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Pearl Harbor: Minute by Minute chronicles the shocking events of December 7, 1941, as Japanese forces attack the U.S. naval base. Experience the devastation, heroism, and chaos in real time, detailing the pivotal moments that shaped history forever.
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00:00We have witnessed this morning the District 2
00:20I was up in the compartment reading a comic book, and that's when I realized we were under attack.
00:43Buddy, this is the real McCoy. It's the goddamn Chaps.
00:47The unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan, a state of war, has existed.
00:59Can you envision a million pounds of TNT blowing up?
01:04Now you see the pilot and the co-pilot, and they were laughing for all they were worth.
01:09It was horrifying.
01:175 a.m., Sunday, 7th December, 1941.
01:29Pearl Harbor, Hawaii lay still and quiet.
01:34The mighty warships of America's Pacific Fleet were anchored in battleship Row.
01:40At that time, the Navy, the personnel thought the battleships were the greatest thing going.
01:49Nothing could defeat them.
01:52Oklahoma was outboard. The Tennessee was inboard. The West Virginia was outboard.
01:58And right behind us was the Arizona, and then right behind the Arizona was the Nevada.
02:08There were two battleships, then two battleships, then two battleships, all sitting there like sitting ducks.
02:14On air bases, aircraft were tightly grouped to guard against potential sabotage from Japanese sympathizers on the island.
02:27Unbeknownst to those at Pearl Harbor, 230 miles to the north, Japanese forces aboard the carrier Akagi were preparing for an attack.
02:35As dawn approached, the first wave of 180 aircraft took flight.
02:49The fate of Pearl Harbor was sealed.
02:51At 6.30 a.m., Navy sailors aboard the anchored warships at Pearl Harbor began their routine, waking up to what seemed like an ordinary Sunday.
03:10Unaware of the catastrophe about to unfold, these men went about their duties,
03:14oblivious that in mere minutes they would face one of the most devastating and historic battles in American naval history.
03:29Fifteen minutes later, signs began to emerge that this would be no ordinary day.
03:35One of the Advanced Guard Japanese submarines had just been spotted.
03:38The USS Ward had been patrolling outside of the harbor when it saw a periscope above the water.
03:45The ship attacked the unidentified submarine and sent back notification of the incident to the mainland.
03:52His message when I broke it down said sunk enemy submarine one mile south of Pearl Harbor.
04:00Well, our communications officer, when he looked at that, he was aghast. He was certain they didn't mean sunk a submarine, they maybe meant sighted it.
04:15This vital early warning was neglected.
04:18Had the message been relayed properly, aircraft and battleships could have been prepared in advance,
04:23and the U.S. Navy could have diverted the catastrophe which would soon unfold.
04:27By 7 a.m., the first wave of Japanese aircraft was approximately 130 miles away from Pearl Harbor.
04:40The commander of the strike force used music from an Hawaiian radio station to home in on the target.
04:58However, by this time American forces on the ground had spotted the Japanese attackers.
05:04One of the men at an army radar post noticed some blips on his radar and alerted military HQ.
05:14This was the American's final chance to avert disaster, but unfortunately the intelligence was not taken seriously.
05:20At 7.20 a.m., an army lieutenant disregarded the radar report, believing that it indicated a flight of U.S. planes, possibly B-17 bombers, scheduled to arrive that day.
05:32They told them not to worry about it because it was a flight of B-17s coming in from California.
05:41Well, when you're approaching Oahu from California, you don't come from the north, you come from the east.
05:497.40 a.m., the first wave of Japanese aircraft reaches the island of Oahu.
05:56The quiet morning was shattered by the roar of planes and a rush of fear and panic spread across the naval base.
06:02Out of the misty Pacific skies, like tiny locusts, they swarmed in from the sea.
06:18From the south.
06:27From the southeast.
06:33From the north.
06:37Without knowing it, a reluctant U.S. would soon be plunged into World War II, forever altering the course of history.
06:44Until December 1941, America is adopting this very kind of tricky policy of staying out the war,
06:51because domestically a lot of Americans don't want to be sucked into a conflict.
06:55They don't think it's got anything to do with them.
