In the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, 27 Marines and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action on Iwo Jima. No other campaign surpassed that number.

Joseph J. Foss was born on April 17, 1915, outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and became fascinated with flying at the age of 11 when he saw Charles Lindbergh on tour with his aircraft, the “Spirit of St. Louis”, at an airfield in Renner, South Dakota in 1927.

DiSabatino was selected by Army officers at NYU and after being interviewed was assigned to Los Alamos.

On August 14, 1945 the world learned that Japan had surrendered, effectively ending World War II, a war that Americans thought would go on indefinitely. No newsflash in modern history has ever been greeted with such overwhelming celebration. The iconic images of happy throngs holding up the newspapers that would go into countless scrapbooks and frames, the impromptu parades, hands in the air forming a “V” for victory, and the iconic images from Times-Square – including one very famous kiss between a nurse and a sailor.

The spirit of democracy in wartime connects two great presidential memorials.