During a trip to Alexandria, Louisiana in 1970, Maurice P. "Pete" Bowler returned to Camp Claiborne to visit the base where he had trained with the 103rd Infantry Division in 1942.

Thousands of men and women wrote memoirs detailing their experiences in World War II. Here are four lesser known examples that merit a second look.

When World War II ended in Europe, American soldiers feverishly began calculating how soon they might go home based on a newly instituted point system.

Manning 155mm howitzers, African American gunners sacrificed themselves to defend fleeing infantry. Eleven of them were murdered by the Waffen SS, and then forgotten by the US Army.

Operation Dragoon was the successful Allied invasion of southern France that also highlighted the intense Allied disagreements over strategy.

The 784th Tank Battalion's motto was "It Will Be Done." This African American unit imposed its will on the enemy in combat in 1945.

Invasion or Blockade? American Army and Navy planners debated how to vanquish Japan during World War II's final weeks.

The African American 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion's aggressive assault across Germany's Siegfried Line in 1945 earned the respect and camaraderie of white GIs in the front lines.

The US assault on Munda Point, New Georgia in July-August 1943 drove American soldiers and Marines to the limits of endurance—and merited three Medals of Honor.

From January 1943 to June 1945, writer Kurt Vonnegut served in the US Army. His experiences with the 106th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge and then later as a prisoner of war in Dresden imprinted his life and provided traumatic (and sometimes comedic) material for his novel Slaughterhouse-Five and other works.