World War II with Tom Hanks (2026) s01e05 Episode Script

(tense music)
Sub extracted from file & improved by
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
and President Franklin Roosevelt
are navy men.
They understand
that World War II will be won
by the side that controls the seas.
Early in the war,
Germany dominates the Atlantic
and threatens Great Britain,
while Japan is attempting
to build an empire
across the Asia-Pacific theatre.
The attack on Pearl Harbor
and Germany's declaration of war
brings America
directly into the conflict,
a global struggle
that will range across many seas
and many oceans.
But the US Navy has a new weapon -
the aircraft carrier -
which extends its reach
and allows it to challenge an enemy
thousands of miles away.
(dramatic music)
ROBERT: All wars change the world.
But none of them changed the world
like the Second World War did.
JON: Japan's on the march,
Germany's on the march.
PHILLIPS: No one can imagine the
nightmare they're about to unleash.
The most destructive war
in human history.
Suddenly, the world
is turned upside down,
and all hell is let loose.
The West is stunned
by the speed of the advance.
JON: You get the Allies
led by the big three -
Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin.
Men who were dealing with
immensely complicated questions.
It's the biggest military
operation of human history.
The Allies have to come together
not just militarily,
but industrial scale -
it's a global perspective.
DOUG: They have to fight
in every climate
from the Arctic,
to the jungles of the Pacific,
to the deserts of Africa
and the depths of the ocean.
(rousing music)
But there was no certainty of victory.
It was going to be
a horrific bloodbath.
We see humans at their absolute worst,
how they treat other human beings.
And we see them at their absolute best,
willing to give their lives
that others might live.
World War II was a struggle
in which there could be
one victor and one vanquished.
(air-raid siren blares)
(air-raid siren blares)
(tense music)
(gunfire and explosions)
TOM HANKS AS NARRATOR: In late 1940,
British cities are pounded from the air
by the German Luftwaffe
almost every night.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: Led by Prime Minister
Winston Churchill,
the people of Great Britain
show no sign of surrender.
But most of the food and material
the island nation needs to survive
must be brought from abroad
in British ships.
And Nazi U-boats threaten
every one of them.
(explosion booms)
More than two-thirds
of Britain's food comes in by ship.
Over 90% of Britain's oil
comes by ship.
NARRATOR:
Britain also needs raw materials.
PHILLIPS: You can't build
a Lancaster bomber
or a Spitfire out of steel.
You need aluminium.
Britain has no aluminium,
so it needs to ship it all
across the Atlantic.
NARRATOR: Most of what Britain
needs comes from one source -
America.
President Franklin D Roosevelt
has declared the United States
an arsenal of democracy.
A lifeline is established -
American resources
carried by British convoys.
But it's a perilous journey.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: In 1940 alone,
over 500 British
merchant ships are lost.
The Germans are able to sink three
million tons of British shipping
between the summer of 1940
and the end of the year.
That's unsustainable.
If Churchill can't keep up
the flow of supplies to Britain,
well, you're in existential trouble.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: The man directing
Germany's U-boat campaign
is Admiral Karl Doenitz,
a World War I U-boat commander himself.
Throughout the Great War,
the Germans used
unrestricted submarine warfare
to attempt to choke Britain
into submission.
PHILLIPS: Doenitz's mind
is pure mathematics.
You sink more merchant ships
than can be built
to starve the British,
to deprive Britain of the raw materials
and the calories needed
to fight the war.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: In 1940,
Doenitz devises a new tactic.
He groups up to 20 U-boats
and orders them
to hunt British convoys.
They're called "wolfpacks".
The moment one U-boat finds a convoy,
it radios back to Doenitz.
(Morse code beeps)
MAX: Doenitz then looks
at where all his U-boats are.
Doenitz then vectors all other U-boats
in and around those waters
onto the same target.
(Morse code beeps)
(Morse code beeps)
MAX: The wolfpack tactic
requires good communication
(bell rings)
MAX: ..good coordination.
ROBERT: Nobody attacks
until they're all present
and then they pounce.
(bell rings)
(water glugs)
(clock ticks)
(explosion thunders)
MAX: Imagine what it's like
to be in a convoy under attack.
(explosions thunder)
MAX: Even if your ship doesn't get hit,
you cannot stop to pick up survivors.
You hear them screaming.