06:56And at the same time, the American president, Roosevelt, is keen to help the allies fight,
07:05and by supplying supplies across the Atlantic, and also supplying battleships.
07:11So there is a very fine line the Americans are having to tread.
07:15If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, and Asia, and Africa, and Australasia, and the high seas.
07:30And they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere.
07:39Thinking in terms of today and tomorrow, I make the direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war
07:54if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in the defeat of those nations.
08:09That is all going to change in December 1941, when suddenly, out the middle of nowhere, seemingly, the Hawaiian port of Pearl Harbor is suddenly attacked by the Japanese.
08:21At 7.49 a.m., the First Waves commander ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor to proceed.
08:42I was in bed with a beautiful blonde, my wife.
08:50That's what I was doing on December the 7th.
08:53All of a sudden, I heard a commotion.
08:57By now, my gut had just turned up to a little ball of lead.
09:04Six minutes later, the coordinated attack on Pearl Harbor began.
09:07The Japanese dropped bombs, torpedoes, and fired mercilessly at the Pacific fleet and aircraft bases.
09:16About that time, I began to hear our guns fire.
09:20And I mean, they would really fire fast.
09:23And they had a lot of guns and more ammunition we could have shot in a thousand years.
09:28Dive bombers attacked American air bases across Oahu, starting with Hickam Field, the largest, and Wheeler Field, the main United States Army Air Force's fighter base.
09:47The men on the air bases tried desperately to fight back, but the close grouping of the planes made them easy targets for the Japanese bombers.
10:08Over at Pearl Harbor, around 15 miles away to the west, the Japanese aircraft had America's Pacific fleet in their sights.
10:17On the morning of the 7th, that was my third anniversary in the Navy, and I was sitting in my bunk reading the paper when they sounded General Quarters.
10:30The thoughts went through people's head.
10:34What in the world is going on now?
10:36Why are they doing a drill on Sunday morning?
10:38And they said it in a different manner, you know.
10:41They got a little hot-tempered.
10:43When it all started, we kept hearing some thud noises and explosions, but they were deep-sounding.
10:51They got louder.
10:53And I got up.
10:55I told Buddy, I said, let's go out there and see what's going on.
10:58I said, that sounded big.
10:59And looked up there and saw those planes screaming around.
11:05And we saw the big red dock.
11:08Well, that's when we realized it was Japanese.
11:21An emergency message was flashed out.
11:24Air raid Pearl Harbor.
11:25This is not a drill.
11:30Unprepared for the attack, the warships had only a minimal power supply.
11:34Ammunition from the stores had to be brought up manually by crew.
11:39The odds were not in the US's favor.
11:42And the Japanese had total domination of the sky.
11:46As I was going up the ladder, a plane came flying right down the port side of the ship.
11:52And I could see the pilot and the co-pilot and they were laughing for all they were worth.
11:57The Americans believed that the water was too shallow for a torpedo attack.
12:02But the Japanese had created a brand new kind of torpedo, specifically designed for the waters of Pearl Harbor.
12:08And it had a devastating effect.
12:12By 8am, the USS West Virginia had been hit.
12:16The West Virginia was torn apart by six torpedoes and two bombs.
12:20Chaos and confusion soon ensued.
12:23The attack on battleship Roe moved at a sudden pace.
12:27Within the first five minutes of the attack, four battleships were hit, including the USS Oklahoma and the USS Arizona.
12:36Minutes later, the Arizona exploded after a bomb hit its gunpowder stores.
12:45The ship was sunk and it took the lives of 1,177.
12:51It was horrifying because as the bomb hit the starboard side of the foc'sle deck, it was just a gigantic explosion.
13:10Can you envision a million pounds of TNT blowing up?
13:17You had burning oil all over the top of the water and you had black smoke and then you had fire in the ship.
13:29And so those young kids were trying to jump into the burning water from the mast.
13:34Some of them made it, some of them didn't.
13:37By 8.10am, the USS Arizona was in bits.
13:49The Japanese had swiftly pulverized battleship Roe.
13:52The USS Oklahoma, containing 1,000 men, was experiencing a horrifying fate.
13:58The Japanese had fired three torpedoes, causing the ship to turn over.
14:04Water started to spill through into the interior.
14:07And I looked around and there was a big whale.
