BGuthrie Photos: LA -- New Orleans -- National World War II Museum (Asian front)

LA -- New Orleans -- National World War II Museum (Asian front):

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. WW2ASI_070127_005.JPG: America Goes To War: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory." -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941 America's isolation from war ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan staged a surprise attack on American military installations in the Pacific. The most devastating strike came at Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian naval base where much of the US Pacific Fleet was moored. In a two-hour attack, Japanese warplanes sank or damaged 18 warships and destroyed 164 aircraft. Over 2,400 servicemen and civilians lost their lives. Japan's attack was linked to its earlier aggression in Asia, which provoked American protests and economic sanctions. To end this interference and open the way to further conquests, Japan tried to deal America a crippling blow. Though stunned by the events of December 7, Americans were also resolute. On December 8, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war against Japan. The declaration passed with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, Germany and Italy, allied with Japan, declared war on the United States. America was now drawn into a global war. It had allies in this fight--most importantly Great Britain and the Soviet Union. But the job the nation faced in December 1941 was formidable.
2. WW2ASI_070127_010.JPG: War Threats in Asia: Collision Course in the Far East: The 1930s were a time of growing conflict and political upheaval in Asia. At the center of the discord was China, which was embroiled in a civil war between the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung's Communists. Divided and vulnerable, China was a tempting target for another Asian nation -- Japan. In 1930, Japan ruled an empire in northeastern Asia that included Korea and Formosa. But ultranationalists in its military and government wanted more. Japan lacked land and natural resources; its economy, already squeezed by economic depression, depended upon imported oil, rubber and other raw materials. The country's leaders saw foreign conquest as the solution to this problem. Some spoke in racial terms, championing "Asia for the Asians." Yet their real aim was an Asia dominated by Japan. In 1931, Japan embarked on a path of military expansion when it tightened its gip on Manchuria, forcibly detaching it from China and converting it into a virtual colony it named Manchukuo. Additional Japanese pressure and expansion in northern China led to a full-scale war between China and Japan in 1937 that included widespread Japanese atrocities against Chinese civilians. Despite international protests, Japan continued its aggression in China. Its actions raised tensions throughout Asia and put it on an eventual collision course with the United States and other Western nations.
3. WW2ASI_070127_011.JPG: Japanese Expansion: 1931-1941: A Grab for Empire: Japan's seizure of Manchuria in 1931 opened a decade of military expansion that ended in world war. The brutal war of conquest it launched in China in 1937 brought condemnation from Western leaders. Concern in the U.S. grew in 1940 when Nazi victories over the French and Dutch and the desperate situation of the British made their Asian colonies tempting targets. Because Japan imported important strategic materials from America, some thought economic sanctions might stop its aggression. In July 1940, President Roosevelt curbed sales of scrap iron, steel and aviation gasoline to Japan. Undetered, Japan continued fighting in China, and in September occupied northern French Indo-China. To intimidate the U.S., Japan also signed a mutual defense pact with Nazi Germany and Italy. American responded by expanding its embargo, but didn't ban sales of its most vital export; oil. In July 1941, Japan struck again, occupying all of French Indo-China. Roosevelt now froze Japanese assets in the U.S., in effect stopping oil sales to Japan. Dependent on U.S. oil, Japan negotiated to end the embargo. But it simultaneously began preparing for war if negotiations failed, plotting to invade the heart of oil-rich Southeast Asia. To prevent U.S. interference, Japan also planned a surprised attack on America's Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. In November, Japan secretly decided to go to war. While pretending to negotiate, it was poised to strike.
4. WW2ASI_070127_015.JPG: I believe this was a hinge from a boat sunk at Pearl Harbor
5. WW2ASI_070127_029.JPG: Dolittle Raider jacket
6. WW2ASI_070127_031.JPG: Race and War in the Pacific: America Views the Enemy: Racial prejudice toward the Japanese appeared in wartime films, magazines, cartoons, and posters. The Japanese were often portrayed as animals -- monkeys and apes, most commonly. They also appeared as madmen or small, yellow, buck-toothed characters. Seemingly contradictory concepts appeared at times. The blood-thirsty beast existed alongside childlike figures. But the images shared the perception of the enemy as lesser humans. American propaganda also attacked the other Axis powers, but with a different emphasis. In Europe, Americans saw themselves fighting the "Nazis" or "fascism." In the Pacific, their opponent was the Japanese people, or "the Japs, " in the common parlance of the time. Hatred of the Japanese as a people reflected racial prejudice and led to depiction of them as a race or even a species apart. The Japanese were aware of American racial attitudes. They used evidence of American racism to convince other Far Eastern nations that Japan was fighting to liberate all Asians from "white oppression." In the end, however, Japan's prejudice toward her Asian neighbors and her brutal behavior in conquered territories dispelled that myth. Race and War in the Pacific: The Pacific war was marked by intense hatred. American anger about the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan's belief that America wanted to cripple her economy and threatened her survival contributed to these feelings. Race also had a role. To an unusual degree, the Pacific war was characterized by racial stereotyping and demonization of the enemy. The war exposed racial pride, prejudice, and anger. Propaganda on both sides reflected a strong strain of racial hatred. In America, the war inflamed deeply rooted views of Asians as racially inferior. The media frequently portrayed the Japanese threat in racial terms. Japanese atrocities and the fact that many Japanese soldiers chose death over surrender seemed to confirm prejudices about the subhuman and irrational nature of the enemy. The Japanese view of Americans was also influenced by race, but in a different way. While Western racism was marked by denigration of others, the Japanese were more preoccupied with elevating themselves. Japan's leaders attributed unique spiritual virtues and physical "purity" to the "Yamato race." The Japanese were the world's "leading race": morally and genetically purer than others. Americans and other Westerners were pictured as degenerate beasts and demons.
