the European Theater. The main leader of the European Theater was Charles de Gaulle, who later became the leader of France. The first phase took place in 1943 when the Soviets created a force between Stalingrad and Leningrad, and pushed the Germans back into Germany. The second phase also took place in 1943. British and US troops landed in El Alamein, North Africa, and pushed German forces up though the “boot of Italy” and back into Germany from the south. This effort was led by Montgomery.The third, and most important, was the third phase, known as D-Day (Doomsday, Deutch Day). This attack really began on June 5th, 1944, when US bombers and gliders filled with British paratroopers passed over Caen, France. 120 pathfinders landed, lighting the way for the 900 planes and 13,000 paratroopers that followed. Only 40 of the pathfinders survived. The paratroopers captured important German guarded bridges and prisoners. Rommel (nicknamed “Desert Fox” for his victories in North Africa) a high ranking general, prepared for the attack and defended Germany by constructing the North Atlantic Wall. This was a concrete wall, from 2-8 feet high, along the coast of France. On top of the wall was barbed wire with razor blades attached. Behind the wall were concrete bunkers that stationed German soldiers with machine guns. Surrounding the wall and in the water were mines. It was an impassible defense. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a British general (who later became the president of the US) brought flat bottom ships to Normandy, France. The ships held tanks and soldiers, and were known as landing shore docks. The five beaches were code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The worst battle was known as “Bloody Omaha”, led by Colonel George Taylor, who said “there are two types of men on this beach, those who are dead and those who are going to die.” He ordered his men, one by one, to advance toward to wall into certain death. 25,000 American soldiers died at “Bloody Omaha.” In 1944, Douglas Macarthur recaptures the Philippines from the Japanese. Also in 1944, Americans move into Rome, and Soviets enter Hungry...