Our Mission
The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.
Trending Topics
Explore The War- 
         Learn More Learn MoreThe End of World War II 1945
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         Learn More Learn MoreAtomic Bombings of Japan
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         Learn More Learn MoreManhattan Project
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         Learn More Learn MoreD-Day and the Normandy Campaign
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         Learn More Learn MoreV-E Day: Victory in Europe
Event Recaps
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Meet the Author: Robin Judd, "Between Two Worlds"Facing the harrowing task of rebuilding a life in the wake of the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors, community and religious leaders, and Allied soldiers viewed marriage between Jewish women and military personnel as a way to move forward after unspeakable loss. 
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Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II SymposiumThe engaging daylong symposium program provided a deep dive into the significant role Black servicemembers and Home Front workers played in securing Allied victory in World War II. 
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Meet the Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones, "Hitler’s Winter" and "Churchill Cold War Warrior"In Hitler’s Winter, Anthony Tucker-Jones explores the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive in the West. 
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17th International Conference on World War IIThe 17th International Conference on World War II, a program of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy at The National WWII Museum, was presented by the Pritzker Military Foundation on behalf of Pritzker Military Museum & Library, with additional support from the Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series on World War II Endowment Fund and the George P. Shultz Forum on World Affairs. 
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Meet the Author: Rona Simmons, No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944More than 2,600 Americans perished around the world on October 24, 1944—a day overshadowed by more widely remembered dates in WWII history. 
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Meet the Author: Stephen O. Sears, 'Sunniland'The novel Sunniland follows a young geologist in Florida monitoring the development of a new oil well while facing a German U-boat rampage taking place in the nearby Gulf of Mexico in the spring of 1943. 
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Meet the Author: Mark T. Calhoun, "General Lesley J. McNair"Mark Calhoun, PhD, offered a detailed examination of General Lesley J. McNair, a man so instrumental to America’s military preparedness and Army modernization but remains little-known today. 
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Beyond the Beaches: D+1 and the Battle for NormandyAt this free daylong public symposium, guests heard from leading historians on the challenges, battles, and victories that followed the June 6 Allied landings and made the liberation of Europe from Nazi oppression possible. 
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Museum Celebrates 2024 American Spirit Awards in New OrleansTuskegee Airmen, Four-Star General Ann E. Dunwoody, and Acclaimed Filmmaker Steven Spielberg Bestowed with Museum’s Highest Honor 
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Dauntless: A Conversation with WWII Veteran Paul HilliardVisitors at the National WWII Museum had the special opportunity to hear from WWII veteran and Museum Trustee Paul Hilliard as he discussed his life story documented in the new biography, Dauntless. 
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Our War Too: Women's History SymposiumThe symposium, which took place from February 29 to March 1, 2024, featured topics expanding upon the Museum’s special exhibit, Our War Too: Women in Service. 
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Meet the Author: James B. Conroy, 'The Devils Will Get No Rest'Conroy discussed his unique perspective of the Anglo-American clash over military strategy in January 1943 that ultimately produced the Allied plan for victory in World War II. 
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2023 International Conference on World War IIThe 16th International Conference on World War II, a program of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy at The National WWII Museum, was presented by the Pritzker Military Foundation on behalf of Pritzker Military Museum & Library, with additional support from The Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series on World War II Endowment Fund. 
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Pearl Harbor Commemorative CeremonyDuring this year’s commemorative ceremony, pay tribute to those who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, through a moving program that brings to life the enduring significance and legacy of this day, its heroic Medal of Honor actions, and its relevance today. 
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Keep in Touch: Letters of HopeDuring this webinar, Linda Hope, daughter of Bob Hope, and The National WWII Museum will discuss her father’s legacy by examining some of the letters he received, emphasizing how this translates to current classrooms and how letter writing can still make an impact on active military communities today. 
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Why Did "Kristallnacht" Happen? Teaching the History of European AntisemitismLearn about Kristallnacht or the “Night of Broken Glass” and how the history of European antisemitism helped lead to this event. 
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Meet the Author—Borderlands Biography: Z. Anthony Kruszewski in Wartime Europe and Postwar AmericaJoin us for an engaging evening with Z. Anthony Kruszewski—an eyewitness to the war in Europe, an extraordinary man, and leading intellectual in the Polish-American community. 
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Lunchbox Lecture: Unconditional Extermination: Operation Reinhard and the SS Camps at Belzec, Sobibor, and TreblinkaThis presentation will offer a detailed history of the Operation Reinhard camps Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka in 1942–1943 and where they might fit in the larger history of the Holocaust. 