14:12I didn't, what on earth is that? That's the Oklahoma.
14:16The Oklahoma had capsized and we didn't even know it.
14:18And it was right so close I could have hit it with a ball.
14:21I felt like somebody kicked me in the stomach or the boot or something.
14:25Because that's the worst I ever felt in the whole war.
14:28To see the Oklahoma, you just don't kill a battleship.
14:31They're impregnable. Tough.
14:34The Oklahoma's hull had been torn apart and the crew desperately tried to stop the water pouring in.
14:40We took these clothes and the blankets and stuffed them in the vent system to try to stop the water from coming in.
14:50But we'd plug it up in one place in the vent, then it'd start coming in somewhere else.
14:57More than 30 soldiers were trapped inside the battleship, fighting for their lives.
15:03Meanwhile, Kanyohe Naval Air Station was also in flames.
15:13But the sailors stationed there attempted to fight back against the Japanese bombardment.
15:19I was angry so damn mad that I didn't have a sense enough to be afraid.
15:26Of course, during this time, I was being wounded.
15:30Because the Japs, they ain't joking. They were there to kill us.
15:34The first wave of attacks was ending.
15:37However, one Japanese pilot made a final daring run on the base.
15:41I saw a speck way up there.
15:44And boy, he was coming like hell.
15:47And he came boiling out of that smoke.
15:49I didn't have to move that gun.
15:51I just swung it around and I let him have it.
15:56The air station lay in complete devastation.
16:00Charred wreckage of airplanes and shattered propellers were strewn across the landscape, mingled with lifeless bodies.
16:08The American troops felt a crushing sense of defeat.
16:13I know some of them cried.
16:16Some of them were angry.
16:18Some of them just couldn't understand.
16:21And none of us really understood why we were hit at that time.
16:29The surprise attack had taken a massive toll.
16:32At 8.54 a.m., the second wave of 170 aircraft began their attack.
16:48They were separated into three groups, focusing in on mostly the same targets.
16:58But with the base now on high alert, their plan was less successful.
17:06At the air base and the ships, the Japanese faced a barrage of fire.
17:22Resistance was better coordinated.
17:25The sky was very full of planes plus exploding shells.
17:31At times, it was just like a flock of birds.
17:34Having devastated battleship Roe over the last hour,
17:37Japanese pilots set their sights on the warships moored in the dockyards.
17:41There were three airplanes coming down in the dive on us.
17:49And these three planes dropped their bombs.
17:51And I saw them coming and I started screaming and strattling.
17:54I said, they're gonna get us.
17:55They're gonna get us this time.
17:58The USS Casson and USS Downes, both destroyers,
18:02were heavily damaged during the second attack.
18:04Stationed in dry dock number one alongside the battleship USS Pennsylvania,
18:09they were hit by bombs and engulfed in fires from ruptured fuel tanks.
18:19At 9.30am, the Japanese also set their sights on the USS Shaw,
18:24dropping several bombs on the ship.
18:27The spectacular explosion of her forward magazine
18:30provided one of the most iconic photographs of the attack.
18:34While the Shaw burned, another warship, the Nevada, made a break for open water.
18:43As we moved down the channel, the second wave of planes came over,
18:48and we were hit by five to seven bombs and many, many near misses.
18:55The explosions, we could feel them, and we just were holding our breath,
19:01hoping that all went well up there.
19:06Bombs hit the forward and midsection of the ship.
19:09If the crippled Nevada sank, it would block the escape route to the sea.
19:13The rest of the ships in Pearl Harbor would be like sitting ducks.
19:16The Nevada eventually beached on Hospital Point, escaping the inferno and keeping the vital channel clear.
19:25At 10am on the 7th of December 1941, the Japanese strike force decided to withdraw,
19:41leaving behind a devastated Pearl Harbor.
19:50Concerned about potential American counterattacks and the risk of exposing their fleet to greater danger,
19:55Admiral Nagumo ordered the retreat.
19:58Though the attack was highly successful, key targets like oil storage facilities and shipyards remained intact,
20:04which later proved crucial to the U.S. recovery.
20:08Within two hours, 21 American warships had been sunk or damaged, 188 aircraft destroyed,
20:18and 2,403 U.S. servicemen and women killed.
