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Manila American Cemetery 

and Memorial

American Battle Monuments Commission
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Altar in the Chapel
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Entrance to Cemetery

Manila American 

Cemetery and 

Memorial

LOCATION

The Manila American Cemetery is located 

about six miles southeast of the center of 

the city of Manila, Republic of the 

Philippines, within the limits of the former 

U.S. Army reservation of Fort William 

McKinley, now Fort Bonifacio. It can be 

reached most easily from the city by 

taxicab or other automobile via Epifanio 

de los Santos Avenue (Highway 54) and 

McKinley Road. The Nichols Field Road connects the Manila International Airport with the cemetery.
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HOURS

The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. It 

is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in 

the Visitors’ Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.

HISTORY 

Several months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a strategic policy was adopted with respect 

to the United States priority of effort, should it be forced into war against the Axis powers (Germany 

and Italy) and simultaneously find itself at war with Japan. The policy was that the stronger European 

enemy would be defeated first.

With the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the bombing attacks 

on 8 December on Wake Island, Guam, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippine Islands, the United 

States found itself thrust into a global war. (History records the other attacks as occurring on 8 

December because of the International Date Line. Actually they all occurred during the same daylight 

period.) The day after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States declared war against Japan. Within the 

short span of two days, Japanese troops had landed on the Malay Peninsula and Tarawa and Makin in 

the Gilbert Islands, forced Guam to surrender, and made their principal landing on the island of Luzon in 

the Philippines. On 11 December, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

Despite the fact that Japan had dealt a grievous blow to the strength of the United States Navy in 

the Pacific and was advancing on all fronts in the southwest Pacific, the basic decision of “Europe First” 

was reaffirmed promptly by President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

At the same meeting, in concert with their military advisors, formation of the Combined Chiefs of 

Staff was approved to coordinate the operations of all Allied Forces; however, actual control of 

operations in the Pacific remained with the U.S. Joint Chief of Staff. For all practical purposes, the war 

against Japan was relegated to second place, except for the early months of the war when it was essential 

to reinforce our Pacific forces which now were so much smaller than those of the Japanese. There was 

little hope of saving the Philippines but it was decided that the line of communications to Australia must 

be kept open as it was considered essential to the defense of that continent. At first, it seemed there was 

nothing that could stop the Japanese advance. Hong Kong fell on Christmas Day, shortly thereafter, 

U.S. and Philippines troops evacuated Manila and withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula. In January, the 

Japanese landed in the Netherlands East Indies, and simultaneously crossed over into Burma. Singapore 

capitulated in mid-February. The only bright spot at this time was the magnificent resistance by the 

American and Filipino forces on Bataan. But even that bright spot became a fading light as there was no 

way for us to bring help to those gallant defenders, whereas the enemy was pouring reinforcements into 

Bataan. On 9 April 1942, Bataan surrendered; it was followed by Corregidor on 6 May. The superb 

defense of Bataan and Corregidor, however, threw the enemy off its timetable for the conquest of the 

Philippines as many Japanese reinforcements that had been scheduled for deployment to other areas had 

to be diverted to Bataan. This delayed the Japanese advance in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. 

At the end of March 1942, the Joint Chiefs of Staff divided the Pacific into two commands – the 

Pacific Ocean Area and the Southwest Pacific Area. The latter command included New Guinea and the 

Solomon Islands which were the major objectives of the Japanese in their advance toward Australia. 

Anxious to make up for lost time, the Japanese occupied Tulagi, just north of Guadalcanal, and 

dispatched a strong force to invade Port Moresby on the south coast of New Guinea, as that territory was 
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considered essential to the defense of northern Australia. This led to the battle of the Coral Sea on 4-8 

May where U.S. and Allied naval forces won a major and strategic victory. The Port Moresby invasion 

force was forced to turn back and two large enemy aircraft carriers were put out of action for an 

extended period of time.

With their advance checked in the Coral Sea, the Japanese shifted their main offensive toward the 

Hawaiian Islands and the Aleutians. The decisive battle of Midway on 3-7 June 1942 restored to 

balance Allied and enemy sea power in the Pacific. Far to the north, the enemy bombed Dutch Harbor. 

Then, without opposition, occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska. It proved to be the last great enemy 

offensive against American territory.

Following their defeat at Midway, the Japanese launched a determined effort to capture Port 

Moresby in the southwest Pacific by attacking overland across the Owen Stanley Range. On 21 July the 

enemy seized Buna and Gona on the northeast coast, then crossed the Owen Stanley Range to within 30 

miles of Port Moresby where they were stopped by Australian troops and driven back.

In order to bring more forces to bear against the enemy in the Solomons, the boundary of the 

Southwest Pacific Area was shifted westward to put the southern Solomons in the Pacific Ocean Area 

(whose command had more forces readily available). The northern Solomons continued to be a part of 

the Southwest Pacific Area.

U.S. forces undertook their first their offensive in the Pacific on 7 August 1942, when U.S. 

Marines landed on Guadalcanal. Subsequently, a succession of hard-fought naval battles and grim 

struggles by U.S. Marine, Army and Naval forces on land and in the air led to the turning point of the

war in the Pacific. The bitter struggle for Guadalcanal and other islands in the southern Solomons lasted 

six months until February 1943 and was extremely costly to both sides. Simultaneously, in New 

Guinea, after defeating another Japanese force at Milne Bay, Australian and American troops eliminated 

the Buna-Gona beachhead on 22 January 1943.

From this point onward, the character of the war in the Pacific began to change. The enemy’s next 

attack on Wau in the Markham Valley was repulsed by Australian troops who were transported to the 

battle area by American aircraft. A Japanese attempt to reinforce garrisons on New Guinea ended in 

disaster at the battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2-4 March 1943, when the U.S. Fifth Air Force and Royal 

Australian Air Force together with U.S. Navy small craft sank eight transports and four destroyers.

At two conferences, one in May 1943 and the other in August, the Combined Chiefs of Staff 

agreed to accelerate the pace of the war against Japan and selected the specific routes of advance. The 

Joint Chiefs of Staff directed the commander of the Pacific Ocean Area to begin a series of amphibious 

operations across the Central Pacific. In the Southwest Pacific Area, initially there were two axes of 

operations. Under the strategic direction of the Southwest Pacific Commander, advances along both 

axes had already begun.

Late in June 1943, the U.S. Third Fleet’s Amphibious Force landed Army troops and Marines on 

Rendova Island and then on New Georgia in the northern Solomons. The Army completed the capture 

of New Georgia in August. Bypassing the strongly held island of Kolombangara, Valla Lavella was 

attacked and captured by U.S. Army and New Zealand troops. The Treasury Islands were then occupied 

by New Zealand troops. Preceded by diversionary landings on Choiseul, a large force of U.S. Marines 

landed at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, on 1 November 1943. This attack, reinforced by Army 

troops, permitted the establishment of a naval base and airfields from which the U.S. Thirteenth Air 

Force, together with the aircraft of the U.S. Third Fleet, could neutralize the strong Japanese base at 

Rabaul, New Britain Island. 

On the other axis of advance, the U.S. Sixth Army seized the islands of Kiriwina and Woodlark in 

June as bases from which air support could be provided for future operations. Then three attacks were 
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launched by U.S. Army and Australian troops in rapid succession on the northeastern coast of New 

Guinea; an overland advance and an amphibious assault against Salamaua that was completed on 11 

September; a combined parachute drop and an airbome assault which resulted in the occupation of Lae 

on 16 September; and an advance on Finschaffen which was occupied completely by 2 October.

The next objective was the western end of the island of New Britain. On 15 December, three 

Army landings were made in the Arawe area followed on 26 December by a larger landing of U.S. 

Marines which capture the important air base at Cape Gloucester. Then on 2 January 1944, U.S. Sixth 

Army troops landed at Saidor on the northern New Guinea coast to cut the enemy escape route along the 

coastal road. Throughout these operations and those that followed, continuing air attacks against the 

enemy’s supply lines and airfields by Army and Naval forces contributed materially to the success of 

ground operations.

Although fighting still continued on Bougainville and on western New Britain, a decision was 

made to by pass the enemy bases at Rabaul and at Kavieng, New Ireland, as they were being 

systematically neutralized by intensive bombardment. It was the plan of the Southwest Pacific Area 

Commander to land troops where the Japanese were weakest and confine the stronger Japanese forces to 

pockets from which, because of incredibly difficult terrain and Allied air and sea superiority, they could 

not break out. The next nine months of 1944 were devoted to a continuation of this strategy on an 

increasing scale.

The operation against the Admiralty Islands, strategically important because of its airfields and 

harbors, was scheduled initially for April 1944. But on 29 February, as a result of a reconnaissance by 

the Southwest Pacific Area Commander, U.S. Sixth Army troops landed on Los Negros from ships of 

the U.S. Seventh Fleet. During March and April, the larger island of Manus was occupied.

The next advance was along the New Guinea coast. It came so swiftly and was so far forward that 

the enemy was completely taken by surprise. The strongly-held Japanese base at Wewak was bypassed 

in favor of the Hollandia-Humboldt Bay area which would provide us with excellent airfields and a good 

staging base.

At the 350-mile distance was beyond the effective range of many of our land-based aircraft, the 

fast carrier task force of the U.S. Fifth Fleet was used to provide additional fire support on the target 

areas and bomb other targets to the westward. On 22 April, three landings were made by the U.S. Sixth 

Army, two in the Hollandia area and one to the east at Aitape.

These landings were so successful that in May two more landings were made farther to the west at 

Arare and on Wakde Island. At the end of May, another leap of over 300 miles was made to seize 

airfields on the island of Biak where fierce enemy resistance was encountered. Because of this holdup, 

the U.S. Sixth Army seized Noemfoor in early July and the advance continued to Sansapor on 30 July, 

and to the island of Morotai on 15 September 1944.

On the same day, 15 September 1944, Pacific Ocean Area forces, having completed their long 

series of advances across the Central Pacific via the Gilbert and Marshall Islands to seize Saipan, Tinian 

and Guam, invaded the Palau Islands. Simultaneously, as the result of successful fast carrier strikes on 

the Philippine Islands, the commander of the Third Fleet recommended that several intermediate 

operations be cancelled and that U.S. forces land in the Philippines as soon as possible.

The Pacific Ocean Area Commander concurred and offered to place additional forces at the 

disposal of the Southwest Pacific Area Commander, whose Headquarters promptly replied that he would 

be prepared to land on Leyte on 20 October instead of on 20 December as previously planned. 

Immediate approval by the Joint Chiefs of Staff advanced the long-awaited return to the Philippines by 

two months.
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On 20 October 1944, the date agreed on so quickly over a month before, the U.S. Sixth Army, 

under cover of naval gunfire and air bombardment by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, with aircraft of the U.S. 

Third Fleet furnishing long-range support, landed on the eastern shores of Leyte. In a desperate effort to 

destroy the landing forces and prevent the United States from returning to the Philippines, the Japanese 

decided to risk a major sea battle. The resultant Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought on 23-26 October, was one 

of the most decisive naval battles in history and almost eliminated Japan as a major sea power.

The U.S. Sixth Army continued its advance, as the Japanese rushed reinforcements to Leyte, 

mostly in the Ormoc Bay area on the western side of the island, where they were repeatedly attacked by 

the U.S. Fifth Air Force. In turn the U.S. Sixth Army was reinforced. Despite torrential rains and 

difficult terrain, the advance continued and spread to the neighboring island of Samar to the north. In 

December, Army units supported by Army, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, landed at Ormoc Bay to cut 

the last major Japanese line of communications to the island of Leyte. By the end of the month, 

command of operations on Leyte was turned over to the U.S. Eighth Army. Severe fighting on Leyte 

continued in isolated areas for several more months.

Meanwhile, in December, landings also were made on southern Mindoro to provide support for 

the major landings scheduled on Luzon. On 9 January 1945, the U.S. Seventh Fleet landed units of the 

U.S. Sixth Army on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf. Support by the U.S. Fifth Airforce, and by 

Marine Corps and Navy aircraft, the U.S. Sixth Army drove inland, By the end of the month, Clark 

Field was recapture, a large number of enemy troops were driven into the mountains, an additional 

landing was made to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and a third landing, that included a parachute drop, 

was made south of Manila.

As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was 

rapidly secured. On 16 February, airborne and amphibious units assaulted Corregidor, resistance ended 

there on 27 February. On 3 March, the city of Manila was finally cleared of all Japanese troops. With 

the exception of Fort Drum, which held out until April, U.S. forces accomplished in less than two 

months what took the Japanese six months to accomplish.

While the U.S. Sixth Army continued its campaign against the remainder of the Japanese on 

Luzon, the U.S. Eight Army and the U.S. Seventh Fleet were already embarked on a series of more than 

fifty amphibious assaults to free the other islands. On 19 February, forces of the Pacific Ocean Area 

landed U.S. Marines on the island of Iwo Jima to begin a fierce 26-day struggle to capture that island 

fortress. The assault on Okinawa commenced on 26 March and lasted almost until the end of June 1945.

During this same period, after securing Palawan Island, the U.S. Eighth Army made its first 

landing on Mindanao, and then occupied Panay, Cebu, Negros and several islands in the Sulu 

Archipelago. This provided bases for the U.S. Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces from which to attack 

targets throughout the Philippines and the South China Sea. Following additional landings on 

Mindanao, U.S. Eighth Army troops continued their steady advance against stubborn resistance. By the 

end of June, the enemy pockets were compressed into isolated pockets on Mindanao and Luzon where 

fighting continued until the end of the war. During these months, Australian troops also seized 

important strategic installations on the island of Borneo. By this time, a complete reorganization of U.S. 

Forces had been made in preparation for the projected invasion of Japan. The two Area Commands 

were replaced by Army, Navy and Air Force commands, the latter was increased greatly in size by the 

transfer of the U.S. Eighth Air Force from Europe and creation of the U.S. Twentieth Air Force. During 

the last two months of the war, the aerial and naval bombardment of the Japanese home islands 

intensified. Hostilities ceased on 15 August 1945. The Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September 

1945.
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THE SITE

The cemetery site covers 152 acres of gently rising ground which culminates at the memorial. It is the 

largest in area of the cemeteries built and administered by the American Battle Monuments 

Commission, and the largest in point of the number of graves and of those Missing who are recorded 

upon the walls of the memorial. Major objections were found to all of the sites of temporary cemeteries 

which had been established during World War II. The Government of the Philippines on 1 April 1948 

granted permission to the United States to establish a memorial cemetery on part of the former U.S. 

reservation of Fort William McKinley. A tremendous amount of grading, draining and landscaping was 

required in order to convert the rough terrain to the beautiful and regular forms of the present cemetery. 

Visitors may note that some areas among the burial plots are merely grassed, without headstones; 

generally this is because in these areas the underlying rock is so close to the surface as to make them 

unsuitable for burials. In this cemetery are buried 17,206 of our military Dead, representing 40 percent 

of the burials which were originally made in temporary cemeteries in New Guinea, the Philippines and 

other islands of the Southwest Pacific Area, and also in the Palau Islands of the Central Pacific Area. 

Most of these lost their lives in the epic defense of the Philippines and the East Indies in 1941 and 1942 

or in the long but victorious return of the American forces through the vast island chain. The cemetery 

and memorial was completed in 1960. The cemetery was dedicated on 8 December 1960.