You want to help them,
but you cannot stop.
Because if you do,
you know a submarine
is waiting to sink you.
NARRATOR: Through 1940,
the wolfpacks are so successful,
their crews refer to it
as the "Happy Time".
Doenitz's plan to strangle
Great Britain is working.
(ships' whistles blast)
NARRATOR: Attacked by sea and by air,
Britain's survival falls largely
on the shoulders of one man -
Winston Churchill.
DAN: In November 1940, Churchill
is told in no uncertain terms
by government officials
that there are simply
not enough supplies
getting into Britain.
Britain is not going to be able
to continue the war.
He said it gnawed at his bowels.
He said it's the only thing
that kept him up at night
in the Second World War
was the German threat in the Atlantic.
(tense music)
NARRATOR:
Desperate, Prime Minister Churchill
writes to President Roosevelt.
Franklin Roosevelt had been
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
during the First World War.
He understood the role of sea power.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: In early December,
Roosevelt sets aside
the burdens of office
for a few days in the Caribbean.
And a seaplane brings
a letter from Churchill.
And Churchill says,
this is the most important letter
I will ever write.
Churchill is terrified.
He's coming closer to losing
than he ever has.
He says, "I need help."
"I need planes, ships,
guns, and money."
NARRATOR: Roosevelt has long understood
the threat Nazi Germany poses
to the United States.
But he's been constrained from
offering direct aid to the British
because of Americans' anxiety
over getting involved
in another world war.
Roosevelt had read
Mein Kampf in German.
He understood, in a way
that not many Americans did,
what Hitler was about.
But 80% or 90% of the country
had no interest
in being involved in any way
in military conflict in the Old World.
FDR understands
that if the United States
is to take its place
as a leader of the world,
he's got to do it very, very carefully.
(soft bright music)
NARRATOR: Roosevelt returns
to Washington with a plan.
He calls it Lend-Lease.
I ask this Congress
for authority and for funds
sufficient to manufacture
additional munitions
and war supplies of many kinds
to be turned over to those nations
which are now in actual war
with aggressor nations.
NARRATOR: Churchill's letter
has been answered.
As he put it, if my
neighbour's house is on fire,
I lend him the hose.
I don't make him pay for it.
I just ask for it back afterward.
Churchill had been thrown a lifeline.
Lend-Lease would keep Britain alive.
NARRATOR: President Roosevelt shepherds
the Lend-Lease legislation,
designated HR-1776,
through Congress.
American weapons,
including tanks and planes,
are headed for Great Britain.
But these convoys will move
through hazardous waters.
(tense music)
(tense music)
NARRATOR: Spring, 1941.
American ships carrying
Lend-Lease supplies to Britain
are threatened by Doenitz's wolfpacks.
(bell rings)
NARRATOR:
Roosevelt understands the risk.
But because he knows what's at stake,
it's a risk he believes worth taking.
He writes to Prime Minister Churchill.
"I believe that the outcome
of this struggle
is going to be decided in the Atlantic.
And unless Hitler can win there,
he cannot win anywhere in the world."
FDR extends
the US maritime security zone
to 26 degrees west.
A significant part of the Atlantic
is now patrolled by the US Navy.
PHILLIPS: He takes over
more than half of the Atlantic
and turns it into an American lake.
Roosevelt is now saying,
we will attack anyone
who goes to war in those areas,
knowing the only people
who are going to make attacks
in that area
is the Germans in submarines.
NARRATOR: As American
and British interests align,
President Roosevelt
and Prime Minister Churchill
agree to a summit
to discuss strategy
not just for
the battle in the Atlantic,
but for the whole war.
They will meet
in a bay just off Newfoundland
on the eastern edge of Canada.
Roosevelt tells the Washington press
that he's taking a vacation
on the presidential yacht,
the Potomac.
But once at sea, he transfers
to the heavy cruiser Augusta
and sets sail to meet Churchill.
And events were conspiring
to bring them on stage
at the same hour
at a cataclysmic moment.
Roosevelt wanted Churchill
as close as possible.
NARRATOR:
Churchill travels to meet Roosevelt
on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales,
escorted by Royal Navy destroyers.
But summer storms prevent the escorts
from staying with
the Prime Minister's ship.
Alone, the HMS Prince of Wales
travels through
U-boat-menaced waters
the same journey that British ships
continue to make every day.
