2024 agency numbers estimate fewer than 0.5% of Americans who served in the war still living. 

Without the structure of an official branch of the military, the US Merchant Marine would have to rely on the strength of their numbers leveraged through labor unions to protect themselves.

The invasion of Tarawa marked the first major action by American forces in the Central Pacific. Waves of Marines were badly mauled as they struggled to cross reefs and assault the beach. 

The Nuremberg Laws transformed the definition of Jewish identity from religious to racial, stripping rights and paving the way for the Holocaust.

Charity Adams overcame both wartime challenges and racial discrimination to become the first Black woman officer in the Women's Army Corps and commander of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.