20:24Many of the ships were repaired and fought in later battles,
20:29and crucially from the point of view of the United States,
20:34all three of the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor at the time.
20:41And so they escaped damage.
20:43And this was to prove vital during the later stages of the Pacific War.
20:48The reason why it was so symbolic and so successful was that America had never been attacked like that on their home shores,
21:00especially in the modern era.
21:01And it was proof that the Japanese were this highly mechanized force and utterly ruthless who would commit an act like this of,
21:08I mean, you could almost call it terror, of absolute audacity and absolute violence.
21:14It was a war, which had both a very strong military and naval purpose,
21:18but also, of course, it basically saw the Americans who had spent the last couple of years
21:23being relatively complacent about the war, about a lot of people thinking,
21:27this doesn't bother us, this isn't something that's going to impinge on our backyard,
21:31to realizing that the war was at hand whether they liked it or not.
21:35During the attack on Pearl Harbor, 68 civilians tragically lost their lives,
21:40with the bulk of the casualties being military personnel.
21:43A total of 2,335 service members were killed, bringing the overall death toll to 2,403.
21:51Many civilian deaths were caused by stray anti-aircraft shells that fell on Honolulu
21:56as defenders desperately fired at the incoming Japanese planes.
22:00Millions of Americans awoke on the morning of the 7th of December, 1941,
22:07to the horrifying news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
22:11The devastating aftermath of the damage sent shockwaves across the country.
22:16Hello, NBC. Hello, NBC. This is KJU in Honolulu, Hawaii.
22:23I am speaking from the roof of the Advertiser Publishing Company building.
22:30We have witnessed this morning a distant view, a great battle off Pearl Harbor,
22:38and a severe bombing off Pearl Harbor by enemy planes, undoubtedly Japanese.
22:45The city of Honolulu has also been attacked, and considerable damage done.
22:52This battle has been going on for nearly three hours.
22:57It is no joke. It is a real war.
23:02The scale of the tragedy began to unravel, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt took swift and decisive action.
23:09On 8th December, 1941, the very next day, he addressed a joint session of Congress, delivering his famous Day of Infamy speech,
23:18a show of strength which would go down in American history.
23:22Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
23:39The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
23:50The United States was at peace with that nation, and at the solicitation of Japan,
23:57was still in conversation with its government and its emperor, looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
24:11The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves, with confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people.
24:30I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941,
24:52a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
25:04The United States of America
25:05The United States of America
25:07The United States of America
25:09Pearl Harbor at Hickam Field
25:30in the bomb-pocked streets of Honolulu
25:32ever is written history.
25:34History with a tragic, treacherous pen.
25:36History that 130 million Americans
25:38will never forget.
25:40And in days to come,
25:41the Japs, too, will remember Pearl Harbor.
25:45Here is a tragic, unforgettable page
25:47in the annals of America.
25:49Here the cunning deceit of the Japs
25:50will never be forgotten.
25:52Here they hope to score a knockout
25:54before the war began.
25:56The Arizona's gun crews
25:57battered and broken fire to the last.
26:00Their guns pointed skyward
26:01from whence the enemy appeared.
26:03Pearl Harbor was the worst defeat
26:08the United States had ever had.
26:12And that dug right deep into every one of them.
26:16This cannot happen.
26:17Why did it happen?
26:19And they all responded in such a strong way.
26:21I guess I really did know that we would win
26:27because when you attack a bunch of Marines
26:30and sailors, you're in trouble.
26:33We may lose the battle,
26:39but we're going to win the war.
26:42The attack on Pearl Harbor
26:44had shattered the peace,
26:45igniting a fiery resolve across the nation.
26:51As smoke still billowed over the wreckage,
26:54the U.S. transformed overnight,
26:56gearing up for war on an unprecedented scale.
26:58Factories roared to life,
27:01soldiers rallied,
27:02and the country united under a singular purpose,
27:05to strike back with relentless force.
27:10We are going to win this war,
27:13and we are going to win
27:15the peace that follows.
27:18I repeat that the United States
27:20can accept no result,
27:22save victory, final, and complete.
27:26Franklin D. Roosevelt
27:29led the United States
27:30into war in the Pacific
27:31with strong backing
27:32from both the Soviet Union and Britain.