7. WW2ASI_070127_043.JPG: Terry and the Pirates provided tips on "Quick Ways to Spot a Jap"
8. WW2ASI_070127_051.JPG: Japan Views the Enemy: The depiction of Westerners in Japanese propaganda was deeply influenced by the self-image held by the Japanese. They were taught that they belonged to a uniquely spiritual and physically pure "Yamato race" destined to emancipate Asia from Western domination and lead the world along the path of virtue. They were the "leading race" and the war was presented as an act of individual and collective purification. If the Japanese were pure and moral, Americans and other Westerners were seen as materialistic, individualistic, and greedy. They were often portrayed as beasts, demons and deranged or degenerate humans. These demonic and beastly outsiders imperiled the sacred Japanese homeland and had to be utterly destroyed, even exterminated. This view of the enemy was influenced by folk beliefs concerning outsiders and the ambiguous gods or demons who could be forces for both good or evil. Claws, fangs, horns, and animal hindquarters were used to depict the Western beasts. The use of animal caricatures was almost entirely random, but they tended to be highly personalized; often creatures representing the enemy bore the face of Western leaders. They were brutes wearing the mask of humanity.
9. WW2ASI_070127_079.JPG: This leaflet depicts a giant figure, representing Japan breaking the chains of the ABCD powers (America, Britain, China, Dutch) that have held Asia down.
10. WW2ASI_070127_151.JPG: War Without Mercy: The Brutality of War in the Pacific: All war is brutal, but by any standard the Pacific war was an especially desperate and savage struggle. Japan's military had adapted the ancient samurai ethos of Bushido to create a military code of striking harshness. Soldiers were told that surrender brought dishonor; they were to die rather than face capture. Enemy prisoners were viewed by the Japanese with contempt and subjected to atrocious treatment. In battle, Japanese soldiers fought tenaciously. Their wounded sometimes used grenades to kill themselves as well as approaching Americans. Dead bodies were booby-trapped. When hope was lost, infantry units often staged banzai charges -- desperate, all-out attacks that had more to do with saving honor than achieving any tactical advantage. Banzai charges were terrifying to both Japanese and Americans; Japanese losses in these actions were immense. Faced with this type of foe, many American servicemen became hardened. Some adopted harsh practices toward prisoners and enemy wounded. Racial prejudices on both sides added to the savagery. The Pacific war became a war of great cruelty and brutality -- a war without mercy.
11. WW2ASI_070127_157.JPG: A charred head of a Japanese soldier sits atop an American tank on Guadalcanal. Gory displays like this give some sense of the Pacific war's brutality.
12. WW2ASI_070127_165.JPG: Japanese infantrymen in Nanking use Chinese prisoners as live targets for bayonet practice. After conquering the city in 1937, Japanese troops engaged in an orgy of violence against Chinese soldiers and civilians.
13. WW2ASI_070127_168.JPG: War Without Mercy: The Combatants: The battlefields of the Pacific were hellish for both sides. Americans often faced a well-entrenched foe ready to die rather than surrender. The Japanese were frequently outgunned, outnumbered, and unable to unwilling to retreat. Warfare under such circumstances often involved close action and terrible casualties. Men fought not only with artillery and rifles, but also with satchel charges, flame-throwers and bayonets. Racial hatred and stereotyping and atrocities by both sides added to the brutality of the fighting. The brutality increased as the war dragged on. The Japanese treated American wounded and POWs with great cruelty. Some Americans responded in kind. Then, as its cause became more desperate, Japan unveiled a frightening new weapon; the kamikaze, or "divine wind." Thousands of young men volunteered to fly aircraft loaded with explosives on suicide missions aimed at American ships. The results were both terrifying and deadly.
14. WW2ASI_070127_203.JPG: The Strategic Bombing of Japan: In 1944, the U.S. began deploying a new bomber in the Pacific. Able to carry 5,000 pounds of bombs 3,200 miles, the giant B-29 Superfortress could reach Japan from American bases in China and the central Pacific. Soon the war would enter a new phase as the U.S. began a strategic bombing campaign. Air advocates believed the bombers could end the war. The offensive started in June 1944 from bases in China. But logistics and mechanical problems hampered the effort and Japan soon captured advanced U.S. airfields. The campaign would have greater success in the central Pacific, where hundreds of B-29s prepared to strike Japan from new bases in the Mariana Islands. The Marianas-based raids began in November. Results were disappointing at first. The bombers flew daytime raids aimed at "precision bombing" of targets. But jet stream winds, cloud cover, and poor training and facilities foiled their efforts. In frustration, Army Air Force Commander H. H. "Hap" Arnold appointed Major General Curtis LeMay to direct the air campaign. In early 1945, LeMay ended "precision bombing" and ordered a new approach: nighttime incendiary raids. The target: Japan's cities. Constructed largely of wood, they would be incinerated by giant firestorms caused by American firebombs. LeMay hoped to eliminate industrial plants in urban centers. But to do this he would deliberately level wide areas.
