D-Day and Iwo Jima

Describe the war in Europe and in the Pacific.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 50

The United States now fought in two places: in Europe against Germany and Italy, and in the Pacific against Japan.
By 1944, Germany held most of Europe. The Allies planned a giant surprise. Under General Dwight Eisenhower, they would cross from Britain to Normandy, in France.
On June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, more than 150,000 Allied troops landed from ships and planes. It was the largest sea invasion in history. Many died, but they held the beaches, and the road to freeing Europe was open.
In the Pacific, Americans moved toward Japan one island at a time. Navajo code talkers sent messages in a code that Japan never broke.
Early in 1945, Marines landed on Iwo Jima, a tiny island near Japan, to win its airfields. The fight was long and costly. A photograph of Marines raising the flag there became famous.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

SS5H4.b — Describe major events in the war in both Europe and the Pacific; include Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, D-Day, VE and VJ Days, and the Holocaust.