Memorial Chapel with Hemicycles

THE GRAVES AREA

The graves area is divided into eleven curved lettered plots of varying sizes forming concentric bands 

around the high ground on which the memorial stands. The 17,100 headstones within the plots form 

segments of concentric circles and mark the graves of 16,636 U.S. military and 570 Philippine Nationals 

who were serving with U.S. Forces in the Southwest Pacific. Of these headstones, 13,434 mark the 

graves of single identified remains; six mark the graves of 28 identified remains which could not be 

separated individually; 3,644 mark the graves of single unidentified remains (Unknowns); and 16 mark 
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the graves of 100 unidentified remains which could not be separated individually. The heroic Dead 

interred in the cemetery represent all of the then 48 States of the Union, as well as the District of 

Columbia, Panama, Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada, China, England, Mexico, Costa 

Rica, Honduras, Finland, Jamaica, Burma and Peru. In 20 instances, two brothers lie side by side.

Most of the white marble headstones were quarried in Lasa or Carrara, Italy; however, more than 

100 were quarried and fabricated on the Island of Romblon in the Philippines.

ARCHITECT

Architect for the cemetery was Gardener A. Dailey of San Francisco, who also designed most of the 

landscape development.

GENERAL LAYOUT

The entrance to the cemetery is at the far (north) side of the large grassed circle just beyond the military 

sentinel’s post which is at the junction of the McKinley and Nichols Field Roads. Immediately beyond 

the gate is the plaza with its circular fountain; at the right is the Visitors’ Building.
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Stretching from the plaza to the memorial is the central mall, which is lined with mahogany tress 

(Swietenia Macrophylla). Circular roads leading eastward and westward through the graves area join 

the straight roads along the edges of the mall.

To the east of, and lower than, the graves area are the service area, deep wells and reservoirs. A 

purification system provides potable water within the cemetery.

THE MEMORIAL

The memorial is faced with Travertine limestone quarried near Tivoli, a few miles east of Rome, Italy. 

It consists of the tower containing the small devotional chapel, and the two extensive hemicycles to its 

front which embrace the Memorial court. The principal entrance to the memorial area is by the 

monumental staircase at the south end of the mall. At the top of these steps the Great Seal of the 

Commonwealth of the Philippines has been carved into the paving; this is the seal which was authorized 

for use during World War II and until the Republic had been established. To the right and left stretch 

the hemicycles; on the end facade of each is the dedicatory inscription:

IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF 

HER SONS AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES

THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

? 1941-1945 ?

Each hemicycle contains 24 pairs of fin walls upon the four faces on which are inscribed the names and 

particulars of 36,285 of our Missing:

United States Army and Army Air Forces * 16,915

United States Navy 17,587

United States Marine Corps 1,727

United States Coast Guard 58

* It will be recalled the during World War II the Air Forces still formed part of the United States Army.

These gave their lives in the service of their Country in the regions from Australia northward to Japan, 

eastward to the Palau Islands and westward to China, Burma and India but their remains have not been 

identified, or they were lost or buried at sea. Their names include men from every State in the Union, 

also from the District of Columbia, Panama, Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada and 

New Zealand. At each end of each hemicycle is a map room. The memorial area offers many 

magnificent prospects over Manila toward Mount Arayat to the north, and over the Laguna de Bay 

toward Mount Makiling to the southeast and Tagaytay Ridge to the south.

Without confirmed information to the contrary, a War Department Administrative Review Board 

established the official date of death of those commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing as one year 

and a day from the date on which the individuals was placed in Missing in action status.
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THE WEST HEMICYCLE

The west hemicycle is entered from the Memorial Court. At the extreme north end is a map room, 

which is described in detail later.

On the partition wall of each map room facing the lists of the Missing are these inscriptions:

HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY

AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES

? 1941-1945 ?

INCLUDED ON THESE ROLLS ARE THE NAMES OF

PHILIPPINE SCOUTS WHO SHARED WITH THEIR AMERICAN COMRADES

IN THE DEFENSE AND LIBERATION OF THE PHILIPPINES

? 1941-1945 ?

The lists of the Missing are arranged according to the four Armed Services, and alphabetically 

beginning at the far (south) end. In the west hemicycle are the Missing of the United States Navy, and 

part of the Missing of the United States Marine Corps. The names are engraved in Trani, a marble 

quarried near Bari on the East Coast of Italy.

In the Travertine floor of each section of the hemicycles and the map rooms are carved the Great 

Seal of the United States, obverse or reverse, the Seal of one of the States of the Union, the District of 

Columbia and Puerto Rico; the 48 states (as of 1945) are in alphabetical order.

Along the frieze of this hemicycle, facing the Memorial Court, are engraved the names of World 

War II battles of particular significance in the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ proud record: MAKASSAR 

STRAIT; JAVA SEA; CORAL SEA; EASTERN SOLOMONS; CAFE ESPERANCE; SANTA CRUZ; 

TASSAFARONGA; KULA GULF; VELLA GULF; EMPRESS AUGUSTA BAY; LEYTE GULF; 

GUADALCANAL; PELELIU. The facade of the hemicycle nearest to the chapel bears these 

inscriptions:

SOME THERE BE WHICH HAVE NO SEPULCHRE

?

THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.

?

GRANT UNTO THEM O LORD ETERNAL REST

WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES Much of the paving at the Memorial is of Travertine; there are 

also many panels of bluish pebbles (from Luna, La Union, in the Philippines) set in mortar
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.

View from Inside Chapel Entrance

THE CHAPEL

The chapel stands between the south ends of the hemicycles. In front of the steps leading to the door is 

the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States, carved in the Travertine paving. The facade of the 

tower which rises 60 feet above its podium is decorated with sculpture in high relief designed by Boris 

Lovet Lorski of New York City and executed by Filipino Cecchetti of Tivoli, Italy, who furnished all of 

the stone for the Memorial. The sculpture consists of a series of superimposed groups, representing, 

from bottom to top, the young American warrior symbolized by St. George, fighting his enemy, the 

dragon, in the jungle. Above them are the ideals for which he fought – Liberty, Justice, Country. 

Columbia, with the child symbolizing the future, stands at the zenith.

On the rear (south) facade of the tower is this inscription:

TAKE UNTO THYSELF OF LORD

THE SOULS OF THE VALIANT

Beyond the bronze grille doors of the chapel the entrance is lined with blue glass mosaic; on the 

left this prayer, abridged from that in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, is inset in gold tesserae:

O GOD WHO ART THE AUTHOR OF PEACE

AND LOVER OF CONCORD

DEFEND US THY HUMBLE SERVANTS
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IN ALL ASSAULTS OF OUR ENEMIES

THAT WE SURELY TRUSTING IN THY DEFENSE

MAY NOT FEAR THE POWER OF ANY ADVERSARIES

Opposite, on the right side, is this prayer abridged from that ascribed of Cardinal Newman:

O LORD SUPPORT US ALL THE DAY LONG

UNTIL THE SHADOWS LENGTHEN

AND OUR WORK IS DONE

THEN IN THY MERCY GRANT US A SAFE LODGING

AND A HOLY REST AND PEACE AT THE LAST

The altar, against the rear wall, is of Perlato di Sicilia marble from the West Coast of that island. 

The entire wall behind the altar is decorated with mosaic; on a predominantly blue background a tall, 

graceful female figure scatters flowers – an inscription proclaiming: 

TO THEIR MEMORY

THEIR COUNTRY BRINGS ITS GRATITUDE

AS FLOWERS FOREVER LIVING

The chapel mosaics were designed by Boris Lovet-Lorski of New York City and fabricated and installed 

by Fabrizio Cassio of Rome, Italy. The chapel is lighted through tall stone unglazed grilleworks. The 

priedieu and benches are of Philippine Narra wood, the altar ornaments of bronze.

Located at the chapel is a carillon which on 3 February 1985 was presented and dedicated by the 

American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam (AMVETS) as a memorial to the Americans 

and Filipinos who fought and died together for the cause of freedom. Between the hours of 9:00 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m. daily the carillon tolls the hour and half-hour. This is followed by two patriotic gongs. At 

5:00 p.m., the carillon plays the national anthems of the Republic of the Philippines and the United 

States, followed by a rifle volley and then taps “AS THESE BELLS RING... HONORED DEAD 

REST... FREEDOM LIVES”.

THE EAST HEMICYCLE

On the facade of the hemicycle nearest to the chapel are these inscriptions:

COMRADES IN ARMS WHOSE EARTHLY RESTING PLACE

IS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD

LET US HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT

THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE

Beyond the map room are the lists of the Missing of the United States Army and Army Air Forces, 

the United States Coast Guard, and part of the Missing of the United States Marine Corps. Along the 

frieze facing the Memorial Court are these names of battles which are particularly significant in the 

achievements of the United States Army and Army Air Forces and the United States Marines: 

BATAAN; CORREGIDOR; PAPULA; BISMARCK SEA; HUON GULF; ADMIRALTIES; AITAPE; 

HOLLANDIA; WAKDE; BIAK; NOEMFOOR; BURMA; ANGAUR; LEYTE; MANILA; NEW 

BRITAIN; BOUGAINVILLE; NEW GEORGIA.

THE MAPS

The maps were designed by Margaret Bruton of Carmel, California, from data supplied by the American 

Battle Monuments Commission, and fabricated by the P. Grassi American Terrazzo Company of South 

San Francisco. They are of tinted concretes with brilliantly colored fine aggregates. Military data are 
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expressed by mosaic or ceramic inserts; the borders and compasses recall the art patterns of the Pacific 

Islands. The descriptive texts which amplify the maps and which were cast with them are of plastic.

Memorial Hemicycle from the Rear

SOUTHWEST ROOM

This room has seven maps; the descriptive texts thereon are printed printed after the title of each:

1. DEFENSE OF LUZON – 8 DECEMBER 1941-6 MAY 1942

ON 7 DECEMBER 1941 (HAIWAII TIME) THE JAPANESE LAUNCHED A SURPRISE 

ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, THEN SEVERAL HOURS LATER BOMBED FROM THE AIR 

U.S. MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES. TWO DAYS LATER THE ENEMY 

LANDED ON LUZON ANTICIPATING AN EASY CONQUEST, BUT STUBBORN RESISTANCE 

BY U.S. AND PHILIPPINE FORCES SLOWED THE ADVANCE, MANNING SUCCESSIVE 

DEFENSIVE POSITIONS OUR TROOPS DELAYED THE ONCOMING ENEMY, THEN 

EVACUATED MANILA AND WITHDREW TO THE BATAAN PENINSULA, ON 2 JANUARY 

1942 THE JAPANESE OCCUPIED THE CAPITAL.

UNITED STATES FORCES INCLUDING PHILIPPINE SCOUTS AS WELL AS THE 

PHILIPPINE ARMY STEMMED THE JAPANESE OFFENSIVE DURING JANUARY 1942 AND 

DEFEATED AN ATTEMPTED AMPHIBIOUS ENVELOPMENT ON THE SOUTHWESTERN 

SHORE OF THE PENINSULA. THE ENEMY THEN POURED REINFORCEMENTS INTO 
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BATAAN, WITHHOLDING THEM FROM OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AGAINST NEW GUINEA 

AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

UNTIL APRIL THE JAPANESE CONTINUED TO BUILD UP THEIR STRENGTH WHILE 

THE BELEAGUERED AMERICANS AND FILIPINOS ON BATAAN WASTED AWAY FOR 

WANT OF ADEQUATE FOOD AND MEDICINE. CIVILIAN NEEDS AGGRAVATED THESE 

SHORTAGES.

ON 3 APRIL, FOLLOWING A DEVASTATING AIR BOMBARDMENT AND A THREE-DAY 

ARTILLERY BARRAGE, THE ENEMY LAUNCHED AN ASSAULT UTILIZING EVERY 

ELEMENT OF HIS OVERWHELMING FORCES. RELENTLESS PRESSURE CONTINUED DAY 

BY DAY, AND COUNTERATTACKS FAILED TO HALT THE JAPANESE ONSLAUGHT. NO 

LONGER ABLE TO INFLECT DAMAGE UPON THE ENEMY, THE BATAAN FORCES 

SURRENDERED ON 9 APRIL.

ON CORREGIDOR AND AT OTHER FORTS IN MANILA BAY A COMPOSITE FORCE OF 

U.S. MARINES, ARMY AND NAVY PERSONNEL, TOGETHER WITH THE COAST ARTILLERY 

GARRISONS, CONTINUED TO RESIST. SUBMARINES DELIVERED AMMUNITION AND 

FOOD AND MAINTAINED TENUOUS COMMUNICATIONS. BUT, PROGRESSIVELY, THE 

BATTERIES AND BEACH DEFENSES OF CORREGIDOR WERE DEMOLISHED BY 

CONTINUOUS BOMBING AND SHELLING. ON 5 MAY THE JAPANESE LAUNCHED THEIR 

FINAL ASSAULT. THE FOLLOWING DAY U.S. AND PHILIPPINE FORCES SURRENDERED 

THE ISLAND FORTRESS.

OF ALMOST 30,000 AMERICAN MILITARY PRISONERS OF WAR, SOME 11,000 DIED 

BEFORE THE WAR ENDED. MANY THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN CIVILIANS OF ALL AGES 

WERE ALSO HELD IN HARSH CAPTIVITY AS WERE UNTOLD NUMBERS OF FILIPINO 

CITIZENS.

FOR OVER THREE YEARS THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS SUFFERED UNDER ENEMY 

OCCUPATION WHILE THE UNITED STATES FORCES FOUGHT THEIR WAY BACK. DURING 

THESE LONG YEARS THE COURAGEOUS GUERRILLAS FOUGHT UNCEASINGLY TO KEEP 

ALIVE THE FLAME OF HOPE IN THE OPPRESSED BUT LOYAL CIVILIAN POPULATION.

2. DEFENSE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA – DECEMBER 1941-MAY 1942.

IN DECEMBER 1941, THE NAVAL, GROUND AND AIR FORCES OF THE JAPANESE 

EMPIRE ATTACKED AMERICAN, BRITISH, DUTCH AND AUSTRALIAN UNITS AND 

INSTALLATIONS IN THE PACIFIC. IN JANUARY 1942 THE U.S. ASIATIC FLEET AND THE 

U.S. FAR EAST AIR FORCE UNITED WITH THE LAND, SEA AND AIR FORCES OF THESE 

ALLIES TO FORM THE ABDA COMMAND IN JAVA.

PITTING THEIR LIMITED DEFENSIVE MEANS AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS, THE 

ALLIES RESISTED THE SUCCESSIVE JAPANESE ASSAULTS. BUT AS RESOURCES 

DIMINISHED THIS DEFENSE WAS CONDUCTED WITH INCREASING DEFFICULTY. UNDER 

PROGRESSIVELY MOUNTING ODDS THE ALLIES SUFFERED HEAVY LOSSES OF GALLANT 

DEFENDERS AND VALUABLE NAVAL AND AIR CRAFT.

AMERICAN MILITARY PERSONNEL IN CHINA, BURMA AND INDIA HELPED 

ORGANIZE AND CONSOLIDATE LOCAL RESISTANCE TO THE JAPANESE ONSLAUGHT. 

BY 1 MAY 1942 THE ALLIED FORCES IN BURMA HAD WITHDRAWN TO THE 

MANADALAY-LASHIO LINE. LATER THEY WITHDREW TO CHINA AND INDIA WHERE 

CHINESE TROOPS WERE TRAINED AND REARMED UNDER U.S. GUIDANCE.
16

BY MAY 1942, THE ENEMY HAD GAINED CONTROL OF THE VAST EXPANSE FROM 

BURMA IN THE WEST TO THE SOLOMON SEA IN THE EAST AND WAS THREATENING 

AUSTRALIA. IN THE MEANTIME THE AUSTRALIANS HAD REINFORCED PORT MORESBY 

AND MADE A DETERMINED EFFORT TO HOLD THE NEW GUINEA BARRIER. IN THE 

DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA ON 4-8 MAY U.S. NAVAL FORCES DEFEATED THE 

JAPANESE AND TURNED BACK THEIR PORT MORESBY INVASION FORCE. THIS MARKED 

THE HIGH TIDE OF THE JAPANESE ADVANCE.

