The United States military<span> air campaign waged against Japan began in earnest in mid-1944 and intensified during the war's last months. While plans for attacks on Japan had been prepared prior to the Pacific War, these could not begin until the long-range </span>B-29 Superfortress<span> bomber was ready for combat. From June 1944 until January 1945, B-29s stationed in India staged through bases in China to make a series of raids on Japan, but this effort proved unsuccessful. The strategic bombing campaign was greatly expanded from November 1944 when bases in the </span>Mariana Islands<span> became available as a result of the </span>Mariana Islands Campaign<span>. </span>
racial segregation was strictly enforced, <span>The civil rights movement was still in its infancy. Laws ensuring voting rights and equal access to jobs and public facilities were decades away.</span>
