This documentary investigates the authorization to use the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in this context of fierce Japanese resistance to an invasion and provides a rare glimpse of Japanese decision-making in the waning months of the war.
American Experience “Victory in the Pacific” airs Tuesday, August 5 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2005, Victory in the Pacific examines the final year of World War II. From the American capture of the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific in July 1944 to the surrender broadcast of Emperor Hirohito in August 1945, it delves into the rationale for using the atomic bomb and features the first-hand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers.
Photo: Victory in the Pacific key art.
Credit: PBS.