Flags Of Our Fathers

• B-29s (known as the “Superfortress”) dropping fire bombs over Japan.
  
  
• Bombers visit the industrial section of Yokohama on May 29, 1945. Widespread destruction is clearly visible in the city’s harbor area in September, after the Japanese surrender.
  
  
• Incendiary bombs shower the Kobe dock area, and other parts of the city, during June of 1945.
  
  
• Amongst the burned-out ruins of Tokyo, a survivor tries to drink from a broken water pipe.
  
  
• An oil refinery in the Tokyo area was another major B-29 target.
  
  
• Not much was left of a power and generator plant in Ube.

Japanese aircraft production dramatically fell after the B-29s began their attacks. Still, the hardened military rulers of the country refused to end the war.

When President Truman learned how many lives would likely be lost if the Allies had to invade Japan’s home islands, he believed the cost would be too great for both sides. Instead, he authorized the use of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Many of the men who fought on the Pacific Islands, like Iwo Jima, rarely (if ever) spoke about their experiences to family members. What happened to the flag-raising survivors? What happened to the Japanese defenders?