Operations Map – Southwest Room
17

3. BATTLE FOR LEYTE GULF –23-26 OCTOBER 1944.

ON 20 OCTOBER 1944, THE U.S. SEVENTH FLEET COMMENCED LANDING THE SIXTH 

ARMY ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF LEYTE. THEREUPON THE JAPANESE DECIDED TO 

RISK A MAJOR SEA BATTLE IN A DETERMINED EFFORT TO DESTROY THE AMERICAN 

FORCES.

THREE JAPANESE FLEETS WERE CONCENTRATED. THE LARGEST, THE CENTER 

FORCE, MOVED TOWARD LEYTE FROM ITS BASE NEAR SINGAPORE. THE FIRST 

SECTION OF THE SOUTHERN FORCE PROCEEDED SOUTH OF PALAWAN, THROUGH THE 

SULU SEA, TO JOIN THE SECOND SECTION IN ATTACKING THE AMERICAN FORCES AT 

LEYTE GULF. THE NORTHERN FORCE, WHICH INCLUDED THE ENEMY’S MAIN CARRIER 

STRENGTH, ADVANCED TOWARD THE PHILIPPINES FROM JAPANESE HOME WATERS.

ON 23 OCTOBER AMERICAN SUBMARINES ATTACKED THE ENEMY’S CENTER 

FORCE IN PALAWAN PASSAGE, SINKING TWO CRUISERS AND CRIPPLING A THIRD. ON 

24 OCTOBER THE U.S. THIRD FLEET, ITS STRENGTH PREPONDERANT IN FAST CARRIERS, 

ATTACKED THIS CENTER FORCE IN THE SIBUYAN SEA; AIRCRAFT INFLICTED SUCH 

HEAVY LOSSES AS TO CAUSE THIS FORCE TO TURN BACK. JAPANESE AIRCRAFT BASED 

ON LUZON THEN COUNTERATTACKED, DESTROYING A U.S. CARRIER.

DURING THE NIGHT OF 24-25 OCTOBER, THE ENEMY’S SOUTHERN FORCE 

STEAMED INTO SURIGAO STRAIT DIRECTLY TOWARD THE WAITING U.S. SEVENTH 

FLEET. THE JAPANESE WERE DECISIVELY DEFEATED BY TORPEDO ATTACKS FROM PT 

BOATS AND DESTROYERS AND GUNFIRE FROM THE HEAVIER SHIPS WHICH SANK TWO 

BATTLESHIPS, A CRUISER AND THREE DESTROYERS. 

MEANWHILE THE THIRD FLEET MOVED NORTHWARD TO INTERCEPT THE 

ENEMY’S NORTHERN FORCE, WHICH WAS APPROACHING THE TIP OF LUZON. IN THE 

ENSUING BATTLE OFF CAPE ENGANO ON 25-26 OCTOBER U.S. CARRIER BASED 

AIRCRAFT, GUNFIRE, AND SUBMARINES SANK FOUR JAPANESE CARRIERS, TWO 

CRUISERS AND THERE DESTROYERS

EARLY ON THE MORNING OF 25 OCTOBER, THE JAPANESE CENTER FORCE, HAVING 

AGAIN REVERSED COURSE, PUSHED THROUGH SAN BERNARDINO STRAIT, TURNED 

SOUTH AND ATTACKED THE ESCORT CARRIERS OF THE SEVENTH FLEET OPERATING 

OFF SAMAR TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN FORCES IN LEYTE GULF. ALTHOUGH 

OUTNUMBERED AND OUTGUNNED, THE ESCORT CARRIERS AND THEIR SCREEN OF 

DESTROYERS FOUGHT COURAGEOUSLY AND SANK THREE JAPANESE CRUISERS. TWO 

AMERICAN ESCORT CARRIERS AND THREE DESTROYERS WERE LOST. THEREUPON THE 

SURVIVORS OF ALL THREE ENEMY FLEETS WITHDREW.

ELIMINATING THE JAPANESE EMPIRE AS A SEA POWER, LEYTE GULF BECAME ONE 

OF THE DECISIVE NAVAL BATTLES OF HISTORY.

4. RETURN TO THE PHILIPPINES – OCTOBER 1944.

ON 20 OCTOBER 1944, UNDER COVER OF NAVAL GUNFIRE AND AIR 

BOMBARDMENT OF THE SEVENTH FLEET, THE U.S. SIXTH ARMY LANDED ON THE 

EASTERN SHORES OF LEYTE; AIRCRAFT OF THE THIRD FLEET FURNISHED LONG-RANGE 

SUPPORT. THE 7TH DIVISION OF THE XXIV CORPS ON THE LEFT TOOK THE DULAG 

AIRFIELD THEN DROVE WEST AND SOUTH, WHILE THE 96TH DIVISION CAPTURED SAN 
18

JOSE AND MOVED AGAINST THE ENEMY TO THE NORTHWEST. THE 24TH DIVISION OF 

THE X CORPS ON THE RIGHT, OVERCOMING STRONG RESISTANCE ON THE BEACHES, 

FOUGHT ITS WAY INLAND. THE 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION ON THE RIGHT FLANK SEIZED 

TACLOBAN AND ITS AIRFIELD, THEN ADVANCING NORTH IN COORDINATED 

AMPHIBIOUS AND LAND OPERATIONS SECURED SAN JUANICO STRAIT, THE WEST 

COAST OF SAMAR AND THE SHORE OF CARIGARA BAY ON THE NORTHERN COAST OF 

LEYTE.

THE JAPANESE RUSHED REINFORCEMENTS FROM THE NEIGHBORING ISLANDS 

AND FROM THE ASIATIC MAINLAND. MOST OF THESE LANDED AT ORMOC BAY WHERE 

THEY WERE REPEATEDLY ATTACKED BY THE U.S. FIFTH AIR FORCE. NEVERTHELESS, 

THE ENEMY WAS ABLE TO CONCENTRATE POWERFUL FORCES IN THE ORMOC VALLEY 

AND, BY 7 NOVEMBER, HAD ORGANIZED STRONG POSITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS TO 

THE EAST. THE SIXTH ARMY IN TURN WAS REINFORCED BY THREE ADDITIONAL 

DIVISIONS BUT DESPERATE RESISTANCE, THE RUGGED TERRAIN AND TORRENTIAL 

RAINS SLOWED THE ADVANCE.

IN DECEMBER THE 77TH DIVISION OF XXIV CORPS LANDED ALONG THE EAST 

COAST OF ORMOC BAY IN THE REAR OF THE JAPANESE. SUPPORTED BY ARMY, NAVY 

AND MARINE CORPS AIRCRAFT, IT ADVANCED NORTHWARD TO SEIZE ORMOC. AFTER 

FIERCE FIGHTING, THUS CUTING THE LAST MAJOR LINE OF ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS.

IN THE CARIGARA BAY AREA TO THE NORTH, THE X CORPS FOUGHT THROUGH 

THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN NEAR LIMON AND DROVE SOUTHWARD TO UNITE WITH 

THE XXIV CORPS ADVANCING UP THE VALLEY. ON 21 DECEMBER THEY BROKE 

THROUGH THE OPPOSING LINES AND MET NEAR KANANGA, THUS ISOLATING THE 

JAPANESE TO THE EAST; FOUR DAYS LATER THE ISLAND WAS DECLARED SECURE. 

MANY OF THE ISOLATED JAPANESE HAD ESCAPED TO THE NORTH AND WEST TO JOIN 

OTHER ENEMY UNITS; SEVERE FIGHTING CONTINUED AGAINST THE EIGHTH ARMY, 

NOW IN CONTROL, UNTIL MAY 1945.

5. LUZON CAMPAIGN – 15 DECEMBER 1944-15 AUGUST 1945.

BY THE END OF 1944 PROGRESSIVELY LARGER PROPORTIONS OF AMERICA’S 

GREATLY AUGMENTED MILITARY RESOURCES HAD BEEN CONCENTRATED IN THE 

PACIFIC THEATERS OF WAR. WHILE THE LEYTE CAMPAIGN WAS STILL IN PROGRESS, 
19

Tablets of the Missing with Graves Area in Background

POWERFUL U.S. FORCES STRUCK AT THE NEXT TARGET, LUZON. AIRCRAFT OF THE 

NAVY AND ARMY AIR FORCES CONDUCTED DEVASTATING ATTACKS AGAINST ENEMY 

AIRFIELDS, SUPPLY CENTERS AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS THERE AND IN 

SURROUNDING AREAS. THE INTENSITY AND ACCURACY OF THESE BOMBARDMENTS 

AND THE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL FIRE POWER OF THE THIRD AND SEVENTH FLEETS 

INDUCED THE JAPANESE ON LUZON TO WITHDRAW THEIR MAIN FORCES FROM THE 

BEACHES AND CONCENTRATE THEM IN DEFENSIVE POSITIONS IN MOUNTAINOUS 

AREAS OF THE INTERIOR.

IN DECEMBER, THE U.S. SIXTH ARMY CONVOYED BY THE SEVENTH FLEET SEIZED 

MINDORO, ESTABLISHING BASES AND AIRFIELDS TO PROVIDE CLOSE SUPPORT FOR 

THE IMPENDING LUZON OPERATION. MEANWHILE THE JAPANESE MASSED OVER A 

QUARTER OF A MILLION MEN TO DEFEND LUZON AND UNLEASHED DAMAGING 

SUICIDAL AIR ATTACKS AGAINST ALLIED NAVAL FORCES.

ON 9 JANUARY 1945, THE SEVENTH FLEET LANDED TWO DIVISIONS FROM EACH OF 

THE I AND XIV CORPS ON THE SOUTH SHORE OF LINGAYEN GULF. SUPPORTED BY THE 

FIFTH AIR FORCE AND BY MARINE CORPS AND NAVAL AIRCRAFT, THE SIXTH ARMY 

PUSHED INLAND. INITIALLY RESISTANCE WAS ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE LEFT 

FLANK, WHERE THE MASS OF THE JAPANESE STRENGTH HAD BEEN CONCENTRATED IN 

THE MOUNTAINS NEAR BAGUIO. ON THE RIGHT THE AMERICAN FORCES CAPTURED 
20

CLARK FIELD, DROVE THE ENEMY INTO THE ZAMBALES MOUNTAINS, THEN 

ADVANCED TOWARD MANILA, WHERE HEAVY FIGHTING ENSUED.

ON THE WEST COAST OF LUZON THE XI CORPS LANDED ON 29 JANUARY AND 

MOVED EASTWARD TO CUT OFF THE BATAAN PENINSULA; SOUTH OF MANILA OTHER 

UNITS OF THE EIGHTH ARMY LANDED ON 31 JANUARY AND SWUNG NORTHWARD. ALL 

PASSED TO THE CONTROL OF THE SIXTH ARMY. AFTER FIERCE AND PROLONGED 

FIGHTING, MANILA, BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR WERE CLEARED OF THE ENEMY, AND 

MANILA BAY WAS OPENED.

EAST OF MANILA THE FIGHTING WENT ON FOR MANY WEEKS, CONSTANT 

PRESSURE FORCED THE ENEMY DEEPER INTO THE MOUNTAINS WHERE HE WAS HELD 

ISOLATED UNTIL THE END OF HOSTILITIES. OTHER AMERICAN UNITS CLEARED THE 

AREA SOUTH OF LAGUNA DE BAY AND LIBERATED THE BICOL PENINSULA, ASSISTED 

BY AMPHIBIOUS FORCES LANDED AT LEGASPI.

IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LUZON U.S. TROOPS AND PHILIPPINE GUERRILLA 

FORCES CONTINUED THEIR PRESSURE NORTHWARD FROM THE CENTRAL PLAIN 

THROUGH DIFFICULT TERRAIN DEFENDED BY A DETERMINED ENEMY; CONSTANT 

ATTACKS BY AIR AND GROUND FORCES FINALLY BROKE JAPANESE RESISTANCE AT 

BALETE PASS IN MAY. ON 1 JULY THE EIGHTH ARMY ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR 

DESTROYING THE REMAINING ENEMY FORCES ON LUZON, RELIEVING THE SIXTH 

ARMY FOR THE PROJECTED INVASION OF JAPAN.

6. REOCCUPATION OF MANILA

BY 31 JANUARY 1945, THREE WEEKS AFTER THE INITIAL LANDINGS ON LUZON, THE U.S. 

SIXTH ARMY WAS READY TO LAUNCH ITS OFFENSIVE TO LIBERATE MANILA AND THE 

BATAAN PENINSULA. THE 1ST CAVALRY AND 37TH INFANTRY DIVISIONS ADVANCED ON 

THE CITY FROM THE NORTH, WHILE THE 40TH DIVISION FOUGHT WESTWARD INTO THE 

ZAMBALES MOUNTAINS TO SECURE THE RIGHT FLANK AND MEET THE 35TH DIVISION 

PUSHING EASTWARD TO CUT OFF BATAAN. SIMULTANEOUSLY THE 11TH AIRBORNE 

DIVISION ADVANCED ON MANILA FROM THE SOUTH.

WITHIN THE CITY THE 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION, IN A NIGHT ATTACK, CAPTURED 

SANTO TOMAS UNIVERSITY AND LIBERATED 3,700 AMERICAN AND ALLIED PRISONERS 

INTERNED THERE. ON 4 FEBRUARY THE 37TH INFANTRY DIVISION FREED OVER A 

THOUSAND MORE FROM BILIBID PRISON. THESE TWO DIVISIONS THEN CROSSED THE 

PASIG RIVER AGAINST STIFFENING RESISTANCE WHILE THE 11TH AIRBORNE DIVISION 

OVERCAME SIMILAR RESISTANCE IN ITS ATTACK UPON NICHOLS FIELD. THE 1ST

CAVALRY AND 37TH INFANTRY DIVISIONS FORCED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE CITY, 

EVENTUALLY REACHING THE STRONGHOLD AT INTRAMUROS WHERE THE FIGHTING 

WAS ESPECIALLY BITTER. ON 3 MARCH MANILA WAS FINALLY CLEARED OF JAPANISE 

TROOPS WHO, IN DEFENDING THE CITY, HAD CAUSED INCALCULABLE DEVASTATION.

MEANWHILE THE 38TH INFANTRY DIVISION, TOGETHER WITH ELEMENTS OF THE 

6

TH AND 24TH DIVISIONS, SUPPORTED BY AERIAL BOMBARDMENT AND NAVAL 

GUNFIRE, CLEARED THE BATAAN PENINSULA. ON 16 FEBRUARY AIRBORNE AND 

AMPHIBIOUS UNITS LAUNCHED ASSAULTS AGAINST CORREGIDOR; JAPANESE 

RESISTED DESPERATELY FROM CAVES, TUNNELS AND CONCRETE MORTAR PITS UNTIL 

27 FEBRUARY. FORT DRUM HELD OUT UNTIL APRIL.
21

ON 28 FEBRUARY 1945, BEFORE THE JAPANESE HAD BEEN COMPLETELY 

ELIMINATED FROM MANILA AND ITS OUTLYING FORTS, THE COMMONWEALTH 

GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES WAS CEREMONIALLY REINSTALLED AT 

MALACANAN PALACE.

