U.S. Captures Saipan and Air Superiority in Pacific

After weeks of fighting, American forces secured the island of Saipan on July 9, 1944. The conflict's air combat left Japan's air force too weak to launch another major attack during the war, and prepared the way for landings of thousands of Marines. The island also gave the U.S. a forward airfield from which sorties against the Japanese home islands could take off.