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30 March 1942
President Roosevelt appoints MacArthur as Supreme Commander Southwest Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Area.
17 March 1942
General Douglas MacArthur, ordered by President Roosevelt to leave the Philippines 11 March evades capture by Japanese forces and arrives in Australia. There, he makes a vow and one of the war’s most famous declarations: “I came through and I shall return.”
10 January 1942
American military and civilian personnel, Navy nurses, as well as American and Spanish priests on Guam are forced to march to Piti and board the ship Argentina Maru. Their destination: Prisoner of War camps in Japan.
23 December 1941
On 23 December, after repulsing an initial Japanese landing on 11 December, US sailors, Marines and others surrender Wake Island. Forty-five CHamorus participate in the island’s defense; 10 of those die in the 12 day siege. Initial Japanese force receives support by some ships and aircraft involved in the 7th of December attack on Pearl […]
11 December 1941
Germany and Italy, partners with Japan since the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, declare war on the United States. The United States answers in kind.
10 December 1941
In the darkness of early morning, troops of Japan’s South Seas Detachment invade Guam; one group of 400 soldiers lands at Dungca’s Beach in Tamuning, other units, totaling 5,500, come ashore south of Hågat village, at Togcha and at Tumon. After a brief but futile firefight at the Plaza de España between the Guam Insular […]
9 December 1941
Japanese aircraft return to Guam to bomb and strafe Hagåtña, Piti, Sumay and other villages.
8 December 1941
Across the dateline and shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese dive-bombers from bases in Saipan, the Marshalls and Formosa, strike Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines. On this day in the US mainland, President Roosevelt, elected 5 November, describes the attack on Pearl Harbor as “a date which will live in infamy.” US formally […]
7 December 1941
Aircraft of the Japanese navy launch a surprise strike on US military facilities on Oahu, Hawai`i. The attack cripples the navy at Pearl Harbor as the US is thrust into World War II. Killed were more than 2,500 Americans, 21 warships were either destroyed or damaged, 169 aircraft demolished. The attack and others nearly simultaneous […]
26 July 1940
Relations between Japan and the United States deteriorate as America initiates first trade embargo on war-related goods to the Asian nation.