7. LIBERATION OF THE PHILIPPINES – 20 OCTOBER 1944-15 AUGUST 1945.

DURING THE LONG ENEMY OCCUPATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, THE UNITED STATES 

PERSISTENTLY FOUGHT HER WAY BACK. BY THE FALL OF 1944 SUCCESS WAS IN 

SIGHT.

THE FIRST STEP IN LIBERATING THE ISLANDS WAS THE INVASION OF LEYTE IN 

OCTOBER 1944. THE DECISIVE DEFEAT OF THE JAPANESE FLEET AT THE BATTLE FOR 

LEYTE GULF RENDERED IT POWERLESS TO PREVENT FUTURE AMPHIBIOUS 

OPERATIONS. TWO MONTHS OF HARD FIGHTING FREED MOST OF LEYTE WHICH THEN 

BECAME THE CENTRAL BASE OF OPERATIONS FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE 

ARCHIPELAGO. THE NEXT STEP ESTABLISHED OUR FORCES ON MINDORO IN 

DECEMBER.

IN JANUARY 1945, UNDER COVER OF NAVAL AND AIR BOMBARDMENT, THE SIXTH 

ARMY LANDED ON LUZON AND ADVANCED DOWN THE CENTRAL PLAINS. OTHER 

UNITS LANDED ON THE WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND AND SEIZED BATAAN PENINSULA 

AND CORREGIDOR. MANILA BAY WAS OPENED IN EARLY MARCH. AFTER HEAVY 

FIGHTING THE SIXTH ARMY DROVE THE ENEMY INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH AND 

EAST LUZON.

THE EIGHTH ARMY AND UNITS OF THE SEVENTH FLEET HAD ALREADY 

EMBARKED ON A SERIES OF MORE THAN FIFTY AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULTS TO FREE THE 

OTHER ISLANDS. DURING FEBRUARY AND MARCH U.S. FORCES SECURED AIRFIELDS 

ON PALAWAN AND ZAMBOANGA, THEN EXTENDED THEIR CONTROL OVER THE SULUY 

ARCHIPELAGO, ENABLING THE FIFTH AND THIRTEENTH AIR FORCES TO PROJECT 

THEIR STRENGTH FAR OVER THE WATERS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. U.S. SEA AND 

AIR POWER BLOCKED ENEMY TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN ISLANDS AND THE 

JAPANESE HOMELAND, THUS ISOLATING THE JAPANESE REMAINING ON EACH OF THE 

ISLANDS.

SIMULTANEOUSLY THE EIGHTH ARMY OVERPOWERED THE ENEMY IN THE 

VISAYAN SEA AREA, THEREBY OPENING A SHORTER SUPPLY ROUTE FROM LEYTE TO 

LUZON. ON 17 APRIL SOME OF ITS UNITS LANDED ON THE COAST OF MINDANAO AND 

ADVANCED TOWARD DAVAO GULF; OTHERS FOLLOWED AND FOUGHT THEIR WAY 

NORTHWARD TOWARD MALAYBALAY TO MEET ADDITIONAL AMPHIBIOUS FORCES 

WHICH LANDED IN MAY. RESISTANCE WAS STUBBORN BUT THE TROOPS PUSHED 

STEADILY FORWARD INTO THE MOUNTAINS, PRECEDED BY MARINE CORPS AND ARMY 

AIR FORCES AIRCRAFT WHICH DEMORALIZED THE RETREATING ENEMY.

BY THE END OF JUNE, ON BOTH MINDANAO AND LUZON AMERICAN SOLDIERS 

AND FILIPINO GUERRILLAS HAD COMPRESSED THE ENEMY INTO ISOLATED 

MOUNTAINOUS AREAS. THERE HE WAS SUBJECTED TO INTENSIVE AERIAL 

BOMBARDMENT AND TO CONSTANT PRESSURE UNTIL 15 AUGUST 1945 WHEN 

HOSTILITIES CEASED. ON 1 JULY THE EIGHTH ARMY ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR 
22

LAND OPERATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES; THE SIXTH ARMY REGROUPED FORCES IN 

PREPARATION FOR AN INVASION OF JAPAN.

SOUTHEAST ROOM

This room has seven maps:

1. BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA – 4-8 MAY 1942.

THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA WAS THE FIRST NAVAL BATTLE IN WHICH ALL 

LOSSES WERE INFLICTED BY CARRIER BASED AIRCRAFT, AND NO SHIP ON EITHER SIDE 

SIGHTED A SURFACE ENEMY.

BY MID-APRIL 1942 THE JAPANESE HAD ESTABLISHED BASES IN THE NEW GUINEASOLOMON ISLAND AREA, THUS MENACING AUSTRALIA ITSELF. ON 3 MAY THEY 

OCCUPIED TULAGI, A SMALL ISLAND IN THE SOLOMONS. PART OF A U.S. NAVAL TASK 

FORCE CONSISTING OF THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER YORKTOWN, FOUR CRUISERS AND SIX 

DESTROYERS MOVED NORTH TO CHECK THE INVASION. AIRCRAFT FROM THE USS 

YORKTOWN ATTACKED TULAGI ON 4 MAY SINKING AN ENEMY DESTROYER, SEVERAL 

MINESWEEPERS, SMALLER CRAFT AND SEAPLANES.

FOLLOWING THE TULAGI STRIKE, YORKTOWN AND HER ESCORTS TURNED SOUTH 

TO RENDEZVOUS WITH USS LEXINGTON EARLY ON THE MORNING OF 5 MAY. THE 

ALLIED TASK FORCE MOVED NORTHWEST TO INTERCEPT THE JAPANESE PORT 

MORESBY INVASION GROUP AND A POWERFUL CARRIER STRIKING FORCE. THEIR 

STRONG AMPHIBIOUS FORCE, INCLUDING 11 TROOP-LADEN TRANSPORTS PROTECTED 

BY A DESTROYED SCREEN, HAD LEFT RABAUL AND WAS HEADING FOR A DASH 

THROUGH JOMARD PASS.

ON 7 MAY LEXINGTON AND YORKTOWN AIRCRAFT SANK THE ENEMY CARRIER 

SHOHO WHICH WAS CLOSELY SUPPORTING THE PORT MORESBY AMPHIBIOUS ATTACK 

FORCE. THE JAPANESE WITHDREW THIS INVASION FORCE THUS MAKING THEIR FIRST 

SIGNIFICANT RETREAT IN WORLD WAR II. THE SAME MORNING JAPANESE CARRIER 

AIRCRAFT SANK USS SIMS AND THE TANKER NEOSHO, WHICH HAD BEEN MISTAKEN 

FOR A CARRIER AND CRUISER.

ON 8 MAY OCCURRED THE CLIMACTIC CARRIER BATTLE. NAVAL CARRIER 

AIRCRAFT LOCATED TWO LARGE JAPANESE CARRIERS PROTECTED BY FOUR HEAVY 

CRUISERS AND SEVERAL DESTROYERS. THE AIRPLANES HEAVILY DAMAGED THE 

LARGE JAPANESE CARRIER SHOKAKU. THE ENEMY IN TURN DAMAGED YORKTOWN 

AND LEXINGTON, THE LATTER SO SERIOUSLY THAT SHE HAD TO BE ABANDONED AND 

SUNK.

THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA WAS A STRATEGIC VICTORY OF THE FIRST 

MAGNITUDE FOR THE U.S. NAVY. WHEN THE PORT MORESBY INVASION WAS 

THWARTED, THE HERETOFORE UNINTERRUPTED JAPANESE PUSH INTO THE SOUTH 

PACIFIC WAS HALTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. OCCURRING IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE 

SURRENDER OF CORREGIDOR, ITS MORAL VALUE TO ALL ALLIED NATIONS WAS 

IMMEASURABLE. FURTHERMORE, DAMAGE TO SHOKAKU AND A LARGE LOSS OF 

AIRCRAFT BY ZUIKAKU PREVENTED THESE POWERFUL JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS 
23

FROM TAKING PART IN THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY WHERE THEIR PRESENCE MIGHT 

HAVE MADE A CRITICAL DIFFERENCE IN THE OUTCOME.

2. CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER – 1942-1945.

AFTER THE LOSS OF BURMA IN 1942 THE PEOPLE OF CHINA, WHO FOR MORE THAN 

A DECADE HAD BEEN RESISTING JAPANESE ENCROACHMENT UPON THEIR TERRITORY, 

WERE ISOLATED FROM THEIR ALLIES. A UNITED STATES AIR ROUTE WAS 

ESTABLISHED OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN RANGES OF THE HIMALAYAS AND FOR 

MANY MONTHS WAS THE SOLE MEANS OF SENDING EFFECTIVE SUPPORT TO THE 

CHINESE WAR EFFORT. THE U.S. TENTH AIR FORCE PROTECTED THIS ROUTE FROM 

ASSAM AND, WITH THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, ESTABLISHED AIR SUPREMACY OVER 

BURMA BY THE END OF 1943.

AT RAMGARH AN AMERICAN STAFF TRAINED CHINESE TROOPS AND PROVIDED 

THEM WITH MILITARY EQUIPMENT, LATER THESE TROOPS FOUGHT AGAINST THE 

JAPANESE IN BURMA AND WERE THEN AIRLIFTED TO CHINA TO CONTINUED THE 

STRUGGLE.

TO INCREASE THE FLOW OF SUPPLIES TO CHINA IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO REOPEN 

SURFACE COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS BURMA. BETWEEN DECEMBER 1943 AND MARCH 

1945 ALLIED GROUND FORCES, WHO WERE TRANSPORTED, SUPPLIED AND SUPPORTED 

BY AIR, DROVE THE JAPANESE OUT OF NORTH AND CENTRAL BURMA. ON THE HEELS 

OF THE COMBAT FORCES U.S. ENGINEERS BUILT THE LEDO ROAD, AN OUTSTANDING 

FEAT OF MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND CONNECTED IT TO THE BURMA ROAD NEAR 

THE CHINESE BORDER.

OVER CHINA THE U.S. FOURTEENTH AIR FORCE PROTECTED THE AIRLIFT OF 

URGENTLY NEEDED SUPPLIES UPON WHICH THE AMERICAN AND CHINESE FORCES 

DEPENDED. IN SPITE OF ITS LIMITED RESOURCES IT EFFECTIVELY SUPORTED CHINESE 

GROUND OPERATIONS, AND THROUGH ADVANCE BASES IN EAST CHINA STRUCK AT 

ENEMY SHIPPING IN ASIATIC WATERS. A WIDESPREAD NAVAL INTELLIGENCE 

NETWORK BASED AT CHUNGKING PLAYED ITS PART IN THESE ACTIVITIES.

BEHIND THE VICTORIES IN CHINA, THE RECONQUEST OF BURMA, AND THE 

TRIUMPH OF OUR AIR AND GROUND FORCES, LAY CONTROL OF THE SEA BY THE 

ALLIED NAVIES AND THE TREMENDOUS EFFORTS OF THE SERVICES OF SUPPLY WHICH 

MADE THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF VITAL SUPPLIES POSSIBLE. AFTER BEING SHIPPED 

HALF-WAY AROUND THE WORLD ACROSS TWO OCEAN AND PAST THREE CONTINENTS, 

SUPPLIES WERE UNLOADED AT INDIAN PORTS, THEN TRANSPORTED BY ROAD, 

RAILROAD, FERRY, BARGE OR PIPELINE TO ASSAM AIRFIELDS BEFORE BEING 

AIRLIFTED IN HAZARDOUS FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS FOR ULTIMATE 

DISTRIBUTION WITHIN CHINA. BY FEBRUARY 1945, PIPELINES WERE BEING EXTENDED 

FROM ASSAM TO KUNMING, AND TRUCKS WERE ROLLING ALONG THE LEDO-BURMA 

ROAD. THESE EFFORTS ENABLED THE CHINESE TO MAKE MATERIAL CONTRIBUTION 

TO THE DEFEAT OF THE JAPANESE.

3. AMERICAN AIR FERRY ROUTES—SUPPLY TO THE U.S.S.R. – 1941-1945.
24

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHILE CONTRIBUTING ITS LAND, SEA AND AIR 

FORCES TO THE PROSECUTION OF WORLD WAR II, ALSO AIDED ITS MANY ALLIES BY 

FURNISHING MILITARY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES. ITEMS OF ALL KINDS WERE 

CARRIED BY VAST FLEETS OF STEAMSHIPS TO EVERY AVAILABLE PORT. ALSO IN THIS 

EFFORT THOUSANDS OF AIRCRAFT WERE FERRIED FROM THE UNITED STATES ACROSS 

THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND CENTRAL AFRICA TO CAIRO, BASRA AND KARACHI.

THROUGH THE PERSIAN GULF COMMAND AREA, THE UNITED STATES DELIVERED, 

FROM 1942 TO 1945, NEARLY 4 1⁄2 MILLION TONS OF SUPPLIES TO THE U.S.S.R. THESE 

INCLUDED 4,874 AIRCRAFT OF WHICH 995 WERE FLOWN IN; OVER 160,000 TANKS, 

ARMORED CARS AND TRUCKS; 140,000 TONS OF GUNS, AMMUNITION AND EXPLOSIVES; 

550,000 TONS OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS; 950,000 TONS OF FOOD; AND 1,000,000 TONS OF 

METAL AND METAL PRODUCTS. THE UNITED STATES ALSO FURNISHED TO THE 

U.S.S.R., THROUGH OTHER PORTS, MORE THAN 13 MILLION TONS OF ADDITIONAL 

SUPPLIES.

4. UNITED STATES SUBMARINE OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC.

UNITED STATES SUBMARINES CONTRIBUTED MATERIALLY TO THE ALLIED 

VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC. THEY DESTROPYED NEARLY A THIRD OF THE JAPANESE 

COMBAT SHIPS AND FIFTY PERCENT OF THE JAPANESE MERCHANT MARINE. THE COST 

WAS THE LOSS OF FORTY-NINE SUBMARINES WITH THEIR GALLANT CREWS.

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR THE SUBMARINES 

BEGAN THEIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST JAPANESE SHIPPING. OPERATING THOUSANDS OF 

MILES FROM THEIR BASES AND DEEP WITHIN ENEMY-CONTROLLED WATERS THEY 

STRUCK WITH DEVASTATING EFFECTIVENESS. DURING THE EARLY PART OF 1942, 

WHILE SURFACE FORCES WERE RECOVERING FROM JAPANESE SURPRISE ATTACKS, 

AMERICAN SUBMARINES CONTINUED TO PRESS THE WAR BY LONG-RANGE OFFENSIVE 

OPERATIONS.

AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR THE U.S. HAD 39 FLEET SUBMARINES IN THE 

PACIFIC. THE NUMBER NEVER EXCEEDED 169, YET THEIR ATTACKS PRODUCED 

IMMEDIATE AND DAMAGING RESULTS. THEY MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE 

ENEMY TO HOLD HIS FORWARD POSITIONS, TO SUPPLY AND REINFORCE THREATENED 

AREAS, AND TO MAINTAIN IN JAPAN AN ADEQUATE RESERVE OF FUEL OIL, RUBBER, 

IRON AND OTHER ESSENTIAL MATERIALS. AS U.S. DOMINANCE EXTENDED ACROSS 

THE PACIFIC SUBMARINE ATTACKS RECAME INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE.

