While Americans celebrated victory in Europe with ticker-tape parades and dancing in the streets, the war in the Pacific continued. The Allies leapfrogged from island to island, moving nearer and nearer to the enemy, Japan.
Fighting in thick, hot jungles, marines braved heavy rains and waded through muddy swamps. Slimy vines clung to their skin, and biting insects, leeches, and diseases such as malaria attacked them. As the Pacific war dragged on, the U.S. faced a fateful decision. Would it use its terrible secret weapon?
