Torn and warped by Japanese bullets, this piece of protective gear is a rare testament to the ferocious fighting of the oft-forgotten Aleutian Islands Campaign. 

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.