27:36We cannot tell
27:38what the course of this fell war will be,
27:43and it spreads remorseless
27:45to ever wider region.
27:47Though the Soviet Union
27:57was primarily focused
27:58on the European front
27:59against Nazi Germany,
28:01Stalin supported U.S. efforts
28:03against Japan,
28:04particularly after the U.S.
28:05joined the Allies.
28:08Winston Churchill and Britain,
28:10already deeply involved in the war,
28:12were key partners.
28:13with both nations
28:15coordinating strategies
28:17for a two-front war.
28:26In response to the surprise attack,
28:29FDR swiftly mobilized
28:30the military, air force, and navy,
28:32with the first waves
28:33of American forces
28:34being deployed
28:35to key Pacific locations,
28:37such as Hawaii, the Philippines,
28:39and other islands soon after.
28:40The Japanese military
28:42fortified its positions
28:44across island strongholds
28:45by reinforcing defences
28:47and stockpiling resources,
28:49fully aware of the impending clash
28:50with the U.S.
28:59Elsewhere, in the West,
29:01most of Europe
29:02was under Axis control.
29:06Adolf Hitler had launched
29:07a massive invasion
29:08of the Soviet Union.
29:10But the spread of his forces
29:22did not deter him
29:23from also declaring war
29:25on the United States
29:26on the 11th of December, 1941.
29:31It's one of Hitler's
29:32most perplexing decisions
29:34as to why he decided
29:35to declare war
29:36on the United States.
29:37But actually,
29:39his reason for doing it
29:40is because he thinks
29:41finally this is an opportunity
29:43to show that he really
29:44wants to rid the world
29:45of what he sees
29:47as being the evils
29:48of international finance
29:49and Jewish control
29:51of economies.
29:52Of course,
29:53he's dead wrong about that.
29:59He's also in a pact
30:01with Japan,
30:01and so he feels
30:02that Japan's
30:03a natural ally.
30:04And so this is why,
30:05you know,
30:05war breaks out.
30:06It's Hitler saber-rattling.
30:08He doesn't know
30:09what it's going to lead to.
30:13With Hitler's declaration,
30:15the U.S.
30:15found itself engaged
30:16in a two-front war.
30:18The attack on Pearl Harbor
30:19had thrust millions
30:20of American citizens
30:21directly into the heart
30:23of the conflict.
30:24It's one thing
30:25just to say
30:25we're declaring war,
30:27but also logistically,
30:28this is a really tricky ask
30:30for the Americans,
30:31if you like.
30:31They've got to fight
30:32a war in Europe,
30:34and they've also got
30:35to fight a war
30:35around the other side
30:37of the planet,
30:38all over the Pacific.
30:40This is going to require
30:41all of America's
30:42industrial might
30:44and know-how
30:45if they can fight a war
30:46both in Europe
30:47and the Pacific.
30:48Never in the history
30:52or the memory of man
30:54has there been a war
30:55in which the courage,
30:57the endurance,
30:58and the loyalty
30:59of civilians
31:00played so vital a part.
31:02Many thousands
31:03of civilians
31:04all over the world
31:06have been
31:07and are being killed
31:08or maimed
31:09by enemy action.
31:12Our soldiers
31:13and sailors
31:13and Marines
31:14are fighting
31:16with great bravery
31:17and great skill
31:18on far distant fronts
31:21to make sure
31:22that we
31:23shall remain safe.
31:27As we here at home
31:28contemplate our own duties,
31:31our own responsibilities,
31:33let us think
31:34and think hard
31:36of the example
31:37which is being set for us
31:39by our own fighting men.
31:46The Pacific War
31:47turned out to be
31:48a brutal
31:48and drawn-out conflict
31:50marked by relentless battles
31:51across land,
31:53sea,
31:53and air.
31:57Spanning thousands
31:58of miles
31:58of treacherous terrain,
32:00it saw ferocious
32:01island-hopping campaigns,
32:03massive naval engagements,
32:05and devastating air assaults
32:06as both sides
32:07fought fiercely
32:08for dominance
32:09in the Pacific.
32:10Seven hours
32:11on one engine.
