By the time Edward Carter had turned 24, he had fought alongside the Chinese against the Japanese, served in the Merchant Marine, and, finding that uneventful, joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the fight against the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War.

Heroism on the battlefield often goes unrecognized for generations, as it did for Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers.

Decades after his death, Mikio Hasemoto’s Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. A second-generation Japanese American serving in the segregated 100th Infantry Battalion, Hasemoto’s sacrifice was one of many initially overlooked because of race.

Meet America's oldest National Park Ranger—a wartime Home Front worker profiled in the Museum's 2018 Electronic Field Trip about African American Experiences in World War II. 

When we think of World War II, the first images that enter our minds usually involve battle: armies fighting their desperate struggles on land, huge navies patrolling the oceans, and aircraft soaring sleekly overhead.