(solemn music)
NARRATOR: On August 9th,
the President
and the Prime Minister meet.
It's a deeply emotional
and powerful moment
because it's their first meeting
as the leaders
of their respective countries.
Franklin Roosevelt
and Winston Churchill
were very similar men in many ways.
They both believed
that they were destined to play
a great role in the lives
of their nations and of the world.
It was very important to FDR
to stand when he met Churchill.
Because of the polio,
this was a pure effort of will.
He did not want to be seated
in front of men who were fighting.
(slow dramatic music)
JON: You can see the beginnings
of what would become
arguably the most important
political friendship
in history, in those first moments.
Churchill's boyishly happy
and is so excited
that the President of the United States
is receiving him.
It's also important
to remember the intimacy
of being together at sea,
in the vast ocean,
where they're looking
each other in the eye.
They want to get along.
They want to please the other.
NARRATOR: The two leaders also want
to map a way forward for the world.
They produce the Atlantic Charter,
with joint war aims and a blueprint
to prevent another world war.
They knew that
history had mysteriously
but unmistakably
cast them in this drama.
And it was a reminder,
an emotional reminder
of what was at stake.
NARRATOR:
When Churchill departs for home,
FDR sends two American warships
to accompany him as far as Iceland.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: In fall 1941,
Roosevelt orders the US Navy
to escort British convoys
halfway across the Atlantic.
PHILLIPS: It puts US forces now
very close to Europe.
Everything about that is a way
to be more aggressive to Germany.
NARRATOR: On September 4, 1941,
the USS Greer is attacked
by a German U-boat.
The Greer strikes back.
Roosevelt responds
with a shoot on sight order.
I tell you the blunt fact
that the German submarine fired first
upon this American destroyer Greer
with deliberate design to sink us.
What we are seeing are
tensions ratcheting up in the Atlantic,
an undeclared war
almost certainly at some point
going to turn into a shooting one.
NARRATOR: On October 17th,
the USS Kearny
is damaged by a torpedo
from a German U-boat.
11 sailors are killed.
Two weeks later,
the USS Reuben James
is torpedoed and sunk.
115 sailors are killed.
Roosevelt again
condemns German barbarism,
German brutality.
"How can they do this?"
But Roosevelt doesn't declare war.
He realises this isn't quite enough
to base an entry
into the Second World War.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: At the end of 1941,
preserving Great Britain's
Atlantic lifeline
is FDR's chief naval concern.
But in the Pacific
a different threat is about to launch.
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
NARRATOR: December 7, 1941.
Six Japanese aircraft carriers
with over 300 dive bombers
and torpedo planes
approach America's largest
naval base in the Pacific.
(explosion thunders)
MAN: We interrupt this broadcast
to bring you this important bulletin
from the United Press.
Flash, Washington.
The White House announces
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
What is the country that finally
attacks America on American soil?
It's Japan.
MAN: Messages from Tokyo
say that Japan has announced
a formal declaration of war
against both the United States
and Britain.
JON: Churchill learns about
Pearl Harbor from the BBC.
He hears the broadcast announcing this.
He calls FDR.
FDR says, "It's true.
We're all in the same boat now."
NARRATOR: Four days later,
Germany declares war
on the United States.
America will fight a war
across both the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans.
And FDR is now a wartime president.
Roosevelt comes under a great pressure.
He really finds
the first few months of 1942
probably the most difficult in the war.
And if you're Roosevelt,
everyone's yelling at you.
The British are yelling at you
to convoy in the North Atlantic.
The navy's yelling at you for more
resources to go to the Pacific.
NARRATOR:
To fight the war in the Pacific,
FDR appoints Admiral Chester Nimitz
as the new Commander-in-Chief
Pacific, CINCPAC.
GEOFFREY: Nimitz arrives to assume
command of the Pacific fleet
while Pearl Harbor
is still a burning mess.
It just stinks of death
and fire and destruction.
NARRATOR: Nimitz takes command
of a weakened Pacific Fleet.
Most American battleships are destroyed
or damaged at Pearl Harbor.
But its aircraft carriers were at sea
and escaped the attack.
Nimitz is relying on admirals
like William "Bull" Halsey
to press the fight
against the Japanese.
He sees that American naval strategy
based on the battleship is all gone.
