3 January 1945 A.D. Preps for Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japanese
Invasion—GEN MacArthur and ADM Nimitz Commanding; Fleet Carrier Aircraft Down
100 Enemy Aircraft While Losing 22
1945 – In preparation for planned assaults
against Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and mainland Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur is placed
in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Chester Nimitz is placed in
command of all U.S. naval forces. This effectively ended the concept of
unified commands, in which one man oversaw more than one service from more than
one country in a distinct region. Douglas MacArthur’s career was one of
striking achievement. His performance during World War I combat in France won
him decorations for valor and earned him the distinction of becoming the
youngest general in the Army at the time. He retired from the Army in 1934, but
was then appointed head of the Philippine Army by its president (the
Philippines had U.S. Commonwealth status at the time). When World War II
erupted, MacArthur was called back to active service as commanding general of
the U.S. Army in the Far East. He was convinced he could defeat Japan if Japan
invaded the Philippines. In the long term he was correct, but in the short term
the United States suffered disastrous defeats at Bataan and Corregidor. By the
time U.S. forces were compelled to surrender, he had already shipped out on
orders from President Roosevelt. As he left, he uttered his immortal line: “I
shall return.”
Refusing to admit defeat,
MacArthur took supreme command of a unified force in the Southwest Pacific,
capturing New Guinea from the Japanese with an innovative “leap frog” strategy.
True to his word, MacArthur returned to the Philippines in October 1944. With
the help of the U.S. Navy, which destroyed the Japanese fleet and left the
Japanese garrisons on the islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated the
Japanese resistance. In January 1945, he was given control of all American land
forces in the Pacific; by March, MacArthur was able to hand control of the
Philippine capital back to its president. Admiral Nimitz, a graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, fought in World War I as chief of staff to the
commander of the Atlantic submarine force, an experience that forever convinced
him of the efficacy of submarine warfare. Upon America’s entry into World War II,
Nimitz was made commander in chief of the unified Pacific Fleet (Ocean Area),
putting him in control of both air and sea forces. He oversaw American
victories at Midway and the Battle of the Coral Sea, and directed further
victories at the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Philippines, and
finally, as commander of all naval forces in the Pacific, in Iwo Jima and
Okinawa. Both MacArthur and Nimitz had the honor of accepting the formal
Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri.
1945 – Third Fleet carriers begin a 2 day
attack against Formosa destroying 100 aircraft with loss of only 22 aircraft. VMF-124 and VMF-213 from the USS Essex struck Formosa
and the Ryukyu Islands in the first Marine land strike off a carrier.
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