Initially, hell ships moved Allied POWs to areas where their labor was needed, such as the Japanese main islands and other recently conquered regions, but later, they also moved prisoners to prevent them from being liberated by advancing Allied forces.

A product of post Great War naval treaties and launched amid rising global tensions, the USS New Orleans forged a bond with its namesake city in the years before World War II

Not only was the vessel a hometown hero, the USS New Orleans also participated in almost every major campaign against Japan. And when faced with great tragedy, she always bounced back, much like the people of New Orleans did after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

One of the last living survivors of the December 7, 1941, attack, Schab was serving as a musician and sailor aboard the USS Dobbin when Japanese planes struck Pearl Harbor.

Although the attack on the USS Panay did not ignite a war between the United States and Japan, it marked a turning point in their relationship. 

Though the Aleutian Tigers have largely faded from public memory of World War II, their legacy lives on in both Alaskan historical sites and in the preserved or restored P-40s of the 343rd that still bear their iconic yellow tigers.

Even though he grew up surrounded by WWII veterans in his small Arkansas town, Rod Fortner knew very little about where his dad served and what he had experienced as a young Marine. 

The New Orleans not only lost her bow, but she staggered away from Ironbottom Sound with over 180 men in her crew dead or missing. But like the city for which she was named, quitting was never an option.