Direct US involvement in World War II officially began as soon as the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Prior to that event, America had supplied weapons and equipment to England, but had stopped short of any direct military confrontation with the Axis. The war in the Pacific was considered Asia's war, and the European war was considered a local conflict. US-Japan relations had become tense by 1941, although America felt confident that its naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was powerful enough to deter any aggression by Japan. On July 24, 1941, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos). Two days later, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States. American trade with Japan, including sales of oil and scrap metal, was blocked. England took the same action at the same time, and the Japanese government froze all British and American assets there. President Roosevelt nationalized the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who was also placed in command of all U.S. military forces in the Far East. The president informed the Japanese ambassador in Washington that any further Japanese expansion in the Far East would require a U.S. response to protect American interests. British Prime Minister Churchill promised to help the United States if negotiations with Japan were unsuccessful. On November 20, the Japanese opened talks with Washington. Japan's demands included the following: 1) The United States must abandon China. 2) Eliminate the freeze on Japanese assets. 3) Resume full trade with Japan. 4) Help Japan obtain supplies from the Dutch East Indies. 5) Stop US naval expansion in the Western Pacific. Uni...... middle of paper ......aided by Americans and Chinese, pushed the Japanese out of Indochina at the end of April 1945. When Japan refused the unconditional surrender demanded by the Americans, British and Chinese on the basis of the Cairo Declaration, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6. The bomb had an explosive force of 20,000 tons of TNT. The bomb destroyed four square miles of the city and killed or injured 160,000 people. On August 8, Russia declared war on Japan and began the liberation of Manchuria. The second atomic bomb ever used was dropped on the Nagasaki naval base on August 10. Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki agreed to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito was allowed to keep his throne. The Japanese accepted the Allied terms on August 14, and August 15 became VJ Day. (Victory over Japan) US casualties in the Pacific War totaled 170,596, including 41,322 deaths.