But we still have aircraft carriers
and we still have submarines.
Chester Nimitz understands, okay
out with the old, in with the new.
(engines buzz)
NARRATOR: Nimitz adjusts
American naval strategy
to rely on aircraft carriers
and a series of raids.
Because those
aircraft carriers are available,
he does have a tool
to punch back at Japan.
NARRATOR: The Imperial Japanese Navy
is well-trained and well-equipped.
They dominate and control
the western half of the Pacific.
April 1942.
Four months after Pearl Harbor,
Admiral Nimitz is eager
to go on the offensive.
But where?
The navy's top cryptanalyst,
Commander Joseph Rochefort,
and his team decode signals
that reveal the Japanese navy's plans.
(Morse code beeps)
The intelligence that Rochefort
is bringing to Nimitz is not
necessarily all that clear cut.
But the picture that
is developing is one of
continued Japanese interest
in the South Pacific.
NARRATOR: Rochefort believes
the Japanese are going
to invade southern New Guinea.
From there,
they could block the sea lanes
that connect the United States
and Australia
and possibly strike Australia
which is the key to the American
strategy in the South Pacific.
The Japanese would control
everything from Japan to Australia,
that entire linkage
to the Indian Ocean,
and, oh, by the way, a principal ally
in the southern part of the hemisphere.
NARRATOR: Nimitz dispatches
two aircraft carriers -
the Lexington and the Yorktown -
to intercept the Japanese force.
They are the only
two carriers available.
(engines drone)
His basic game plan
is to cruise in the Coral Sea
and wait for the Japanese moves
and deliver an attack
against the Japanese.
It's hard sometimes to remember,
because we have satellites that
illuminate the whole world in real time,
that for most of military history,
the fog of war is huge.
And at sea, it's an even bigger deal.
Trying to find your enemy
is half the battle.
A large fleet can
become almost invisible.
And then once you find it,
you have to hit them
before they find you.
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR:
Rochefort's intelligence is correct.
American reconnaissance aircraft
spot the Japanese fleet
in the Coral Sea.
Both American carriers
launch their plans.
(tense music)
This attack is really the first sign
that what we have here
is what's called an "RMA" nowadays,
a Revolution in Military Affairs.
(engines roar)
NARRATOR: The two fleets
are more than 100 miles apart.
They're attacking with aircraft
from far away.
They're not exchanging salvos
from big guns.
The Americans had never done
anything like that
with aircraft carriers before.
NARRATOR:
American dive bombers strike first,
finding the Japanese carrier Shoho.
She's hit and sinks
in less than an hour.
Shoho is the first Japanese carrier
that's going to be sunk
during this war.
When you throw a punch in boxing,
you open yourself up to a counterpunch.
So your choices are "don't fight"
or "fight and open yourself up
to a devastating blow".
NARRATOR: The United States Navy
has struck first.
But now Nimitz's force faces
the Japanese counterattack.
The US Navy sinks their first
Japanese aircraft carrier
in the Coral Sea.
But the next day, Japanese planes
locate and target the USS Lexington,
America's oldest carrier,
nicknamed "Lady Lex".
(engines drone)
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: She takes four direct hits.
She's still seaworthy, but a gas
line ignites and she catches fire.
She burns to the waterline
and is scuttled to avoid capture.
To protect their remaining carriers,
the Japanese call off the invasion.
The Battle of the Coral Sea
is the first time
that the United States
has turned back a Japanese offensive.
JONATHAN: From Nimitz's standpoint, he's
learned to trust his intel officers.
He's also learned that the carriers
are going to be the way to go.
Even though this is
kind of the Wild West
of naval combat at this point,
carriers are effective.
They can sink enemy warships.
NARRATOR: Fearing a long war
with America,
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto,
the architect of Pearl Harbor,
is always seeking a knockout blow
against the US Navy.
GEOFFREY: So he says, I need
to destroy these American carriers.
But how do I do it?
And so they cook up this plan,
the Japanese naval staff,
is that they'll attack
a vital American place.
And they decide Midway Island,
so called because it's midway between
the West Coast of the
United States and China.
DOUG: It is American territory.
It's something the Americans value.
That might be enough to lure
the Americans out
to defend that territory.
And if they do, then we can
annihilate their carriers
and have a free hand in the Pacific.
