For what he did on October 4, 1944, Staff Sergeant Manuel V. Mendoza garnered a special place in the history of Nazi Germany’s defeat.

The loss of Johnnie David Hutchins was devastating to his family, but his moment of bravery almost certainly saved other parents and siblings from experiencing that same loss in the fall of 1943.

Despite the impending defeat of the Wehrmacht in France, the victory over Germany would not be complete until the capital of France was liberated, and the Vichy government replaced.

On January 31, 1945, American prisoners of war from Stalag III-C were caught, tragically, in a firefight between German guards and Soviet troops.

The Eighth Air Force’s first penetrating strike into Nazi Germany was a bloody affair that provided lessons for both sides.