World War II Documents

This telephone exchange, between Japan's emissary in Washington and the Head of American Division of Japanese Foreign Office, took place on the 26th...

This message was intercepted, and decoded, by the United States.  It was sent from Japan's emissaries in Washington to Tokyo, twelve days before ...

James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, disagreed with the Naval Court of Inquiry's opinion.  He issued his own assessment in two differing forma...

This image depicts part of the "Kill All" policy - an intercepted message which caused Allied military officials grave concerns about the well-being o...

Soon after the Pearl Harbor attacks, official inquiries began.  How could this have happened?  Was America so completely unprepared for a Ja...

This image depicts a souvenir from the Japanese surrender ceremony which took place on September 2, 1945.The Naval Historical Center provides a captio...

This is a facsimile image of the signature page for Japan’s surrender.  The document was signed during a formal surrender ceremony on board...

  This image depicts the first page of the surrender document which formally ended the War in the Pacific during World War II. It was signed by...

This image depicts the cover page of Philip Johnston's proposal to use the Navajo language as a code during World War II. He submitted his idea in Fe...

This image depicts the first page of Philip Johnston's proposal to use the Navajo language as the basis for a WWII code. Click on the image for a bet...

This image depicts the second page of Philip Johnston's proposal to use the Navajo language as the basis for a WWII code. Click on the image for a be...

The United States military planned an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, dubbed "Operation Downfall."  Initial landings would have taken plac...