15. WW2ASI_070127_207.JPG: The Destruction of Japan's Cities: In March 1945, cities across Japan exploded in flames as American B-29s began a relentless firebombing campaign. The first big firebomb raid struck Tokyo on March 9-10. Bombs from more than 300 planes incinerated 16 square miles of the city, killing nearly 100,000 civilians. Throughout the spring of 1945, the bombing continued. In April alone, over 117,000 tons of bombs were dropped. The raids burned out 180 square miles and more than 60 cities, leaving 8.5 million people homeless. At least 300,000 people were killed. Millions of civilians died during air raids in World War II. Japan had bombed Chinese civilians during the 1930s and Germany bombed British cities early in the war. The British retaliated in kind. America had resisted the idea of bombing civilian areas. But with time, attitudes hardened. What once had been unthinkable became a deliberate policy. As the firebombing continued, carrier-based aircraft were also striking key industrial sites in Japan. Offshore, American warplanes and submarines had choked off Japanese supply lines. Some thought these measures might end the war without an American invasion of Japan. But before this question could be answered, an unexpected event upended the debate and changed the world forever.
16. WW2ASI_070127_209.JPG: Planning for the Homeland Invasion: By the summer of 1945, planning was well under way for the largest amphibious invasion of World War II: the assault on Japan's home islands. The invasion plan was code-named Downfall. Downfall would have two main elements: Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu, on November 1, 1945; and Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu, on March 1, 1946. Kyushu was chosen as a target primarily because of its strategic location -- it would provide necessary airfields and naval bases from which Coronet could be launched. Honshu, the largest of the home islands, was the industrial and commercial center of Japan. With more than 760,000 army, marine, navy, and Coast Guard personnel assigned, Olympic would be the largest amphibious invasion in history. Estimates of Japanese strength varied, but General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz projected that by November, as many as 390,000 Japanese troops would occupy Kyushu. Casualty estimates for Olympic ranged wildly, from 55,000 to nearly 300,000 American casualties. All that planners knew for sure was that the invasion would cost thousands of American lives.
17. WW2ASI_070127_213.JPG: The planned invasion of Kyushu
18. WW2ASI_070127_218.JPG: View of Osaka months after American bombing raids ravaged the city
19. WW2ASI_070127_222.JPG: Operation Olympic would have been an enormous undertaking, requiring more troops, warships, aircraft, weapons and supplies than any other amphibious operation in history. The landings at Normandy and on Okinawa -- two of the largest such operations up to that time -- would have seemed small by comparison. On the first day of the invasion alone, over 335,000 troops would have landed on Kyushu -- far greater than the first-day numbers at Normandy and Okinawa combined. To support such a large amphibious force, MacArthur and Nimitz planned to assemble the largest fleet of warships ever assigned to a single campaign. Nearly 1,000 warships would have participate. The invading troops on Kyushu would have needed a continuous stream of supplies during the campaign. It would have required a buildup of over one million tons of cargo, including vehicles, weapons, food, clothing and other equipment.
20. WW2ASI_070127_226.JPG: Comparing Damage to Japanese Cities Before August 1945. This map depicts the cities of Japan struck by B-29 incendiary attacks. The extent of the destruction of each city is given and each is paired with a U.S. city of comparable size in 1945.
21. WW2ASI_070127_233.JPG: Manhattan Project shoulder patches used by crews on the Enola Gay
22. WW2ASI_070127_238.JPG: Trinitite sample. When the world's first atomic bomb was detonate on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity Site in Alamogordo, New Mexico, it created a 2,400-foot-wide crater. The crater was glaze with a glasslike substance where the sand had melted and re-solidified. This substance is called "Trinitite".
23. WW2ASI_070127_249.JPG: Comparison of forces required for the invasions of Normandy, Okinawa, and the planned requirements of Olympic.
24. WW2ASI_070127_254.JPG: Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu
25. WW2ASI_070127_257.JPG: The Final Act: In July 1945, as planning for the invasion of Japan continued, an event occurred that altered the course of the war -- and global history. On July 16, scientists exploded the world's first atomic bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico. As the bomb lit up the sky, Robert Oppenheimer, director of the scientific team, recalled words from the Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns, were to burst at once in the sky, That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become death. The shatterer of worlds." A terrifying new weapon entered America's arsenal. The new weapon had taken more than three years and $2 billion to develop. America's largest and costliest weapons project to that date, it had employed more than 100,000 people. President Truman was at the Potsdam Conference in Germany when he learned of the test. He authorized use of the new weapon. Truman always maintained that he used the bomb to shorten the war and save lives. But his action became the subject of a controversy that persists to this day. Were atomic weapons needed to bring about Japan's surrender? Did they save more lives than they cost? Were there alternatives for ending the war? Over half a century later, the debate continues.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: National World War II Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins and Magazine Street. It focuses on the United States contribution to victory in World War II, and the Battle of Normandy in particular. It has been designated by the U.S. Congress as "America's National World War II Museum".

