After major victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, the tide of the war in the Pacific and Asia turned to the Allies' favor. In their victorious advance toward Japan, the Allies won major victories at places such as New Guinea, Bougainville, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Kohima, Imphal, Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The war in the Pacific was unlike any previous war, requiring vast amounts of men and materiel to be transported over awe-inspiring distances. The war against Japan also descended into a fierce and brutal war with few rules governing its conduct. Japanese servicemen were taught that nothing was more shameful than surrender. Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen died by the thousands in suicide attacks and in militarily hopeless situations. It was very rare for Allied forces to take Japanese prisoners because Japanese garrisons almost always fought until their total annihilation. This fierce resistance exacted tremendous casualties on Allied forces. Consequently, for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, Allied planners projected an Allied casualty toll of well over 1 million with five to ten times as many Japanese casualties. Given these and other more severe casualty estimates, President Truman had little difficulty in deciding to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (resulting in a casualty toll that was a small fraction of the projections for a military invasion of Japan) in order to end the war.
The World War II Victory Museum's Years of Victory: Pacific & Asia endeavors to present the war in the Pacific and Asia using artifacts, imagery, and the words and thoughts of the men who served there. This gallery remains under construction but is currently open to museum guests. At present, this gallery features a photo exhibit of Marines at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, numerous small artifacts, seven vehicles of types widely used in the Pacific and CBI theaters, and two large and unique model battleships from the television miniseries The Winds of War. Development and construction of exhibits in this gallery continues, and the gallery, upon completion, will contain no less than three major exhibits.
