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the American landing rce. In the all-d Ba le of L Gulf, this tiny rce ught magni cently. All ree U.S. destroyers we sunk. But the Japanese admiral could not believe that so w Americans uld h e dared to coun r-attack him unless they had strong support close by. He tu ed back and sailed r home, and the Philippines were regained.
In February and March 1945 the U.S. Marines ught a bloody battle r Iwo Jima island. At a cost of almost 20,000 casualties, the Marines took the island and le a deathless memory when they raised the American ag atop Mount Suribachi. This scene is co emora d in e U.S. Marine Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. In April 1945 the Americans took Okin , giving them ano er air base, is one just 325 miles om Japan.
Some members of e Japanese g e ment now wished to arrange peace terms with the Americans. But e Americans would not discuss any terms, insisting on unconditional surrender. This the Japanese re sed, and the ghting went on.
Because of the unconditional surrender policy, it appeared that e war must end with an American invasion of Japan, ghting the Japanese yard r eir homeland. But President Harry Truman, who had taken of ce a er Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April, had been advised that the most devastating weapon in all history had been d eloped by e United States: the atomic bomb. This seemed a su way to e Japan to surrender. A er agonizing er the morali of using a weapon which uld inevitably incinerate ns of thousands of innocent civilians, Truman o ered a no be sent to the Japanese demanding unconditional sur­ render, and adding " e al rnative is p mpt and utter destruction." The no made no mention of e atomic bomb or where and when this destruc­ tion would be visited upon the people.
On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was d pped on Hi shima, killing more th 100,000 people, mostly civilians. An accura count could never be made because of e total destruction. Near "g und ze " e bomb lled with such incredible power that no ing was le of the bodies of the people whom its shock e struck but their outlines traced on concrete.
On the same day, the Soviet Union declared r on Japan seize territory with little cost to itself, proceeding errun Manchuria. The Japanese gove ent met decide what to do. Be reached a deci­ sion, a second atomic bomb was dropped gust 9 on Nagasaki, e most Catholic city in Japan, wi the same horrible resul . E eror Hirohi , who like most empe rs in Japanese history had al s been a gurehead