Encore Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV “Take no prisoners. Fight to the bitter end.” Those were everyday words to combat troops on both sides at the end of World War II in the Pacific. And they led to an unprecedented orgy of slaughter. In this provocative, thorough examination of the final months of the war, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE looks at the escalation of bloodletting from both Japanese and American vantage points.
As the film shows, most of Emperor Hirohito's inner circle was determined to continue the war even after losses in the Philippines in February 1945 cut off Japan's supply lines. And though he was warned that the country, brought to its knees by the conflict, might erupt in a Communist revolution, Hirohito believed that one last decisive battle could reverse Japan's fortunes. The Americans, for their part, were startled by the intensity and determination of the Japanese defenders in the South Pacific.
From the U.S. capture of the Mariana Islands through the firebombing of Tokyo and the dropping of the atomic bomb, this program chronicles the dreadful and unprecedented loss of life, and the decisions made by leaders on both sides that finally ended the war.
Explore More:
The War in the Pacific, 1944-1945: Explore a timeline of the Pacific theater, from the invasion of Saipan in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific to the formal Japanese surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
B-29s: In September 1942 the Boeing Company scheduled the first test flight of its new B-29 bomber. But it would be early 1944 before the Army Air Forces received the airplane for use against the Japanese. The B-29, or Superfortress, as it was called, was designed to operate faster, at higher altitudes, and with heavier bomb loads than its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress.
The Costs of War: President Harry Truman and his war advisers hotly discussed casualty estimates for a projected invasion. Congress and the public were solidly behind the war.
Horrors of War: To make this film, producers Austin Hoyt and Melissa Martin spoke to many survivors, whose memories reveal the horrors of war.
Negotiating the Surrender: Several days after the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan, Secretary of State James Byrnes drafted the following letter to a Swiss diplomat serving as an intermediary in negotiations with the Japanese.
Invade or Bomb?: Read excerpt of President Truman's diary as he considered how to end the war.
Propaganda and Warning Leaflet Dropped on Japan: B-29's also carried a non-lethal payload over Japan: leaflets urging the Japanese people to surrender.
Koyu Shiroma: Can you help Koyu Shiroma find his two sisters? Shiroma lost contact with his two sisters since the end of World War II.
Japan's Plan: Japan hoped that by attacking the fleet at Pearl Harbor it could delay American intervention, gaining time to solidify its Asian empire.
Hoag, Niland, and Operation Downfall: For Jack Hoag and George Niland, with the 6th Marine Division, the future seemed bleak.
Civilians on Okinawa: The island of Okinawa was the crucial final stepping stone for the Americans. For the Japanese, it would be the first time they met the enemy on home soil.
Masayuki Shimada: Shimada remembers preparing for his kamikaze mission.
John Chapman and the Kamikaze Attack: Ships in the Fifth Fleet had experienced suicide attacks before — but never on such a scale.
Harry George and Iwo Jim: Securing Iwo Jima came at a great cost to the Marine Corps and the Navy. More than 75,000 Americans fought at Iwo Jima. Almost 7,000 were killed and more than 24,000 wounded.
Yoshiko Hashimoto: Yoshiko Hashimoto and her baby survived. But as many as 100,000 Japanese civilians, including her mother, father and a sister, perished in the firestorm of March 10, 1945.
