A tale of sacrifice and survival, the USS Taylor and USS Blakeley, two Wickes-class destroyers, exemplified the bravery and resilience of the US Navy during World War II.

If the American forces could break through the Hürtgen Forest, there was a chance they could reach the Rhine near Cologne, threatening the German industrial region along the Ruhr River and possibly even force a crossing. 

Even 80 years later, Korematsu v. United States still serves as a reminder of the need to protect civil liberties even during times of insecurity.

On January 27, 1945, the Red Army entered the gates of Auschwitz in horrified awe of what they encountered. As they marched through the snow, they encountered stacks of frozen corpses and 7,000 frightened, exhausted prisoners in the barracks.

Despite early challenges to women’s place in the Navy, the WAVES’s establishment as a part of the Navy itself, not a corps or auxiliary like the WAACs, was “precedent-breaking.”