SUBMARINES PERFORMED SPECIAL MISSIONS OF RECONNAISSANCE, SUPPLY AND 

RESCUE. THEY EVACUATED PERSONNEL FROM BELEAGUERED AREAS, NOTABLY 

FROM CORREGIDOR. THE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT DELIVERED BY SUBMARINES TO 

FRIENDLY GUERRILLA FORCES DID MUCH TO KEEP ALIVE THE SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE 

IN THE PHILIPPINES. IN ADDITION U.S. SUBMARINES RESCUED MORE THAN FIVE 

HUNDRED ALLIED AIRMEN DURING THE COURSE OF THE WAR.

THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF THE WAR AMERICAN SUBMARINES ALSO 

PLAYED A SIGNIFICIANT PART IN THE ALLIED WAR EFFORT BY SUCCESSFUL 

OPERATIONS IN THE ATLANTIC AND INDIAN OCEANS AND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 

AND CARIBBEAN SEAS.
25

5. THE MARIANAS – 15 JUNE-10 AUGUST 1944.

TO PENETRATE THE ENEMY’S DEFENSES AND GAIN BASES FROM WHICH 

AIRCRAFT COULD STRIKE AT THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS, THE UNITED STATES 

UNDERTOOK TO SEIZE THE MARIANA ISLANDS IN THE SUMMER OF 1944. FOR SEVERAL

MONTHS PRIOR TO THE LANDINGS, FAST CARRIER TASK FORCES AND AIRCRAFT OF 

THE SEVENTH AIR FORCE CONDUCTED PRELIMINARY BOMBARDMENTS OF THE 

TARGET AREA.

ON 15 JUNE 1944, UNDER COVER OF NAVAL AND AIR BOMBARDMENT BY THE 

FIFTH FLEET, THE 2ND AND 4TH MARINE DIVISIONS OF THE V AMPHIBIOUS CORPS 

LANDED ON SAIPAN. THE JAPANESE REACTION WAS IMMEDIATE AND VIGOROUS; 

THEIR CARRIER TASK FORCE STEAMED TOWARD THE MARIANAS TO MEET THE 

AMERICAN AMPHIBIOUS EFFORT. IN THE ACTION THAT FOLLOWED, THE BATTLE OF 

THE PHILIPPINE SEA ON 19-20 JUNE, JAPANESE CARRIER AVIATION WAS 

SUBSTANTIALLY IMPAIRED AS A MAJOR FORCE IN THE WAR.

MEANWHILE THE MARINES AND THE ARMY’S 27TH INFANTRY DIVISION FOUGHT 

THEIR WAY ACROSS THE ISLAND AGAINST DETERMINED RESISTANCE. THEY THEN 

TURNED NORTHWARD AND SEIZED THE DOMINATING HEIGHTS OF MT. TAPOTCHAU ON 

25 AND 26 JUNE. ON THE LATTER NIGHT AN ENEMY ATTEMPT TO BREAK OUT OF HIS 

ISOLATED POSITION ON NAFUTAN POINT WAS DECISIVELY DEFEATED. AMERICAN 

FORCES CONTINUED TO PRESS THE ATTACK AGAINST THE MASS OF THE ENEMY, 

SLOWLY FORCING HIM NORTHWARD. FINALLY, ON THE NIGHT OF 6-7 JULY, THE 

JAPANESE MADE A DESPERATE LAST EFFORT; THEIR FURIOUS ASSAULT WAS 

REPULSED AND TWO DAYS LATER THE ISLAND WAS DECLARED SECURE.

ON 24 JULY, AFTER A LENGTHY PREPARATORY BOMBARDMENT BY U.S. SHIPS, 

AIRCRAFT, AND ARTILLERY FIRING FROM SAIPAN, THE 4TH MARINE DIVISION 

FOLLOWED BY THE 2ND MARINE DIVISION LANDED ON NORTHERN TINIAN. AFTER 

NINE DAYS OF SEVERE FIGHTING, WITH CONTINUOUS SUPPORT BY SEVENTH AIR 

FORCE AND CARRIER AIRCRAFT AND BY NAVAL GUNFIRE, THE MARINES SECURED 

THE ISLAND.

PRECEDED BY ONE OF THE HEAVIEST SUSTAINED NAVAL AND AIR 

BOMBARDMENTS CONDUCTED IN THE PACIFIC, THE 3RD MARINE DIVISION AND THE 1ST

MARINE BRIGADE OF THE III AMPHIBIOUS CORPS MADE TWO SEPARATE LANDINGS ON 

THE WESTERN SHORES OF GUAM ON 21 JULY. ON 24 JULY THE 77TH INFANTRY DIVISION 

ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE SOUTHERN BEACHEAD. THE NEXT DAY, WHILE THE 3RD

MARINE DIVISION CONTINUED ITS ASSAULT TO GAIN THE HIGH GROUND TO ITS 

FRONT, THE 1ST MARINE BRIGADE BEGAN CLEARING THE OROTE PENINSULA. THAT 

NIGHT THE CRISIS CAME ON BOTH FRONTS WHEN THE JAPANESE LAUNCHED SPIRITED 

BUT UNSUCCESSFUL COUNTERATTACKS AGAINST BOTH UNITS.

THE INDIVIDUAL BEACHHEADS WERE THEN LINKED TOGETHER AND AMERICAN 

LINES CONSOLIDATED. SUPPORTED BY ARMY, NAVY AND MARINE CORPS AIRCRAFT, 

THE 77TH INFANTRY DIVISION AND THE 3RD MARINE DIVISION LAUNCHED A 

COORDINATED ATTACK TOWARD THE NORTH END OF THE ISLAND WHERE THE 

JAPANESE HAD CONCENTRATED THEIR FORCES. BY 10 AUGUST ORGANIZED 

RESISTANCE HAD CEASED. 
26

6. BATTLE OF MIDWAY—3-7 JUNE 1942.

AFTER THEIR ADVANCE TOWARD AUSTRALIA WAS CHECKED AT THE BATTLE OF 

THE CORAL SEA IN MAY 1942, THE JAPANESE SHIFTED THEIR MAIN OFFENSIVE 

NORTHWARD TOWARD THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AND THE ALEUTIANS.

IN JUNE, JAPANESE OCCUPATION FORCES, SUPPORTED BY THE JAPANESE 

COMBINED FLEET, MOVED AGAINST MIDWAY ISLAND, WEST OF HAWAII, AND KISKA 

AND ATTU IN THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS.

MEANWHILE, THE UNITED STATES REINFORCED THE MARINE GARRISON ON 

MIDWAY AND ALERTED THE PACIFIC FLEET FOR THE DEFENSE OF THAT ISLAND. ON 4 

JUNE AIRCRAFT FROM FOUR JAPANESE FLEET CARRIERS ATTACKED MIDWAY. IN ITS 

DEFENSE U.S. MARINE ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERIES, AND LANDBASED AIRCRAFT 

MANNED BY MARINE, NAVY AND ARMY AIR FORCES PILOTS, DESTROYED MORE THAN 

40 JAPANESE AIRPLANES. THEREUPON NAVAL AIRCRAFT FROM THE U.S. CARRIERS 

ENTERPRISE, YORKTOWN AND HORNET ATTACKED THE JAPANESE CARRIERS AND 

SANK FOUR OF THEM. JAPANESE CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT AND A SUBMARINE 

ATTACKED OUR CARRIERS AND SANK YORKTOWN. DISCOMFITED BY THE AMERICAN 

AIR RESISTANCE THE JAPANESE MIDWAY OCCUPATION FORCE WITHDREW WITHOUT 

ATTEMPTING TO LAND, LOSING A CRUISER IN THE OPERATION.

Operations Map – Southeast Room

FAR TO THE NORTH, JAPANESE AIRPLANES FROM TWO OTHER CARRIERS BOMBED 

DUTCH HARBOR ON 3 AND 4 JUNE, MEETING RESISTANCE FROM U.S. NAVY AND ARMY 
27

AIR FORCES AIRCRAFT. UNDER COVER OF THIS DIVERSION THE JAPANESE, WITHOUT 

OPPOSITION, OCCUPIED THE ISLANDS OF ATTU AND KISKA ON 7 JUNE.

THE JAPANESE LOSS OF FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND THEIR COMPLEMENT OF 

250 AIRCRAFT WITH MANY FIRST-LINE PILOTS COMPLETELY REVERSED THE 

STRATEGIC SITUATION IN THE PACIFIC. THIS WAS THEIR LAST GREAT OFFENSIVE 

AGAINST AMERICAN TERRITORY. THEREAFTER THE UNITED STATES TOOK THE 

OFFENSIVE AND STARTED THE LONG ADVANCE TOWARD THE JAPANESE HOMELAND 

AND FINAL VICTORY,

7. BATTLE OF THE PHILIPPINE SEA – 15-20 JUNE 1944.

WHEN, ON 15 JUNE 1944, THE U.S. FIFTH FLEET LANDED THE 2ND AND 4TH MARINE 

DIVISIONS OF THE V AMPHIBIOUS CORPS ON SAIPAN, THE JAPANESE REACTION WAS 

IMMEDIATE AND VIGOROUS. BY THE VERY NEXT DAY THE JAPANESE MOBILE FLEET, 

WHICH INCLUDED NINE FAST CARRIERS, HAD SET UNITS IN MOTION FROM MANY 

WIDELY SEPARATED AREAS, EFFECTED A RENDEZVOUS IN THE PHILIPPINE SEA, AND 

MOVED TO THE ATTACK. THE COMBAT ELEMENTS OF THE FIFTH FLEET, INCLUDING 

FIFTEEN FAST CARRIERS, IMMEDIATELY MOVED INTO POSITION TO COVER THE 

SAIPAN AMPHIBIOUS OPERATION WHILE ITS CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT CONTINUED 

THEIR DESTRUCTIVE ATTACKS UPON THE JAPANESE AIR BASES IN THE MARIANAS.

THE JAPANESE, EARLY ON THE MORNING OF 19 JUNE, BEGAN LAUNCHING 

AIRCRAFT AT EXTREME RANGE, PLANNING THAT THESE SHOULD SUCCESSFULLY 

ATTACK THE AMERICAN SHIPS, THEN LAND AND REFUEL AT GUAM. FOUR SEPARATE 

ATTACKS WERE INTERCEPTED BY AIRCRAFT OF THE FIFTH FLEET; OVER 300 JAPANESE 

AIRCRAFT BEING SHOT DOWN BY AMERICAN INTERCEPTORS AND ANTI-AIRCRAFT 

FIRE, DESTROYED ON THE GROUND OR LOST AT SEA.

ONLY A FEW JAPANESE AIRCRAFT WERE ABLE TO RETURN TO THEIR CARRIERS, 

WHICH IN THE MEANTIME BEGAN TO WITHDRAW TO THE NORTHWEST. THE FIFTH 

FLEET PURSUED BUT DID NOT LOCATE THE RETREATING ENEMY UNTIL THE 

AFTERNOON OF 20 JUNE WHEN AMERICAN AIRCRAFT WERE LAUNCHED AT SUCH LONG 

RANGE, SO LATE IN THE DAY, THAT A PERILOUS NIGHT RECOVERY WAS INEVITABLE. 

NEVERTHELESS, THE AMERICAN PILOTS BOLDLY PRESSED THEIR ATTACK AND SANK A 

CARRIER AND TWO TANKERS. MANY AIRCRAFT FAILED TO RETURN.

IN ADDITION TO THE DESTRUCTION INFLICTED BY U.S. NAVAL AIRCRAFT, 

SUBMARINES OF THE PACIFIC FLEET SANK TWO OTHER JAPANESE AIRCRAFT 

CARRIERS ON 19 JUNE.
28

NORTHEAST ROOM

This room has six maps:

1. GENERAL STRATEGY IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945.

EXPLOITING THEIR SUCCESSFUL ATTACK UPON PEARL HARBOR ON 7 DECEMBER 

1941, THE JAPANESE STRUCK AT AMERICA, BRITISH, CHINESE AND DUTCH 

TERRITORIES. THE UNITED STATES, FORCED INTIALLY UPON THE DEFENSIVE, 

NEVERTHELESS DETERMINED TO HOLD OPEN THE LINE OF COMMUNICATIONS TO 

AUSTRALIA, TO AID IN THE DEFENSE OF THAT CONTINENT AND TO DO ITS UTMOST TO 

REINFORCE THE PHILIPPINES. IN MAY AND JUNE 1942 THE ENEMY OFFENSIVE WAS 

CHECKED AT THE BATTLES OF THE CORAL. SEA AND MIDWAY WHICH RESTORED THE 

BALANCE OF SEA POWER IN THE PACIFIC.
29

TO STOP THE JAPANESE ADVANCE IN THE SOLOMONS, WHICH THREATENED THE 

VITAL SUPPLY LINE TO AUSTRALIA, U.S. FORCES TOOK THE OFFENSIVE, LANDING ON 

GUADALCANAL ON 7 AUGUST 1942. THE SUCCESSION OF HARDFOUGHT NAVAL 

BATTLES AND GRIM STRUGGLES ON LAND AND IN THE AIR WHICH FOLLOWED 

MARKED THE TURNING POINT OF THE PACIFIC WAR. IN NEW GUINEA, U.S. AND 

AUSTRALIAN FORCES REPULSED THE JAPANESE THRUST TOWARD PORT MORESBY 

AND ADVANCED ON THE LONG ROAD BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES. THE CHINESE 

EFFORT WAS AIDED BY SUPPLIES FLOWN OVER THE HIMALAYAS FROM INDIA.

MEANWHILE SUBMARINES HAD BEEN CONTINOUSLY ATTACKING JAPANESE 

SHIPS CARRYING OIL, RUBBER AND OTHER MATERIALS ESSENTIAL TO THE ENEMY’S 

INDUSTRY. THE RELENTLESS ASSAULT AGAINST HIS COMBAT AND MERCHANT SHIPS 

WAS TO CONTINUE, FROM THE SEA AND FROM THE AIR, WITH EVER-INCREASING 

ATTRITION THROUGHOUT THE WAR.

TO PENETRATE THE ENEMY’S DEFENSES AND GAIN BASES FROM WHICH 

AIRCRAFT COULD STRIKE AT THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS, THE UNITED STATES 

COMMITTED ITS MAJOR FORCES ALONG TWO MAIN AXES OF ADVANCE. ONE THRUST 

WAS TO CONTINUE THE ATTACK NORTHWESTWARD SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGH THE 

SOLOMON ISLANDS AND ALONG THE COAST OF NEW GUINEA. THE OTHER WOULD 

CROSS THE TREMENDOUS REACHES OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC VIA THE GILBERT AND 

MARSHALL ISLANDS AND THE STRONGLY DEFENDED MARIANA AND PALAU ISLANDS. 

BY MID-SEPTEMBER 1944 ALL THESE MISSIONS HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, WHILE, 

SIMULTANEOUSLY, CONTROL OF THE SEA AND AIR HAD BEEN WRESTED FROM THE 

ENEMY, THUS DENYING ESCAPE TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF JAPANESE TROOPS 

ON BY-PASSED BASES SUCH AS RABAUL AND TRUK. MEANWHILE FAR TO THE NORTH 

OTHER AMERICAN FORCES HAD EXPELLED THE ENEMY FROM THE ALEUTIANS. IN 

BURMA ALLIED FORCES WERE DRIVING FORWARD TO REOPEN THE OVERLAND 

SUPPLY ROUTE TO CHINA AND STIMULATE HER EFFORTS TO EJECT THE JAPANESE 

INVADERS.

IN JUNE 1944 THE STRATEGIC AIR BOMBARDMENT OF JAPAN HAD BEGUN FROM 

AIRFIELDS IN CHINA. WITH THE CAPTURE OF THE MARIANAS, BOMBERS FROM THESE 

ISLANDS JOINED THE ASSAULT WHICH DEVELOPED BY WAR’S END INTO A 

PROLONGED AND VIOLENT BOMBARDMENT AIMED AT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 

JAPANESE MILITARY AND INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS.