Museum Description:

The museum opened its doors to the public on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of D-Day. The museum has a large lobby where aircraft and other items are suspended from the ceiling. Visitors pay admission fees at the desk in the center of the lobby and then visitors' tickets are separated from the ticket stub by veterans of D-Day. Admission prices during the summer of 2005 were marked at $14, with discounts offered to children, students, military members and their families, veterans, and senior citizens. The building is several stories high; elevators are available but the stairs are more accessible and are quicker. Visitors begin their self-guided tour of the museum on the top floor and work their way down toward the ground floor. The museum goes in chronological order; that is, the top floor assesses the political, social, and economic conditions that led up to World War II and D-Day. For example, the museum compares the relative military strengths of major nations entering the war. Later visitors see a model of the beaches of Normandy with the relative positions of the number of aircraft and amphibious vehicles. However, the museum does not solely discuss the invasion; visitors may also view an electronic map of the Pacific Ocean that lights up to illustrate the Allied strategy of island hopping, culminating with nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Visitors to the museum are encouraged to allocate roughly 2 1/2 to 3 hours to tour the museum. The museum also contains two auditoriums where educational videos are played as well as a gift shop.

Relation to New Orleans:

Some may wonder why the National World War II Museum is located in New Orleans, a city known for other tourism sites, but which is not usually associated with twentieth-century military history. The main reason the museum is located in New Orleans is because the city was where the "Higgins Boats" vital to D-Day operations were designed, built, and tested. The museum gives extensive coverage of the "LCVP" or "Higgins Boat" landing craft used in the invasion of Normandy and elsewhere. These landing craft were designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana and produced in New Orleans by Higgins Industries and its licensees. Furthermore, New Orleans was the home city of historian Stephen Ambrose, who spearheaded the effort to build such a museum.

The Museum closed for three months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, re-opening on December 3 that year. A museum banner promoted this re-opening by proclaiming "We Have Returned," a phrase the banner juxtaposed with the classic World War II photograph of Gen. Douglas MacArthur striding through the surf on his return to the Philippines.
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