32:13Extra belly tanks.
32:14Extra nerve
32:15and stamina
32:15in the cockpit.
32:19When Japan
32:20and the United States
32:20are fighting this war
32:21in the Pacific,
32:22what they're doing
32:23is fighting
32:24for island strongholds.
32:31You've got to think
32:32of the war
32:33as like a kind of
32:34to-and-froing
32:35of trying to grab
32:37stepping stones
32:37on a big pond,
32:38if you like.
32:39And so,
32:40you know,
32:40the more stepping stones
32:41you control,
32:42the more of the pond
32:43you control.
32:44And so,
32:44you have huge battles
32:46on islands
32:47like Iwo Jima,
32:50Pelennu,
32:51which are very bloody,
32:53very attritional fights
32:54in which the Japanese
32:55are often dug in
32:56and fight to the last man.
32:58And it costs
32:58an enormous amount
32:59of lives.
33:00So,
33:01it's a very bloody,
33:02very vicious,
33:03very drawn-out combat.
33:05And of course,
33:05as well as these battles
33:06on these small islands,
33:08you also have
33:08these huge naval engagements
33:10as well,
33:10like the Battle of Midway.
33:12Which again,
33:12are very costly
33:13in men and material.
33:16The Battle of Midway
33:17in June 1942
33:18proved to be
33:19a decisive naval battle
33:21for the U.S.
33:27Within the first five minutes,
33:28the American Air Force
33:30had hit three Japanese
33:31aircraft carriers,
33:32with a fourth being destroyed
33:33by the end of the battle.
33:42midway marked the beginning
33:46of a more aggressive
33:47American military presence
33:49in the region.
34:06Japan employed violent
34:07and desperate tactics
34:08during the Pacific War,
34:10including the infamous
34:11kamikaze suicide attacks,
34:13where pilots deliberately
34:14crashed their planes
34:15into Allied ships
34:16in a final deadly bid
34:18to halt the advancing forces.
34:28By 1944,
34:29the Japanese were using
34:31kamikaze pilots regularly
34:32in an attempt to turn
34:34the tide of the war.
34:37These suicide missions,
34:39launched primarily
34:40against Allied naval vessels,
34:42caused significant damage
34:43and sank or damaged
34:45hundreds of ships,
34:46killing thousands of sailors.
34:47while terrifying
34:54and disruptive,
34:55many kamikaze attacks
34:56were intercepted
34:57by Allied
34:58anti-aircraft defenses,
35:00and the loss
35:01of skilled pilots
35:01and planes
35:02strained Japan's
35:03already dwindling resources.
35:15In late 1944,
35:17the bloodiest battle
35:19of the Pacific campaign
35:20took place
35:21on the island of Peleliu.
35:28The US 1st Marine Division
35:30landed on the island
35:32expecting a swift victory.
35:34However,
35:35the Japanese had changed
35:36their defensive strategy.
35:39Instead of defending
35:39the beaches,
35:40they dug into the island's
35:42rocky ridges and caves,
35:43creating a complex network
35:45of fortified positions.
35:47The temperature
35:57was around 115 degrees.
36:00Now, 115 degrees
36:01with high humidity
36:03is insufferable
36:04to even sit and rest,
36:06but to be running around
36:07out there
36:08in the scorching sun
36:10carrying your load
36:11of ammunition
36:12and your weapon
36:12or trying to help
36:14carry a wounded out.
36:15It was just
36:16absolutely exhausting.
36:24You could see
36:24Bloody Nose Ridge
36:25on the other side.
36:26That's where we were going.
36:27Places as many
36:30as 200 feet high,
36:32the Japs had
36:33complete clear vision
36:35of everything we did.
36:39The Marines faced
36:41heavy resistance
36:41right from the start
36:42with intense machine gun
36:44and artillery fire
36:45from hidden Japanese positions.
36:48That heavy artillery up there,
36:50the concussion
36:53from the Jap artillery shells
36:54was so loud
36:57and so constant
36:58that it was like
36:59as though the ground
37:00was swaying back and forth.
37:01And here you are
37:04up and running
37:05through this.
37:08You could see guys
37:09just falling
37:11all around us.
37:16That was one
37:16of the strangest ways
37:17to me
37:19that men fell
37:21when they were hit.