TO LIBERATE THE PHILIPPINES AND TO OBTAIN FORWARD BASES CLOSER TO 

JAPAN, U.S. ARMY, NAVY, MARINE AND AIR FORCES CONTINUED THEIR SUCCESSIVE 

AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULTS. THE LANDING AT LEYTE IN OCTOBER 1944 BROUGHT ON THE 

DECISIVE NAVAL BATTLES FOR LEYTE GULF. AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS ON LUZON, IWO 

JIMA AND OKINAWA FOLLOWED IN RAPID SUCCESSION. FAST CARRIER TASK FORCES 

JOINED IN THE STRATEGIC BOMBARDMENT OF JAPAN; U.S. WARSHIPS SHELLED THE 

COASTAL STATIONS DENYING TO THE REMNANTS OF THE JAPANESE FLEET THE 

SAFETY OF ITS HOME HARBORS.

AFTER THE DEVASTATION FROM THE AIR OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, THE 

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SUED FOR PEACE; THE SURRENDER TERMS WERE SIGNED IN 

TOKYO BAY ON 2 SEPTEMBER 1945.

2. GUADALCANAL – 7 AUGUST 1942-9 FEBRUARY 1943.
30

FOLLOWING THE NAVAL VICTORY IN THE CORAL SEA, THE UNITED STATES 

LAUNCHED AN OFFENSIVE IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS TO HALT THE JAPANESE 

ADVANCE ON LAND. SUPPORTED BY NAVAL AIRCRAFT, THE SOUTH PACIFIC FORCE OF 

THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET LANDED THE 1ST MARINE DIVISION AT GUADALCANAL AND 

TULAGI ON 7 AUGUST 1942.

THE JAPANESE REACTION WAS PROMPT AND VIGOROUS, BOMBERS FROM 

RABAUL ATTACKED TROOPS ASHORE AND THE SUPPORTING NAVAL VESSELS. ON 9 

AUGUST A STRONG JAPANESE FLEET CAME DOWN “THE SLOT” AND ENGAGED U.S. AND 

AUSTRALIAN NAVAL FORCES OFF SAVO ISLAND. ALLIED LOSSES WERE HEAVY. 

ASHORE THE MARINES FOUGHT HERIOCALLY TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR BEACHHEAD 

AND COMPLETE THE AIR BASE AT HENDERSON FIELD.

FROM THEIR ADVANCE BASES BOTH OPPONENTS STROVE TO BUILD UP THEIR 

OWN STRENGTH ON GUADALCANAL. ATTENTION WAS FOCUSSED ON HENDERSON 

FIELD. AMERICAN EFFORTS TO DEVELOP AND KEEP IT OPERATING COULD NOT BE 

RELAXED NOTWITHSTANDING CONTINOUS SURFACE AND AIR BOMBARDMENT. A 

SERIES OF HARDFOUGHT SEA BATTLES ENSUED WITH SEVERE LOSSES ON BOTH SIDES 

– THE BATTLE OF THE EASTERN SOLOMONS IN AUGUST, THE BATTLES OF CAPE 

ESPERANCE AND THE SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS IN OCTOBER, FOLLOWED BY 

GUADALCANAL AND TASSAFARONGA IN NOVEMBER AND RENNELL ISLAND IN 

JANUARY 1943. THE SEA BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL WHEN OUTNUMBERED U.S. 

CRUISERS AND DESTROYERS ENGAGED THE JAPANESE BATTLESHIP FORCE WAS 

ESPECIALLY FURIOUS.

ON LAND THE JAPANESE, SUPPORTED BY STRONG AIR COVER, ON THE NIGHTS OF 

12 AND 13 SEPTEMBER ATTACKED BOTH FLANKS, AS WELL AS THE CENTER OF THE 

MARINE POSITION ON THE RIDGE SOUTH OF HENDERSON FIELD, BUT WERE 

DECISIVELY DEFEATED. IN TURN, THE AMERICANS, HAVING BEEN REINFORCED BY 

ADDITIONAL MARINE AND ARMY UNITS, ATTACKED THE JAPANESE POSITIONS TO THE 

WEST ALONG THE MATANIKAU RIVER FROM 23 TO 27 SEPTEMBER BUT WERE FORCED 

TO WITHDRAW; THEY RENEWED THE ATTACK ON 7 OCTOBER AND SECURED THE EAST 

BANK OF THE RIVER TWO DAYS LATER.

THE JAPANESE BROUGHT IN REINFORCEMENTS INCLUDING HEAVIER ARTILLERY. 

ON 23 OCTOBER STRONG JAPANESE INFANTRY FORCES SUPPORTED BY TANKS, 

ARTILLERY FIRE AND AIR AND NAVAL BOMBARDMENT, ATTACKED ACROSS THE 

MATANIKAU BUT WERE REPULSED BY THE 1ST AND 7TH MARINE REGIMENTS. ON 24-25 

OCTOBER THE ENEMY LAUNCHED TWO POWERFUL ATTACKS AGAINST THE SOUTHERN 

PERIMETER. THE FIRST ATTACK AGAINST HENDERSON FIELD WAS REPULSED AFTER 

DESPERATE FIGHTING BY THE 7TH MARINE REGIMENT AND THE 164TH INFANTRY 

REGIMENT. THE OTHER ATTACK, NORTH OF MOUNT AUSTEN, AFTER A BRIEF INITIAL 

SUCCESS WAS ALSO REPULSED.
31

THE TENACIOUS OPPOSITION OF 

THE JAPANESE MADE IT NECESSARY 

TO REINFORCE OUR LAND, SEA AND 

AIR FORCES HEAVILY. THE ARMY’S 

25TH AND AMERICAL DIVISIONS, AS 

WELL AS THE 2ND MARINE DIVISION, 

NOW RELIEVED THE 1ST MARINE 

DIVISION. ON 17 DECEMBER THESE 

DIVISIONS LAUNCHED A 

DETERMINED ATTACK AGAINST 

THE JAPANESE POSITION ON MOUNT 

AUSTEN WHICH THEY CAPTURED A 

WEEK LATER. ON 10 JANUARY THE 

ATTACK WAS RESUMED AND AFTER 

HARD FIGHTING THE STRONGLY 

DEFENDED JAPANESE POSITIONS 

FARTHER TO THE WEST WERE 

SEIZED.

RECOGNIZING THEIR PERIL, 

THE JAPANESE, BETWEEN THE 1ST

AND 8TH OF FEBRUARY, EVACUATED 

ABOUT 13,000 MEN FROM 

GUADALCANAL UNDER COVER OF 

DARKNESS. BY 9 FEBRUARY 1943 

THE AMERICAN TROOPS HAD 

OVERRUN THE LAST OF THE 

JAPANESE POSITIONS AND THE 

HARD-FOUGHT CAMPAIGN FOR 

GUADALCANAL WAS WON.

 Interior of Chapel and Mosaic

3. FAST CARRIER STRIKES IN THE PACIFIC – 1942-1945. 

BECAUSE THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR FORCED THE U.S. NAVAL FORCES TO 

THE DEFENSIVE THROUGHOUT THE PACIFIC. THEIR FIRST OFFENSIVE EFFORTS WERE 

LIMITED STRIKES AGAINST SUPERIOR ENEMY CONCENTRATIONS BY THE NAVAL AIR 

FORCES.

IN MAY AND JUNE 1942, U.S. FORCES FOUGHT THE SUCCESSFUL BATTLES OF THE 

CORAL SEA AND MIDWAY. THEN, AT GUADALCANAL, THERE FOLLOWED A SERIES OF 

HARD-FOUGHT NAVAL BATTLES AND GRIM STRUGGLES ON THE LAND AND IN THE AIR 

WHICH MARKED THE TURNING POINT OF THE PACIFIC WAR.
32

THE LONG ADVANCE TOWARD THE JAPANESE HOMELAND BEGAN IN 1943. THE 

VOLUME AND EFFECTIVENESS OF AIR STRIKES WAS INTENSIFIED; DURING THE FIRST 

TWO YEARS OF THE WAR THE NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS WAS INCREASED 

Visitors’ Building at Entrance Plaza

FROM NINE TO MORE THAN FIFTY. THESE FORMED THE SPEARHEAD OF THE 

TRIPHIBIOUS OFFENSIVES IN THE GILBERT ISLANDS, THEN IN EARLY 1944, THROUGH 

THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. IN JUNE THE AMERICAN ATTACK ON THE MARIANAS 

BROUGHT ON THE BATTLE OF THE PHILIPPINE SEA IN WHICH THE JAPANESE NAVAL 

AIR ARM WAS ELIMINATED AS A DECISIVE FACTOR IN THE WAR.

AIRCRAFT CARRIERS SUPPORTED THE LANDINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES IN 1944, AND 

ON IWO JIMA AND OKINAWA IN 1945. FAST CARRIER TASK FORCES JOINED IN THE 

STRATEGIC BOMBARDMENT OF JAPAN, RANGING AT WILL OFF THE COAST OF THE 

JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS, SINKING SHIPS AND RENDERING HARBORS UNTENABLE. 

THE ROLE OF THESE MOBILE CARRIERS WAS OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE IN THE 

PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.

4. AIR ASSAULT ON JAPAN – 1942-1945.

ON 15 JUNE 1944 U.S. ARMY HEAVY BOMBERS FROM AIRFIELDS IN CHINA 

LAUNCHED THE FIRST STRATEGIC AIR ATTACKS AGAINST THE JAPANESE HOMELAND. 

ON THE SAME DAY U.S. AMPHIBIOUS FORCES ASSAULTED THE MARIANA ISLANDS SO 
33

AS TO GAIN AIR BASES CLOSER TO JAPAN. IN JANUARY 1945 AIRCRAFT FROM CHINA 

WERE REDEPLOYED TO THESE NEW BASES.

EVEN BEFORE THE CAPTURE OF THE MARIANAS WAS COMPLETE, AIRFIELDS 

WERE BEING BUILT FROM WHICH THE U.S. TWENTIETH AIR FORCE WAS LATER TO 

CONDUCT ITS DEVASTATING BOMBARDMENT CAMPAIGN. FROM THE FIRST MAJOR 

STRIKE ON NOVEMBER 1944 UNTIL THE END OF HOSTILITIES IN AUGUST 1945 THE 

OFFENSIVE CONTINUED WITH EVER MOUNTING INTENSITY. THE OBJECTIVE WAS THE 

PROGRESSIVE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY’S MILITARY, INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC 

SYSTEMS. IN MARCH 1945 HEAVY BOMBERS ENGAGED ALSO IN AERIAL MINE LAYING 

TO INTENSIFY THE BLOCKADE OF JAPAN ALREADY ESTABLISHED BY U.S. 

SUBMARINES.

THE CAPTURE OF IWO JIMA IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1945 WAS OF VITAL 

IMPORTANCE TO THE AIR ASSAULTS ON JAPAN. THE AIRFIELDS THERE ESTABLISHED 

SERVED AS A BASE FOR FIGHTER ESCORTS AND A HAVEN FOR DAMAGED BOMBERS 

MAKING THE LONG OVERWATER RETURN TO THE MARIANAS.

IN JULY 1945 THE U.S. TWENTEITH AIR FORCE, IN THE MARIANAS, AND THE U.S. 

EIGHTH AIR FORCE, STATIONED ON OKINAWA, COMBINED TO OPERATE AS THE U.S. 

ARMY STRATEGIC AIR FORCES. DURING JULY AND AUGUST THE U.S. FAR EAST AIR 

FORCES AND MARINE CORPS AIRCRAFT BASED ON OKINAWA PARTICIPATED IN THE 

STRATEGIC ASSAULT. AFTER THE DEVASTATION FROM THE AIR OF HIROSHIMA AND 

NAGASAKI IN AUGUST 1945, THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SUED FOR PEACE.

5. OKINAWA – 26 MARCH-22 JUNE 1945.

EARLY IN 1945 THE GREAT CONCENTRATION OF U.S. SEA, LAND AND AIR POWER 

IN THE PACIFIC ENABLED OUR FORCES TO CHALLENGE JAPAN IN HER OWN WATERS. 

FOR MONTHS AIRCRAFT FROM THE NAVY’S FAST CARRIERS AND ARMY AIR FORCE 

BOMBERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA AND THE MARIANAS HAD BOMBED 

THE IMPORTANT BASES IN THE RYUKYUS. THE AMPHIBIOUS INVASION WAS INITIATED 

WHEN A DIVISION OF THE TENTH ARMY LANDED ON KERAMA RETTO WEST OF 

OKINAWA ON 26 MARCH. THERE FOLLOWED A DESPERATE THREE MONTHS STRUGGLE 

ON LAND, ON SEA, AND IN THE AIR.

ON 1 APRIL, UNDER COVER OF AN INTENSIVE NAVAL AND AIR BOMBARDMENT BY 

THE U.S. FIFTH FLEET, TWO DIVISIONS OF THE U.S. ARMY XXIV CORPS AND TWO 

DIVISIONS OF THE MARINE IN AMPHIBIOUS CORPS LANDED ON OKINAWA ITSELF. THE 

TWO CORPS, ATTACKING ABREAST, PUSHED RAPIDLY ACROSS THE ISLAND, THUS 

SPLITTING THE JAPANESE FORCES. THE III AMPHIBIOUS CORPS THEN TURNED NORTH, 

WHILE THE XXIV CORPS TURNED SOUTH TO ATTACK THE JAPANESE MAIN DEFENSIVE 

POSITIONS.

TO INSURE EARLY WARNING OF THE EXPECTED ENEMY AIR OFFENSIVE FROM 

AIRFIELDS IN JAPAN, CHINA AND FORMOSA, THE FIFTH FLEET ESTABLISHED A RING OF 

DESTROYERS AND ESCORT VESSELS AROUND OKINAWA. INITIALLY THE SUICIDAL 

ATTACKS OF THE JAPANESE LAND-BASED KAMIKAZE AIRPLANES WHICH CAUSED 

HEAVY LOSSES WERE FOUGHT OFF BY THE CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT AND 

ANTIAIRCRAFT FIRE OF THE SUREFACE SHIPS. ON THE NIGHT OF 6-7 APRIL, THE 
34

ENEMY SURFACE FLEET MADE ITS LAST SORTIE FROM ITS HOME WATERS. U.S. 

CARRIER AIRCRAFT ATTACKED THIS FORCE, SINKING A BATTLESHIP, A CRUISER AND 

FOUR RESTROYERS. COMMENCING ON 9 APRIL LAND-BASED AIRCRAFT OF THE U.S. 

MARINES AND THE ARMY AIR FORCES RAPIDLY AUGMENTED THE CARRIER-BASED 

AIRCRAFT AND ULTIMATELY CHECKED THE KAMIKAZES,

ASSISTED BY LAND-BASED AIRCRAFT OF THE MARINES AND THE ARMY AIR 

FORCES, AND BY NAVAL GUNFIRE, OUR MARINE AND ARMY DIVISIONS ADVANCED 

SOUTHWARD AGAINST FANATICAL RESISTANCE AND FURIOUS COUNTERATTACKS. 

