Color film shot before war breaks out captures a world of fun and sun, but will be replaced with images of cataclysmic horror. Witness Japan's violent onslaught, from its raid on China to its attacks on Pearl Harbor and Australia.
Months after the Pearl Harbor attack, shock waves reverberate in every corner of the Pacific; Americans deploy to stem the enemy's advance; Allied forces later bond over efforts to thwart Japan's move to control New Guinea.
The United States engages in a series of island-hopping invasions; the first stop is the Tarawa Atoll, where troops embark upon the largest amphibious invasion ever staged in the Pacific to fight one of the costliest battles of the war.
The allied forces prepare to occupy the islands of Tinian and Guam, as they signify a threat to American air operations. At the same time, General Curtis LeMay must plan and execute a fire bombing against Japan.
Allies slug it out on the island of Peleliu in a campaign to pave the way for Gen. MacArthur's return to the Philippines; Japan unveils a devastating new tactic, the kamikaze.
By the spring of 1945, the United States begins to take back the Philippines; on Borneo, the Australians invade Labuan; when the United States invades Okinawa, Japan makes a strong stand and launches the biggest kamikaze attack of the war.
President Harry Truman decides to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Emperor Hirohito surrenders, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives to oversee the country's occupation; enemies must now become partners in Japan's rebirth.