37:22I suppose it depended
37:23on what type
37:25of projectile
37:27or fragment
37:28hit them.
37:29But some of them
37:30just sagged down
37:31to the ground.
37:31It was almost pitiful
37:33like they were just
37:33real tired
37:34and they were dead.
37:37And other guys
37:39threw their arms out
37:40and fell over backwards
37:42and some guys
37:43pitched forward
37:44and some let out
37:47god-awful screams.
37:54To me,
37:54that was the worst part
37:55of all of seeing guys
37:57get hit.
37:58Maybe it didn't bother
37:59some people as bad
38:00as it did me,
38:01but, you know,
38:02every one of those guys
38:03was a damn good marine
38:04and a buddy
38:05and some other son.
38:09The island was
38:10declared secure
38:11after nearly two and a half
38:12months of intense fighting,
38:14though scattered
38:14resistance continued
38:15for weeks.
38:19However,
38:20fighting in the Pacific
38:21would continue
38:22late into 1945,
38:24with countless more
38:26American lives lost.
38:27The Allied powers
38:33secured victory
38:34in Europe
38:35in May 1945.
38:40The Nazi Empire
38:42finally fell
38:42after six long years
38:44and Hitler
38:44escaped to his bunker
38:45to die by cyanide.
38:52However,
38:52for the United States,
38:53the war was not over yet.
38:55trouble still brewed
38:57in the Pacific
38:57and American blood
38:58continued to spill.
39:01After the E-Day
39:02was declared
39:03in Europe,
39:04there was a real problem
39:05that America
39:06and the rest of the
39:07Allied powers
39:07were still at war
39:08with Japan.
39:10And Japan
39:10showed absolutely
39:11no signs of surrendering.
39:12The difference
39:20between Germany
39:21and Japan
39:21was that Germany,
39:22especially after Hitler
39:23died,
39:24knew they were beaten,
39:25knew there was nowhere
39:25else to go,
39:26they just basically
39:27had to settle
39:28for a humiliating peace,
39:29the best possible terms
39:30they could get.
39:31The thing about Japan
39:32is that there is
39:33no concept of surrender
39:35in their national identity.
39:37The whole idea
39:37was that they would
39:38literally fight
39:39until the last man.
39:40Germany
39:43surrendered on May the 8th
39:45and we got the news
39:46on a tank radio
39:47because we were preparing
39:49on Okinawa
39:50for a big push
39:51on May the 9th.
39:53And granted
39:53that we were all
39:54glad for the troops
39:56in Europe
39:56and glad for the civilians
39:58who had suffered so much,
39:59but as far as
40:00we were concerned,
40:01the general remark
40:02that I heard
40:03was,
40:03so what?
40:05Because the next day
40:06we had to make this push
40:07and my company
40:08got all shot up.
40:10So,
40:11you know,
40:11Nazi Germany
40:12might as well
40:13have been on the moon
40:13as far as we were concerned
40:15because we had our hands
40:16full of all kinds
40:18of trouble
40:18where we were.
40:19The Battle of Okinawa
40:20took place
40:20from April to June,
40:221945.
40:23It was the final
40:24desperate push
40:25in the Pacific Theater,
40:27bringing the war
40:27closer to Japan's
40:29home islands.
40:29As the largest
40:33amphibious assault
40:34of the Pacific War,
40:35Okinawa was seen
40:36as the last
40:37major stepping stone
40:38for the Allies
40:39before a potential
40:40invasion of mainland Japan.
40:42This brutal campaign,
40:43codenamed
40:44Operation Iceberg,
40:45was marked
40:46by fierce ground combat,
40:48kamikaze attacks
40:49and heavy
40:49civilian casualties.
40:53Japanese forces
40:54entrenched
40:55in fortified positions
40:56fought tenaciously,
40:58leading to a high
40:58death toll
40:59on both sides.
41:01Over 12,000
41:02U.S. soldiers
41:02and an estimated
41:04100,000
41:05Japanese soldiers
41:05were killed.
41:07Thousands of
41:08Okinawan civilians
41:08also perished,
41:10many through
41:11forced suicides.
