The closer the Americans got to shores of Japan, the more fierce and costly the conflicts became. Following a strategy known as “Island Hopping,” American troops moved inexorably closer to the Japanese “Home Islands.” As they went, they set up airfields and support bases that helped them expand further and further into the Pacific. Since mid-1942, the United States had been executing a slow and bloody campaign against the Japanese Imperial forces. The United States had entered in December of 1941 after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
By 1945, the Second World War had been dragging on for six long years.
