POWs were a major focus of the war crimes trials in the Pacific. Former POWs like Sgt. Peter Dzimba were called on to speak for those who could no longer speak for themselves.
Before John Coltrane became recognized as an influential jazz musician, he served with the US Navy band the Melody Masters.
Willy F. James, Jr. was one of seven African Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for service in World War II, an award delayed decades by bias and discrimination.
Tensions arose almost immediately in Buchenwald between liberators and liberated.