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.

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. 

During World War II, American fighter pilots coped with the dangers of combat through dark humor and evocative aircraft nicknames like “Live Bait” and “Flak Bait,” reflecting their bravery, their gallows wit, and the intensity of their experiences.

As dozens of their players left the gridiron for battlefields overseas, the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh joined forces to keep the decimated NFL squads up and running.

As 1943 turned to 1944, PT-305 departed New Orleans, and she would not be back for more than six decades. 

Technical Sergeant Garland Kerlec used the bomb fuse tags to make a sort of diary of his combat flights, recording the date, target, as well as some commentary on the nature of the mission.

Roughly 100 companies, coast to coast, helped Republic Aviation Corporation manufacture each P-47 Thunderbolt.

After the war, hundreds of thousands of US warplanes remained—but the military needed only a fraction of them.

The loss of Johnnie David Hutchins was devastating to his family, but his moment of bravery almost certainly saved other parents and siblings from experiencing that same loss in the fall of 1943.

The US military was a nearly unstoppable force during WWII, but the challenges of weather and natural disasters meant that the power of American bombs and bullets could pale in comparison to the power of nature.