Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, a natural harbor on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, was and is a US Naval base. Much destruction was wrought there on December 7, 1941, by a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The American forces were caught entirely by surprise and the devastation was considerable. America, previously neutral, responded to the attack by entering World War II.

Bataan and Corregidor

During the early months of the war the Japanese invaded the American-held Philippines and won early victories. The American defensive forces fell back to the peninsula of Bataan where they were compressed and, unsupplied, ultimately surrendered. The prisoners of war were then marched cross country under brutal treatment in what has since become known as the Bataan Death March. The fortress island of Corregidor, off the coast from Bataan, held out for several more days but ultimately also capitulated.

Guadalcanal

A small island in...