As World War II engulfs the globe, the vast Pacific Ocean becomes the flash point for the struggle between the Empire of Japan and the United States of America. The first year of this titanic struggle will see the Japanese succeed beyond their wildest dreams. As a resurgent United States strikes back, the fortunes of war will change in favor of America. These documentaries are the story of those initial attacks and how fortune turned on the Japanese.
PEARL HARBOR
In the chaotic aftermath of the First World War, the vast Pacific Ocean becomes the flash point for a new crisis, a struggle between militaristic Japan and isolationist America. Japan, eager for raw materials to feed her fledgling industries, invades Manchuria and later China. The fighting in Asia sets Japan on a collision course with the United States, a course that will ultimately lead to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On December 7, 1941, the uneasy peace is shattered as the Japanese carrier fleet launches a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu. Within thirty minutes, the power of the United States Pacific Fleet is devastated. By the end of the attack, seven battleships are damaged or sunk, half the aircraft on the island are wiped out and 2,400 American lives are lost.
The story told here is one of global forces, of fascism and imperialism. It is the story of one of the most momentous events in American history and of a crucial turning point in the 20th Century. Most importantly, it is the story of the people who were there, told through the eyewitness accounts of both American and Japanese veterans, some whose stories have never been told. This is a story of
courage, heroism and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. This is the story of Pearl Harbor.
GUADALCANAL
In the summer of 1942, America was still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the humiliating victories of the Japanese throughout the Far East. Then came the battles of the Coral Sea and the pivotal Battle for Midway. Japan had been effectively countered and it was time to launch an attack. The first landing of American forces on a Japanese held island would occur on Guadalcanal, August 7, 1942. This was the opening of a six month campaign to wrest control of the lower Solomon Islands from the Japanese Empire. From this story of mistakes and heroism would rise the genesis of American strategy for the rest of the war in the Pacific.