41:15The combat at Okinawa
41:17was in a sense
41:18worse than Peleliu
41:19because it went on
41:20for three months
41:21and when it was over
41:24we were just so
41:25utterly exhausted.
41:26It's indescribable.
41:28I was convinced
41:30that if I had had
41:30to invade Japan
41:31I would never survive
41:32because my luck
41:33had run out.
41:37The battle marked
41:38the climax
41:38of the island hopping
41:39campaign
41:40and set the stage
41:41for the war's end.
41:42The catastrophic losses
41:55at the Battle of Okinawa
41:56convinced U.S. leaders
41:58that an invasion
41:58of Japan's mainland
41:59would be devastating.
42:02With Truman now
42:03as president
42:03he weighed up
42:04the decision
42:05to use atomic bombs
42:06to force Japan
42:07surrender
42:07and avoid
42:08further bloodshed.
42:09people
42:15in the in
42:16the end.
42:18The End
42:48The lead plane, Enola Gay, released the Little Boy bomb over Hiroshima
42:52Residents awoke to the most almighty sight in human history
42:57Little Boy fell almost 6 miles in 43 seconds before detonating at an altitude of 2,000 feet
43:0580,000 people died instantly, some even evaporating on the spot
43:10A short time ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima
43:21And destroyed its usefulness to the enemy
43:24You can imagine that if you are in Hiroshima, you're going about your daily business
43:30There's just this flash of blinding white light
43:33And then all of a sudden everything around you is destroyed
43:34And it is something biblical
43:36I mean, you would have genuinely imagined if you'd seen it
43:39That this was the end of days
43:40Japan at this point was faced with the fact that
43:45One of their major industrial and military bases no longer existed
43:50I mean, a huge number of civilians had been killed
43:53It was an act completely without parallel in modern warfare
43:56It was literally the first atomic bomb
43:58You would have expected
44:00But they would have thought, we can't carry on
44:03But this is Japan we're talking about
44:05This isn't any other country
44:06And so they refused to surrender
44:11On the grounds that they asked you to do
44:13Well, you can keep bombing us
44:15We don't care
44:16We are not going to surrender to you
44:18But of course, the problem is
44:19They didn't really understand what they were up against
44:22The bomb obliterated Hiroshima and its people
44:26And yet the Japanese government still refused to surrender
44:29Three days later, a second bomb landed on Nagasaki
44:34The devastation at Nagasaki is, make no mistake, it's huge
44:41But because Nagasaki is built in sort of valleys
44:44And it's got cliffs and things like that
44:46The explosion was much more contained
44:47So relatively less, fewer parts of the city were destroyed
44:51Compared to Hiroshima
44:52But still you have a death toll, you know, approaching 100,000 people
44:56You know, it is still devastating
44:59And it is far greater than any other single bomb can possibly produce
45:05Emperor Hirohito broke the government's deadlock
45:08Expressing that the Japanese race will be destroyed if the war continues
45:12And so on the 15th of August
45:16Hirohito announced the end to Japan's suffering over radio broadcast
45:20I have received this afternoon
45:22A message from the Japanese government
45:25In reply to the message forwarded to that government
45:28By the Secretary of State on August 11th
45:31I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration
45:36Which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan
45:41In the reply, there is no qualification
45:45Reporters rush out to relay the news to an anxious world
45:49And touch off celebrations throughout the country
45:51A new wave of cruelty and devastation ended the conflict
45:57Japan officially signed the Surrender Act soon after
46:00Four years after the devastation at Pearl Harbor
46:09The biggest conflict in history had finally come to an end
46:12In Chicago, tears of joy mingled with cheers
46:16As a million people sang and danced in the streets
46:19The surprise attack by Japan on the 7th of December 1941
46:30Led to death and destruction on a scale never before seen in human history
46:34The relentless fighting in the Pacific
46:44From the beaches of Iwo Jima
46:46To the blood-soaked hills of Okinawa
46:49Had pushed both sides to the brink
46:52The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
47:02Brought the war to a dramatic and tragic end
47:05Sparing the world from further destruction
47:07What began with an unprovoked assault
47:13Closed with a transformed world
47:15As the hard-fought peace reshaped nations
47:17And laid the foundation for a new global order
47:20The
47:39The
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