Episode #1710Z

KQED 9: Fri, Feb 1, 2013 -- 3:00 AM

"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, this film looks at the escalation of bloodletting from the vantage point of both the Japanese and the Americans. As the film will show, most of the Emperor'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, Emperor 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.