NARRATOR: Yamamoto's plan is to
launch a surprise attack on Midway
with four of his carriers.
The Japanese will take
the strategic island
and believe Midway will then
radio Pearl Harbor for help,
prompting Nimitz to send his
carriers to defend the island.
Once the American carriers
get to Midway,
Yamamoto will appear
with the rest of his fleet.
He will trap them in jaws of iron,
crush them, and destroy
not only the American carriers,
but also their battleships,
at which point the Americans
will have no naval forces
of any worth left in the Pacific.
NARRATOR:
This could be a decisive strike
against the US Naval forces
in the Pacific.
(unsettling music)
NARRATOR: In late May,
the Japanese task force
head to Midway Island.
There are 250 aircraft on its carriers.
(Morse code beeps)
NARRATOR: But cryptanalyst
Joseph Rochefort, once again,
has intercepted
the Japanese coded signals.
Rochefort believes Japan
is sending its fleet to attack Midway.
The problem is
is the Japanese aren't referring to
Midway Island as Midway Island.
They're saying, "AF".
"We're going to attack AF."
NARRATOR: Rochefort has a plan
to reveal the identity of "AF".
Midway sends false radio messages
on a channel the Japanese monitor,
suggesting there's a problem
on the island.
Midway is going
to radio back in the clear
that, hey, our desalinisation plant
has just broken,
and we're running out of fresh water.
And then they wait and listen.
(radio signals trill)
(telegraph chatters)
And shortly thereafter,
a Japanese radio station will
send another message
back to the Japanese fleet
that AF has just run out
of fresh water.
And now, for the first time,
they know it's Midway.
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR: Nimitz dispatches his
three remaining aircraft carriers
and a supporting fleet towards Midway.
(tense music)
(tense music)
NARRATOR: The US Navy is lying in wait
to intercept
the Japanese attack on Midway
if they can locate
the Japanese carriers.
This is the first time
many young pilots
will go into battle.
(tense music)
There are some that had never even
taken off a aircraft carrier before.
We do have a fascinating
bit of footage that shows VT-8,
that torpedo squadron,
on the USS Hornet.
When we look at that picture,
what you see is
a bunch of 20-something-year-old
naval aviators.
And what you see is the swagger.
Now, probably in that swagger
and the smoking of the cigarettes,
it's probably hiding a little bit
of the fear of the unknown.
But even still, you see that twinkle.
"This is our time."
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
(engines roar)
NARRATOR: At 6:30am,
Japanese aircraft attack Midway
and inflict heavy damage.
(rapid gunfire)
The battle starts off
really going perfectly,
according to the Japanese plan.
NARRATOR: But the Japanese don't know
that the American fleet
has moved into position
to the northeast of Midway
and are now ready
to launch a surprise attack.
Starting at 7:00am,
more than 100 aircraft
launch from the Hornet
and the Enterprise.
(engines drone)
(tense music)
NARRATOR: Squadrons search for
the Japanese fleet at 19,000 feet.
As an aviator in World War II,
you might have a set of binoculars
to help increase your vision.
But otherwise, you're looking at
about 30 square miles' worth of sea
and trying to figure out
where anything is.
NARRATOR:
Three squadrons fly due west
but can't find
the Japanese carriers.
One squadron of
Devastator torpedo planes, VT-8,
flies southwest.
Just after 9:00am,
through broken clouds,
they spot the Japanese fleet.
The torpedo planes are terrible.
It's only got a single machine gun.
And so these things are just lumbering,
slow, vulnerable targets that are
going to be horribly exposed
to any sort of Japanese fighter
opposition if they run into it.
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR: As VT-8 lines up
to attack the carriers,
they're intercepted by Japanese Zeros.
DOUG: The Japanese Zero is
the most advanced
Japanese aircraft that they have.
It is a world-class fighter.
(rapid gunfire)
DOUG: It can manoeuvre like crazy.
It can climb like a banshee.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The Zeros fire on VT-8.
They just tear into these formations
and began very quickly
sending them, ones and twos,
arrowing down into the ocean in flames.
And the entire squadron is wiped out.
(sombre music)
NARRATOR: Squadron VT-8 is destroyed.
It takes less than 15 minutes.
DOUG: When we think about those guys
we see in the footage,
of the 15 aircraft that attacked,
14 of them will be shot down.