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Lunchbox Lecture: Mealtime in the Mess Halls: Food in the Japanese American Incarceration Camps of World War IIDuring World War II, 120,000 Japanese Americans attempted to adjust to their lives behind barbed wire at one of 10 incarceration camps—and this included encountering new food served in the mess halls. 
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Lunchbox Lecture: Holocaust By BulletsBefore the killing centers opened at Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, and Majdanek, Jews were already being murdered by the Germans, their Axis allies, and local collaborators in Ukraine, Belarus, and other USSR republics. 
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A Black Soldier's Letters HomeJoin us for a special program highlighting wartime correspondence from James Killion, Jr. 
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China's War, China's MemoriesJoin us for an engaging conversation about Sir Rana Mitter's two masterful works, Forgotten Ally and China’s Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism. 
Oral History Profiles
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Article TypeMark Gordon Hazard, 79th Infantry DivisionMark Hazard discusses a patrol he led behind German lines just before the assault on Hagenau with the objective of capturing a German soldier to interrogate for information about enemy strength in the area. 
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Article TypeBenjamin Carson, 2nd Marine Raider BattalionBenjamin Carson talks about volunteering for the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and the brutally realistic training they received in San Diego to prepare for combat in the Pacific. 
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Article TypeJack Glass, USS Enterprise (CV-6)Jack Glass describes his experiences aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942. 
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Article TypeFrank Buschmeier, 100th Bomb GroupFrank Buschmeier discusses his capture and subsequent imprisonment after his B-17 was shot down during a mission to Merseberg, Germany in July 1944. 
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Article TypeJames “Horse Collar” Smith, 1st Marine Raider BattalionJames “Horse Collar” Smith describes his experiences during the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in September 1942. 
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Article TypeWalter Jacobs, 77th Infantry DivisionWalter Jacobs talks about encountering a wounded Japanese soldier during the fighting on Ie Shima and how he believes that his sparing of an enemy soldier’s life resulted in him surviving the fighting there and later on Okinawa. 
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Article TypeFlorence Reynolds, WASPFlorence Reynolds describes a negative encounter she had with an Army Air Forces maintenance officer when she questioned the condition of an aircraft she was ordered to fly. 
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Article TypeWilliam S. Jones, 7th Infantry Division, AttuWilliam S. Jones describes his experiences during the fight to recapture Attu in the Aleutian Islands in May 1943. 
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Article TypeMike “Iron Mike” Mervosh, 4th Marine DivisionMike Mervosh describes his experience with the flag raising on Iwo Jima. 
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Article TypeHerbert Helibrun, 301st Bomb GroupHerbert Heilbrun describes the Christmas 1944 mission he took part in to bomb the oil refineries at Brux, Czechoslovakia and how well defended the area was. 
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Article TypeStanley Wolczyk, 7th Infantry Division, AttuStanley Wolczyk discusses his experiences on Attu in May 1943 and being wounded late in the fight, a wound which ended his Army service. 
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Article TypeCharles McGee, 332nd Fighter GroupCharles McGee discusses flying bomber escort for 15th Air Force heavy bombardment groups and downing a German Focke Wulf Fw 190 during one of those missions. 
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Article TypeGeorge Peto, 1st Marine DivisionGeorge Peto describes an uphill assault he took part in on Okinawa that ended up being his proudest day in the Marine Corps, despite the tremendous casualties his company suffered. 
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Article TypeMaynard David, 504th Bomb GroupMaynard David talks about a particularly harrowing mission he and his crew flew to Tokyo, Japan in May 1945. 
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Article TypeTheodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, Navigator on the Enola GayTheodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, navigator on the Enola Gay, describes arriving at Wendover Field, Utah and figuring out that he would be taking part in a mission to drop an atomic bomb. 
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Article TypeJoseph Sasser, 50th Engineers, AttuJoseph Sasser discusses his experiences on Engineer Hill during the final hours of the Battle of Attu in May 1943. 
Secret WWII: Spies & special Ops
World War II was fought on battlefields all over the globe. But it was also fought in the shadows—in covert operations that didn’t make the headlines, both at home and overseas.
WWII Podcasts
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         Learn More Learn MoreSecret WWII: Spies & Special Ops
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         Learn More Learn More1945
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         Learn More Learn MoreAntisemitism: The Fight in WWII America
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         Learn More Learn MoreMaking Masters of the Air
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         Learn More Learn More"To The Best of My Ability"
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         Learn More Learn MoreService on Celluloid
 
 
 
![Max Fuchs, New York City cantor, sings as Rabbi Sydney [sic] Lefkowitz, Richmond, VA, conducts the first Jewish services from Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2025-10/image1.jpg) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