EACH SUCCESSIVE ENEMY STRONGPOINT WAS CLEARED ONLY BY PERSISTENT AND 

HEROIC EFFORT. BY THE MIDDLE OF JUNE OUR GOUND FORCES HAD BATTERED THEIR 

WAY THROUGH THE FORTIFIED NAHA-SHURI LINE. BY 22 JUNE 1945 THE LAST 

ORGANIZED UNIT OF THE JAPANESE GARRISON HAD BEEN DESTROYED. OKINAWA 

THEN BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN STRATEGIC BASE WITHIN EASY RANGE OF THE 

JAPANESE HOMELAND.

6. IWO JIMA –16 FEBRUARY-16 MARCH 1945.

BEFORE THE CAPTURE OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS HAD BEEN COMPLETED IN 

AUGUST 1944 AIRFIELDS WERE UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON SAIPAN AND GUAM. FROM 

THESE, IN NOVEMBER, THE U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES BEGAN INTENSIVE AIR ASSAULTS 

AGAINST THE JAPANESE HOMELAND. THE PROMPT SEIZURE OF THE ISLAND OF IWO 

JIMA BECAME OF VITAL IMPORTANCE BECAUSE IT COULD PROVIDE THE ONLY 

EMERGENCY LANDING FOR RETURNING AIRCRAFT IN DISTRESS AS WELL AS A BASE 

FOR FIGHTER ESCORTS.

SENSING THE PERIL TO THEIR EMPIRE THE JAPANESE CONCENTRATED ON 

MAKING IWO JIMA IMPREGNABLE, GARRISONING THIS FORTIFIED ISLAND OF ABOUT 

SEVEN SQUARE MILES WITH MORE THAN 20,000 TROOPS IN CAREFULLY PREPARED 

DEFENSIVE POSITIONS. AGAINST THESE, FOR SEVEN MONTHS PRIOR TO THE 

AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT, THE U.S. SEVENTH AIR FORCE AS WELL AS FAST CARRIER 

AIRCRAFT SQUADRONS AND NAVAL SURFACE SHIPS DIRECTED BOMBARDMENTS OF 

INCREASING FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY.

ON 16 FEBRUARY 1945 UNITS OF THE FIFTH FLEET BEGAN A CONCENTRATED 

GUNFIRE AND AERIAL BOMBARDMENT OF IWO JIMA WHILE THE FAST CARRERS, IN A 

COVERING ACTION, STRUCK AT TARGETS IN JAPAN, THEN RETURNED THREE DAYS 

LATER TO JOIN IN THE ATTACK. ON THE MORNING OF 19 FEBRUARY, UNDER COVER OF 

A HEAVY BOMBARDMENT, THE FIFTH FLEET LANDED THE 4TH AND 5TH MARINE 

DIVISIONS ON THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF THE ISLAND. THE ENEMY REACTED 

VIOLENTLY, POURING CONCENTRATED FIRE FROM PREVIOUSLY UNDETECTED 

POSITIONS. AS THE MARINES ADVANCE ACROSS OPEN GROUND THEY WERE RAKED 

BY HEAVY FIRE FROM THE HIGH GROUND ON THE FLANKS. THE 4TH MARINE DIVISION 

ON THE RIGHT SUFFERED SEVERE CASUALTIES AND THE ESCORT CARRIER BISMARCK 

SEA WAS SUNK-OFF-SHORE BY ENEMY AIR ATTACK.

BY THE END OF THE DAY THE MARINES HAD FOUGHT THEIR WAY ACROSS THE 

ISLAND AND HAD ISOLATED THE JAPANESE ON MOUNT SURIBACHI FROM THE MAIN 

FORCES IN THE NORTH. ON THE FOLLOWING DAY OUR TROOPS CAPTURED AIRFIELD 

NO. 1. THE 3RD MARINE DIVISION LANDED ON THE THIRD DAY.
35

AIRFIELD NO. 2 WAS REACHED ON 23 FEBRUARY. SIMULTANEOUSLY THE 5TH

DIVISION STORMED THE STEEP SLOPES OF MOUNT SURBACHI, CAPTURING THE 

SUMMIT. AN ASSAULT TO THE MOTOYAMA PLATEAU BROUGHT THE MARINES 

DIRECTLY INTO THE FACE OF THE HEAVIEST ENEMY DEFENSES. THEN AS THE 4TH

DIVISION ATTACKED ON THE RIGHT AND THE 5TH DIVISION ON THE LEFT, THE 3RD

DIVISION IN THE CENTER CRACKED THE MAIN LINE OF JAPANESE RESISTANCE.

FOR NEARLY TWO WEEKS MORE, WITH CONTINUOUS SUPPORT BY SEVENTH AIR 

FORCE AND CARRIER AIRCRAFT AND NAVAL GUNFIRE, THE MARINES PRESSED 

FORWARD AGAINST A DETERMINED RESISTANCE CONDUCTED BY A WELL TRAINED, 

WELL EQUIPPED ENEMY, FIGHTING FROM THOUSANDS OF DEFENSIVE INSTALLATIONS 

AND DEEP CAVES. DESPITE HEAVY AND CONTINUOUS LOSSES THE MARINES 

MAINTAINED THEIR DRIVE UNTIL FINALLY, AFTER 26 DAYS OF BITTER ASSAULT, THE 

ISLAND WAS SECURED.

NORTHWEST ROOM

This room has five maps:

1. THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY – 1941-1945.

THROUGHOUT THE WAR IN EUROPE WHICH BEGAN 1939 THE PROTECTION AND 

CONTROL OF THE SEA AND AIR ROUTES TO THE BRITISH ISLES WERE VITAL TO THE 

ALLIES’ HOPES OF VICTORY. FOLLOWING THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, 

THE UNITED STATES NAVY ACTIVELY JOINED THE ALLIED FORCES ENGAGED IN THE 

BITTERLY CONTESTED BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC, FIGHTING TO KEEP THE SEA LANES 

OPEN.

IN AUGUST THE U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES JOINED THEIR BRITISH COMRADES IN THE 

STRATEGIC BOMBARDMENT OF GERMANY. FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS THIS AERIAL 

ASSAULT CONTINUED WITH EVER-INCREASING VIOLENCE, STRIKING DEEP INTO 

ENEMY TERRITORY TO DISLOCATE AND DESTROY HIS MILITARY AND INDUSTRIAL 

SYSTEMS.

IN NOVEMBER 1942 AMERICAN AND BRITISH FORCES LANDED ON THE SHORES OF 

NORTH AFRICA BUT WERE CHECKED JUST 16 MILES FROM TUNIS. A COUNTERATTACK 

NEAR KASSERINE WAS HALTED ON 22 FEBRURAY. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN IN NORTH 

AFRICA OPENED ON 22 APRIL 1943. BY 13 MAY ONE QUARTER OF A MILLION AXIS 

TROOPS REMAINING IN TUNISIA BECAME PRISONERS OF WAR.

ON 10 JULY 1943, UNDER COVER OF NAVAL AND AIR BOMBARDMENT, THE ALLIES 

LANDED ON THE SHORES OF SICILY. IN A SWIFT CAMPAIGN, LASTING ONLY 39 DAYS, 

THEY EXPELLED THE ENEMY FROM THE ISLAND.

IN SEPTEMBER U.S. AND BRITISH FORCES LANDED IN SOUTHERN ITALY, SEIZING 

THE AIRFIELDS NEAR FOGGIA. FROM THESE, U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES LAUNCHED 

STRATEGIC AIR ATTACKS, IN COORDINATION WITH THE ALLIED AIR FLEETS ALREADY 

OPERATING FROM ENGLAND, ON AUSTRIA, THE BALKANS AND GERMANY. TO ASSIST 

THE GROUND ADVANCE, A LANDING WAS MADE IN THE ANZIO REGION BUT THE 

ENEMY’S PROMPT REACTION PREVENTED EXPLOITATION OF THIS BEACHHEAD. ON 11 
36

MAY THE ALLIES LAUNCHED A GENERAL ASSAULT, BROKE THROUGH THE ENEMY 

DEFENSES AND ON 4 JUNE 1944 AMERICAN TROOPS ENTERED ROME.

DRIVING NORTHWARD, THE ALLIES BREACHED THE ENEMY’S “GOTHIC” 

MOUNTAIN DEFENSE LINE BUT STIFFENING RESISTANCE HALTED THE ADVANCE. 

RESUMING THE OFFENSIVE IN THE SPRING OF 1945 OUR TROOPS CROSSED THE PO THEN 

SPREAD OUT TO CLOSE THE NORTHERN FRONTIERS. ON 2 MAY 1945 THE ENEMY IN 

ITALY SURRENDERED INCONDITIONALLY.

ON 6 JUNE 1944 UNITED STATES AND BRITISH COMMONWEALTH FORCES LANDED 

ON THE NORTHERN COAST OF FRANCE. ON 25 JULY THEY BROKE OUT OF THEIR 

BEACHHEAD, REPULSED A POWERFUL COUNTERATTACK AND THEN DROVE 

EASTWARD ACROSS THE SEINE. BY MID-SEPTEMBER, JOINED BY THOSE WHO HAS 

LANDED IN SOUTHERN FRANCE, THEY WERE STANDING ON THE THRESHOLD OF 

GERMANY.

ON 16 DECEMBER THE ENEMY LAUNCHED HIS FINAL MAJOR COUNTER 

OFFENSIVE. THE SUPERB FIGHTING QUALITIES OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN 

HURLED BACK THIS ASSAULT AND CARRIED THEM TO THE RHINE. U.S. FORCES SEIZED 

A BRIDGE AT REMAGEN, CROSSED AT OPPENHEIM, THEN JOINED THE BRITISH IN THE 

MAJOR ASSAULT CROSSING NORTH OF THE RUHR. SWEEPING ACROSS GERMANY THE 

ALLIES MET THE TROOPS OF THE U.S.S.R., WHO HAD BEEN ADVANCING WESTWARD 

FOR TWO YEARS, AND FORCED THE COMPLETE SURRENDER OF THE ENEMY ON 8 MAY 

1945.

2. SUPPLY ROUTES ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN – 1941-1945.

THE VAST DISTANCES OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN IMPOSED ENORMOUS PROBLEMS 

UPON THE UNITED STATES NAVY AND THE SHIPPING WHICH IT PROTECTED. IN THIS 

HEMISPHERE, THE LOGISTIC SUPPORT OF OUR MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR 

OPERATIONS INVOLVED THE BROADEST WATER-DISTANCES ON EARTH. THE 

AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY WERE REQUIRED TO SUPPLY THEIR FORCES, NOT ONLY 

ACROSS THE CENTRAL PACIFIC, BUT ALSO TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW GUINEA BELOW 

THE EQUATOR. IN ADDITION, SHIPPING FROM THE UNITED STATES SAILED BOTH 

EASTWARD AND WESTWARD TO INDIAN OCEAN PORTS WITH CARGOES FOR THE 

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER.

NOTWITHSTANDING HER INTENSE PREOCCUPATION WITH THE CAMPAIGNS IN 

EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA THE UNITED STATES STEADILY BUILT UP HER SUPPLY 

RESOURCES IN THE PACIFIC. OVER THREE MILLION AMERICAN FIGHTING MEN AND 

MORE THAN SIXTY MILLION TONS OF CARGO WERE TRANSPORTED TO PACIFIC OCEAN 

AREAS FROM THE UNITED STATES. AT THE MOMENT OF THE GERMANY COLLAPSE 

AMERICAN SUPPLY BASES HAD BEEN PUSHED FORWARD TO THE RYUKYUS ON THE 

THRESHOLD OF THE JAPANESE HOMELAND. THE UNITED STATES NAVY BORE THE 

HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY OF SAFE-GUARDING THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF TROOPS AND 

SUPPLIES OVER SEA LANES WHICH IT DENIED TO THE ENEMY, ATTACKING HIM 

WHENEVER AND WHEREVER HE COULD BE FOUND.

SUPPLEMENTING THE NAVY, THE ARMY AIR FORCES ESTABLISHED AIR ROUTES 

ACROSS THE PACIFIC. THE AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND EARLY ESTABLISHED BOTH 

PASSENGER AND AIR EXPRESS ROUTES FROM CALIFORNIA TO AUSTRALIA AND THE 
37

FAR EAST. AS THE WAR ADVANCED, HEAVY BOMBERS WERE FLOWN FROM 

CALIFORNIA TO GUAM, SAIPAN AND OTHER PACIFIC BASES.

LOGISTIC SERVICES ASHORE AND AFLOAT REPLENISHED OUR FIGHTING SHIPS 

AND PROVIDED FOR THE SHELTER, SUPPLY, HOSPITALIZATION AND EVACUATION OF 

OUR SOLDIERS, SAILORS, MARINES AND AIRMEN. THEY PREPARED AIRFIELDS AND 

SUPPORTED THE STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL AIR ASSAULTS UPON THE ENEMY. ON THE 

HEELS OF AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULTS AGAINST HOSTILE BEACHES THEY LANDED 

AMMUNITION, ARTILLERY, COMBAT VEHICLES, FOOD, WATER, FUEL AND EQUIPMENT.

THE EFFORTS OF OUR MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN COMBAT AID STATIONS AND 

HOSPITALS, BOTH AFLOAT AND ASHORE, WERE OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE IN 

MAINTAINING THE MORAL AND COMBAT EFFICIENCY OF OUR ARMY, NAVAL AND AIR 

FORCES. THE DEVOTED EFFORTS OF ALL OF THE OTHER MULTI-SKILLED PERSONNEL 

OF SUPPLY AND TECHNICAL ORGANIZATIONS ASHORE AND AFLOAT WERE REQUIRED 

TO ENABLE OUR COMBAT FORCES TO FIGHT THEIR WAY TO VICTORY OVER IMPERIAL 

JAPAN.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHILE CONTRIBUTING HER LAND, SEA AND 

AIR FORCES TO THE PROSECUTION OF WORLD WAR II, ALSO AIDED THE U.S.S.R. BY 

FURNISHING OVER SEVENTEEN AND A HALF MILLION TONS OF EQUIPMENT AND 

SUPPLIES. OF THESE MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION TONS WERE SHIPPED ACROSS THE 

PACIFIC TO SIBERIA OR FLOWN ACROSS VIA THE ALEUTIANS.

3. NEW GUINEA – 21 JULY 1942-11 MAY 1945.

DURING 1942 NEW GUINEA WAS A MAJOR OBJECTIVE OF THE JAPANESE. A U.S. 

NAVAL TASK FORCE BLOCKED THEIR FIRST THREAT TO PORT MORESBY, KEY TO 

AUSTRALIA, ON 4-8 MAY IN THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA. ON 21 JULY 

JAPANESE FORCES SEIZED BUNA AND GONA, THEN CROSSED THE OWEN STANLEY 

RANGE TO WITHIN 30 MILES OF PORT MORESBY, TO BE DRIVEN BACK TO THEIR 

BEACHHEAD BY AUSTRALIAN TROOPS. ANOTHER JAPANESE FORCE, DEFEATED AT 

MILNE BAY, WITHDREW ON 5 SEPTEMBER. ON 16 NOVEMBER ALLIED FORCES OPENED 

THEIR ATTACKS AGAINST THE BUNA-GONA BEACHHEAD AND EXPELLED THE 

JAPANESE ON 22 JANUARY 1943.