They get absolutely sacrificed.
Some groups sacrifice more than others,
and in that case, they sacrificed all.
(solemn music)
NARRATOR: While Marine fighters
from Midway attack the Japanese,
they don't inflict real damage.
Other US squadrons continue to search
for the Japanese fleet.
At about 9:30 in the morning,
things are going terribly.
The Americans are losing this battle,
and Nimitz's battle plan
is falling apart.
NARRATOR: If navy pilots
don't locate the Japanese carriers,
Midway will fall,
and America's strategy in the Pacific
will be dealt a crushing blow.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: Fighting Squadron Six
of Dauntless dive bombers
are searching for the Japanese fleet
that has attacked Midway.
This is the best aircraft in the
United States Navy in 1941, '42.
It carries a 1,000-pound bomb,
and it can be extremely effective.
NARRATOR: The squadron is led by Navy
Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky,
a 15-year veteran.
Wade McClusky goes out to the
portion of ocean where he expects
the Japanese to be located,
and there's nothing but sun
and sea and sky and some clouds.
NARRATOR: The squadron is in the air
for close to two hours.
By 9:30am, they're running low on fuel.
But McClusky continues the search.
This is an incredibly gutsy move
on McClusky's part.
The fuel gauges are really bad.
Deciding to continue his search
and continue looking for the enemy,
that's really ballsy.
Oh, by the way,
everybody's barking at him,
"We're pretty low on fuel.
We got to get back."
But he implements a box search
and starts looking for the Japanese.
Flies north for a bit, nothing.
But finally,
as he's about to turn for home,
he sees a lone Japanese warship.
He goes, "He looks like
he's headed somewhere in a hurry."
"If I follow that ship,
it's going to take me someplace."
And he does.
(tense music)
NARRATOR: 30 minutes later,
McClusky spots
the Japanese aircraft carriers.
By chance, another squadron
of American dive bombers is nearby.
(engines roar)
DAN: These planes
would show up out of the blue
through a break in the clouds.
And all of a sudden, they're like a
swarm of bees closing in on your fleet.
And it happens insanely fast.
What you'd want to do
is come out of the sun.
And then you'd roll over
and roll back out,
and you'd set about
a 70-degree dive angle.
You want to get as close
as you can to that carrier,
about 1,500 feet.
If you've got a really good pilot,
you really can put this bomb
in a pickle barrel.
(engine screams)
(explosion thunders)
NARRATOR:
Three carriers take multiple hits,
the Akagi, Soryu, and Kaga.
DOUG: In the span of four minutes,
United States dive bombers
knock out three
Japanese aircraft carriers.
NARRATOR: The Japanese
have one remaining carrier,
the Hiryu.
At midday, its dive bombers
find and attack
the American carrier Yorktown.
(heavy gunfire)
NARRATOR: After attempting
to save her for hours
the Yorktown's captain
finally orders the crew
to abandon ship.
But the Hiryu's victory is short-lived.
American bombers find it
and sink the fourth
Japanese carrier of the day.
12 hours after the first
Japanese attack
Yamamoto's plans
to deliver a decisive blow
to the US fleet has collapsed.
Instead, America has delivered
a devastating
and decisive blow of its own.
Four of Yamamoto's carriers
are at the bottom of the ocean.
3,000 of his men are killed.
This is a turning point.
(engine drones and sputters)
It's easy to forget now
the feeling of revenge
that Americans felt
when they were finally able
to strike back at the Japanese.
(dramatic music)
NARRATOR: President Roosevelt,
who has been monitoring the battle,
finally receives word
that America has won.
Midway is absolutely critical.
It allows Roosevelt to get
out of this defensive crouch
that we've been in for
the first seven months of this war
and begin thinking about, OK,
how would we like to reshape this war?
Where would we like
to go on the offensive?
The emotional outcome of Midway
might be the biggest thing, right?
This is the psychological blow.
The idea that they come to Midway,
get smacked in the face,
and turn around and go back home,
psychologically devastating
to the Japanese.
Oh, by the way, for the Americans,
the idea that we can fight and win
against the Japanese
that's powerful.
(dramatic music)
After Midway,
the United States takes
the upper hand in the Pacific.
For the first time, the country wins
a decisive victory
against the Japanese.
America is now on the offensive
in the Pacific.