Whether it played the role of the “Black Cats,” “MAD Cats,” or “Dumbos,” the PBY Catalina proved itself as one of the most instrumental amphibious planes as it struck fear in the Axis and provided hope for the Allies.

After 80 years, the remains of Private First Class John Henry Newstrom, a US Marine killed during the Battle of Peleliu in 1944, have been identified and will be returned home thanks to a joint recovery effort by the US and Japanese governments.

A multinational team has rediscovered long-lost WWII shipwrecks off Attu Island in Alaska, using sonar, drones, and archival research to document a forgotten underwater battlefield.

Marguerite Frances Hunold, a pioneering aerologist in the US Navy’s WAVES program during World War II, became the first woman in her field to serve in Alaska, where she helped shape naval aviation forecasting in one of the world’s most challenging weather environments.

Controlling the Ryukyu Islands would allow the Americans to finally sever Japan from its South Asian empire. 

Over 119 days of skirmishes, which included hand-to-hand combat and engagements with the enemy at close range in caves and thick jungles, the Red Arrow Division earned an incredible 28 Silver Stars, 20 Distinguished Service Crosses, and four Medals of Honor. 

Jessie Alton Mahaffey was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when Japanese air forces attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Although the Washington Naval Conference concluded nearly two decades before the attack on Pearl Habor, its outcome shaped the course of World War II in the Pacific between the United States and Japan.