THE ENEMY NEXT ATTACKED WAU BUT AUSTRALIAN TROOPS TRANSPORTER BY 

AMERICAN AIRCRAFT REPULSED HIM. ON 2-4 MARCH, IN THE BATTLE OF THE 

BISMARCK SEA, THE U.S. FIFTH, AND ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCES TOGETHER 

WITH U.S. NAVY SMALL CRAFT STOPPED HIS ATTEMPT TO REINFORCE HIS HUON 

PENINSULA GARRISONS. THE ALLIED FORCES CONTINUED THEIR OFFENSIVE ALONG 

THE NORTHERN COAST; AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN TROOPS CAPTURED SALAMAUA 

ON 11 SEPTEMBER AND ON 16 SEPTEMBER THE AUSTRALIANS, ASSISTED BY 

BOMBARDMENTS BY THE U.S. VII AMPHIBIOUS FORCE AND THE FIFTH AIR FORCE, AND 

AN AIRDROP BY THE 503RD PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT UPON THE NADZAB 

AIRFIELD, CAPTURED LAE.

THE AUSTRALIANS EXTENDED THE ADVANCE BY A DOUBLE ENVELOPMENT OF 

THE HUON PENINSULA. ADDED IMPETUS WAS GIVEN TO THEIR ATTACK BY A U.S. 

REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM WHICH LANDED AT SAIDOR AND CUT THE JAPANESE 

LINE OF RETREAT ALONG THE COAST.
38

MEANWHILE ELEMENTS OF THE U.S. SIXTH ARMY SUPPORTED BY THE U.S. 

SEVENTH FLEET LAUNCHED AN OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE JAPANESE STRONGHOLD OF 

RABAUL ON NEW BRITAIN. THEY FIRST OCCUPIED WOODLARK AND KIRIWINA 

ISLANDS; THEREUPON, SUPPORTER BY AIR AND NAVY BOMBARDMENT, THEY 

CAPTURED ARAWE AND THE CAPE GLOUCESTER AREA.

THE DECISION WAS THEN MADE TO BY-PASS BOTH RABAUL AND KAVIENG, NEW 

IRELAND. THESE STRONG BASES WERE FIRST NEUTRALIZED BY INTENSIVE 

BOMBARDMENTS FROM THE SEA AND AIR; THEN THE ADMIRALTY ISLANDS AND 

EMIRAU WERE OCCUPIED IN RAPID SUCCESSION.

IN ORDER TO SPEED THE GENERAL ADVANCE IT WAS NOW DECIDED TO BY-PASS 

THE STRONG JAPANESE BASE AT WEWARK BY LEAP FROGGING SOME 350 MILES TO 

HOLLANDIA, WITH A SECONDARY LANDING AT ATTAPE TO THE EAST. AS HOLLANDIA 

WAS BEYOND THE EFFECTIVE RANGE OF MANY OF OUR LAND-BASED AIRCRAFT, THE 

FAST CARRIER TASK FORCE FROM THE U.S. FIFTH FLEET HELPED THE U.S. FIFTH AIR 

FORCE TO DESTROY ITS AIR INSTALLATIONS, ALSO THOSE TO THE WESTWARD. THEN, 

IN RAPID SUCCESSION, THE U.S. SIXTH ARMY SEIZED WAKDE, BIAK, NOEMFOOR, 

SANSAPOR AND MOROTAI. BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER 1944 THE FORCES OF THE 

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA WERE POISED FOR THE ADVANCE TO THE PHILIPPINES.

THROUGHOUT THE NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN U.S. NAVAL FORCES RENDERED 

CONTINUOUS SUPPORT.

4. NORTHERN SOLOMONS – 6 MARCH 1943-27 MARCH 1944.

IN FEBURARY 1942 THE AIR FORCES OF THE SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH PACIFIC 

COMMANDS BEGAN THEIR ATTACKS ON THE JAPANESE AIR AND NAVAL 

INSTALLATIONS IN THE NORTHERN SOLOMONS AND THE IMPORTANT BASE OF 

RABAUL TO THE WEST. IN JANUARY 1943 ALLIED SURFACE SHIPS JOINED IN THE 

NEUTRALIZATION OF SHORE TARGETS. MINES PLANTED BY MARINE CORPS AND 

NAVAL AIRCRAFT AND MINELAYERS IN HARBORS OF KOLOMBANGARA AND 

BOUGAINVILLE CAUSED HEAVY LOSSES OF JAPANESE SHIPS.

LATE IN JUNE 1943 THE 43RD DIVISION AND THE 1ST MARINE RAIDER REGIMENT, 

PROTECTED BY ALLIED FIGHTERS, LANDED ON RENDOVA AND NEW GEORGIA WITH 

THE MUNDA AIRFIELD AS A PRIME OBJECTIVE. THE ENEMY’S EFFORTS TO REINFORCE 

HIS GROUND TROOPS BROUGHT ON THE NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS OF KULA GULF AND 

KOLOMBANGARA. THE REST OF THE U.S. XIV CORPS (37TH AND 25TH DIVISIONS) THEN 

MOVED INTO NEW GEORGIA, AND AFTER FIERCE FIGHTING CAPTURED MUNDA 

AIRFIELD ON 5 AUGUST. JAPANESE ATTEMPTS TO REINFORCE THEIR GARRISONS 

RESULTED IN THEIR DEFEAT IN THE BATTLE OF VELLA GULF.

BY-PASSING STRONGLY DEFENDED KOLOMBANGARA, THE U.S. 25TH DIVISION AND 

3

RD NEW ZEALAND DIVISION CAPTURED LEVALLA. EFFORTS TO PREVENT THE 

JAPANESE WITHDRAWAL OF MORE THAN 10,000 MEN FROM THESE TWO ISLANDS LED 

TO THE NAVAL BATTLE OF VELLA LAVELLA.

THE STRENGTH OF ALLIED AIR, GROUND AND NAVAL FORCES HAD NOW SO 

INCREASED AS TO PROMISE SUCCESS IN THE ASSAULT ON BOUGAINVILLE ALTHOUGH 

IT WAS WITHIN CLOSE FIGHTER SUPPORT DISTANCE OF RABAUL. IN PREPARATION 

FOR, AND IN SUPPORT OF, THIS ASSAULT THE FIFTH AIR FORCE FROM THE SOUTHWEST 
39

PACIFIC COMMAND MADE SEVERAL LARGE-SCALE ATTACKS ON THAT BASE, WHILE 

THE AIR SOLOMONS COMMAND, OPERATING FROM BASES ON NEW GEORGIA AND 

GUADALCANA BOMBED THE JAPANESE AIRFIELDS ON BOUGAINVILLE – ANOTHER 

NOTEWORTHY EXAMPLE OF SKILLFUL COORDINATION OF THE EFFORTS OF TWO 

WIDELY SEPARATED COMMANDS.

PROCEEDED BY DIVERSIONARY LANDINGS ON THE TREASURY ISLANDS AND 

CHOISEUL, THE 3RD MARINE DIVISION, UNDER COVER OF AIR BOMBARDMENT AND 

NAVAL GUNFIRE, LANDED AT BOUGAINVILLE ON 1 NOVEMBER 1943. IN THE BATTLE 

OF EMPRESS AUGUSTA BAY THAT NIGHT A JAPANESE CRUISER AND A DESTROYER 

WERE SUNK. U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES, MARINE CORPS, AND NAVAL CARRIER-BASED 

AIRCRAFT CONTINUED TO FIGHT A SERIES OF BATTLES WITH THE JAPANESE WHICH 

EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN THE ELIMINATION OF RABAUL AS AN IMPORTANT AIR AND 

NAVAL BASE.

ON 25 NOVEMBER FIVE U.S. DESTROYERS ENGAGED AN EQUAL NUMBER OF 

JAPANESE DESTROYERS REINFORCING BUKA AND, IN THE BATTLE OF CAPE ST. 

GEORGE, SANK THREE. IN FEBRUARY 1944 THE 37TH AND THE AMERICAL DIVISIONS 

COMPLETED RELIEF OF THE 3RD MARINE DIVISION. ON 9 MARCH TWO JAPANESE 

DIVISIONS UNSUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED MAJOR COUNTERATTACKS AGAINST THESE 

TWO DIVISIONS. HOWEVER THE ENEMY CONTINUED TO HARASS THE PERIMETER FOR 

SEVERAL MONTHS THEREAFTER.

ON 15 FEBRUARY 1944 THE 3RD NEW ZEALAND DIVISION OCCUPIED THE GREEN 

ISLANDS, ONLY 140 MILES FROM RABAUL. THIS COMPLETED THE LONG 

NORTHWESTWARD ADVANCE IN THE SOLOMONS.

5. INVASION OF THE PALAU ISLANDS

COINCIDING WITH THE FINAL OPERATIONS IN NEW GUINEA TO THE SOUTH AND 

FOLLOWING CLOSELY THE CAPTURE OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS TO THE NORTH, 

UNITED STATES FORCES INVADED THE PALAU ISLANDS. DURING THE WEEKS 

IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THIS INVASION, AIRCRAFT OF THE FIFTH AND THIRTEENTH 

AIR FORCES BASED ON NEW GUINEA HEAVILY BOMBED THE PALAUS; CARRIER-BASED 

AIRCRAFT OF THE THIRD FLEET AND LAND-BASED AIRPLANES OF THE SEVENTH AIR 

FORCE STRUCK WITH DEVASTATING EFFECT AT FARFLUNG TARGETS TO THE NORTH, 

EAST AND WEST. THEN THE AIRPLANES OF THE THIRD FLEET PROVIDED DIRECT AIR 

SUPPORT FOR THE ATTACKING TROOPS ITS WARSHIPS SUPPORT THE ASSAULT WITH 

GUNFIRE.

ON 15 SEPTEMBER 1944 THE THIRD AMPHIBIOUS FORCE LANDED THE 1ST MARINE 

DIVISION ON PELELIU. AS IT ADVANCED FROM THE BEACHHEAD STRONG OPPOSITION 

DEVELOPED; THE ENEMY LAUNCHED ESPECIALLY FIERCE COUNTERATTACKS ACROSS 

THE AIRFIELD AGAINST POSITIONS REACHED BY THE 1ST AND 5TH MARINE REGIMENTS. 

REPULSING THESE ASSALTS THE MARINES PUSHED INLAND AND CAPTURED THE 

AIRFIELD ON THE FOLLOWING DAY. THEIR PROGRESS WAS COSTLY BUT THEY 

CONTINUED THE ATTACK NORTHWARD AND WITHIN A WEEK DROVE THE JAPANESE 

INTO THE ROUGH TERRAIN TO THE NORTH AT THE SAME TIME, THE 7TH MARINE 

REGIMENT OVERCAME STRONG OPPOSITION AND SECURED THE SOUTHERN SECTOR OF 

THE ISLAND.
40

ON 17 SEPTEMBER THE 321ST AND 322ND REGIMENTS OF THE U.S. ARMY’S 81ST

INFANTRY DIVISION LANDED ON ANGAUR, SIX MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST. AFTER 

SUFFERING HEAVY CASUALTIES FROM NUMEROUS PILLBOXES AND DUGOUTS, THE 

TROOPS OVERRAN ORGANIZED OPPOSITION. WHILE ISOLATED POCKETS OF THE 

ENEMY WERE STILL HOLDING OUT, U.S. ARMY ENGINEERS BEGAN TO DEVELOP A 

HEAVY BOMBER BASE. 

THE 321ST REGIMENT MOVED TO PELELIU, WHERE IT RELIEVED THE 1ST MARINE 

REGIMENT. AIDED BY MARINE AIRCRAFT FLOWN FROM THE CAPTURED AIRSTRIP ON 

PELELIU, INFANTRYMEN AND MARINES PUSHED NORTHWARD ALONG THE COAST AND 

FORCE THE ENEMY INTO A SMALL POCKET ON MT. UMURBROGOL. THERE HE 

STUBBORNLY DEFENDED CAVE FORTIFICATIONS FOR ANOTHER TWO MONTHS,

IN THE MEANTIME THE 323RD INFANTRY HAD OCCUPIED ULITHI, 300 MILES TO THE 

NORTH, AND RETURNED TO FIGHT ON PELELIU. THESE ISLANDS WERE THEN 

DEVELOPED INTO NAVAL AND AIR BASES WHICH WERE TO PROVE THEIR VALUE AS

SUPPORT AND STAGING POINTS DURING THE LIBERATION OF THE PHILIPPINES.

VISITORS’ BUILDING

The Visitors’ Building is located just inside the main gate at the right of the plaza. It contains the 

Superintendent’s office, toilet facilities and a comfortably furnished room where visitors may obtain 

information, sign the register and pause to refresh themselves. During visiting hours a member of the 

cemetery staff is available in the building to answer questions and provide information on burials and 

memorializations in the Commission’s cemeteries, accommodations in the vicinity, travel, local history 

and other items of interest.

There is parking space in the Visitors’ Building plaza and also immediately in rear of the 

memorial. In the interest of visitors, of whom many take photographs, parking is not permitted in front 

of the memorial.

PLANTINGS

In his design for the layout of the cemetery the landscape architect visualized a park-like background for 

the memorial and graves plots which would assure a rotation of bloom to embellish perpetually this 

resting place of the honored Dead. In so doing he achieved in effect the creation of a large botanical 

garden with stately stretches of broad lawns and magnificent vistas, using genera and species which are 

representative of the great wealth of flowering trees, shrubs, palms and foliage plants of the Philippines, 

the East Indies, and the warmer climates of southern Asia, Africa and Tropical America.

It is impracticable to include in this booklet the entire plant-list of the cemetery, but visitors are 

invited to refer to a copy of the plant-list, which is available at the Visitors’ Building.

The grass covering most of the cemetery is Zoysia Matrella. All of it has been propagated from 

two square yards sod shipped in 1951 from the United States Department of Agriculture Experimental 

station at Beltsille, Maryland.
41

Saipan Memorial

The Saipan Monument is situated near the 

beach overlooking Tanapag Harbor on the 

Island of Saipan, Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands. It is part of an 

American memorial park commemorating 

the American and Marianas Dead in the 

Marianas Campaign of World War II. The 

monument honors specifically the 24,000 

American marines and soldiers who died 

recapturing the volcanic islands of Saipan, 

Tinian and Guam during the period of 15 

June 1944 – 11 August 1944.

It is a twelve-foot rectangular obelisk of rose granite in a landscaped area of local flora. Inscribed 

upon the monument are these words: 

THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THE SONS

WHO PAID THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

FOR LIBERATION OF THE MARIANAS

? 1941-1945 ?

Guadalcanal American 

Memorial

 The Guadalcanal American Memorial is 

located on Skyline Drive overlooking the 

town of Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon 

Islands. It honors those American and 

Allied servicemen who lost their lives 

during the Guadalcanal Campaign of 

World War II (7 August 1942-9 February 1943). The Memorial consists of a suitably inscribed central 

pylon four feet square rising 24 feet above its base. Four radiating directional walls point toward major 

battle sites. Descriptions of the Battles are inscribed on the walls. Both the walls and the pylon are 

constructed of Red Calca granite.
42

Cabanatuan 

Memorial

The Cabanatuan Memorial is located 85 

miles north of Manila, within the city 

of Cabanatuan, Luzon, and Republic of 

the Philippines. It marks the site of the 

Japanese Cabanatuan Prisoner of War 

Camp where approximately 75,000 

American and Philippine servicemen 

and civilians were held captive from 

1942 to 1945, after the fall of the Philippine Island during World War II.

The memorial consists of a 90-foot concrete base in the center of which rests a marble altar. It is 

surrounded on three sides by a fence of steel rods and on the fourth by a Wall of Honor upon which are 

inscribed the names of the approximately 3,000 Americans who lost their lives while being held captive.

Co-located on the site are the West Point Monument, which pays homage to the 170 American and 

6 Filipino graduates of the U.S. Military Academy who lost their lives during the defense of the 

Philippines or while prisoner of war at Cabanatuan and the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (a 

Filipino veterans organization) memorial which salutes their American fallen comrades.