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

An overlooked story of World War II and its consequences, the Graves Registration Service (GRS) worked tirelessly during the war to collect and identify the dead, providing proper burial. After the war, the GRS conducted the world’s largest search and recovery effort, leading to the identification of 280,000 fallen Americans, who were provided with a final burial in the United States or abroad based upon the surviving family’s wishes.

The US Merchant Marine provided crucial, yet often overlooked, logistical support for the Allied war effort.

The war effort demanded developments in the field of science and technology, developments that forever changed life in America and made present-day technology possible.

Despite the lack of proper diet and medical supplies, the proliferation of tropical disease, constant enemy bombardments, and the threat of being overrun by a fanatical enemy, American forces held on to “The Island of Death.”