D-Day and the Normandy Campaign
On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the long-anticipated invasion of Normandy, France. Soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other Allied nations faced Hitler's formidable Atlantic Wall as they landed on the beaches of Normandy.
European Theater of Operations
More from Topic-
Article Type
James Allen Ward: The Pilot Who Risked It All to Save His Crew
A young New Zealander airman receives a Victoria Cross for his daring feats.
-
Article Type
Frank Kameny: WWII Veteran, Patriot, and LGBTQ+ Activist
Frank Kameny saw combat in Europe during the war, only to return home to face discrimination from the very country he served.
-
Article Type
Jewish Resistance in Amsterdam
Though they resisted in many ways, Amsterdam’s Jewish population suffered immensely in World War II.
-
Article Type
Garland Kerlec’s Fuse Pin Diary
Technical Sergeant Garland Kerlec used the bomb fuse tags to make a sort of diary of his combat flights, recording the date, target, as well as some commentary on the nature of the mission.
-
Article Type
FDR's D-Day Prayer
On June 6, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt's usual "fireside chat" would be replaced with a joint prayer with the American people.
-
Article Type
The First Man on the Beaches of Normandy
US Army Captain Leonard T. Schroeder Jr. was the first man down the ramp and straight into waist-deep water at Utah Beach. As he trudged toward the shoreline, his M-1 helmet stayed firmly affixed to his head as he tried to avoid enemy fire.
-
Article Type
A Bond Broken Only by Death
On June 6, 1944, two brothers from Kansas landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. They promised to meet on the beach after the fighting was done—a promise that would remain unfulfilled.
-
Article Type
D-Day behind Barbed Wire: Hope for POWs
On June 6, 1944, news of the Normandy invasion spread through German prisoner-of-war camps like wildfire, igniting hope in Allied POWs.
Pacific Theater of Operations
More from Topic-
Article Type
The Depths of Courage: Howard Gilmore and the USS Growler
Commander Howard Gilmore’s story is certainly one of extraordinary valor, dedication, and sacrifice.
-
Article Type
Jefferson DeBlanc and the Air Battle for Guadalcanal
When Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc entered Guadalcanal, the United States had been fighting a defensive campaign against Japanese attempts to retake Henderson Airfield and dominate the surrounding seas.
-
Article Type
Soldier Who Died in Japanese POW Camp Accounted for 80 Years Later
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that 20-year-old US Army Private First Class Joseph C. Murphy of Bogalusa, Louisiana, was considered accounted for on April 1, 2024.
-
Article Type
A Contested Legacy: The Men of Montford Point and the Good War
Despite their commendable service during World War II, the Marines of Montford Point would regularly contend with societal forces that vehemently resisted all measures taken toward racial integration.
-
Article Type
Unaccounted For No More: Sgt. Harold Hammett
WWII US Marine Corps Sergeant Harold Hammett, fallen on Tarawa in 1943, is finally laid to rest in the family plot after 80 years.
-
Article Type
The Fallen Crew of the USS Arizona and Operation 85
The Operation 85 project aims to identify unknown servicemen who perished aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
-
Article Type
The Cairo and Tehran Conferences
In a series of high-stakes strategic conferences in late 1943, the Allies made several key decisions that shaped wartime strategy, while reflecting the changing balance of power between the Allied nations and foreshadowing the postwar emergence of the bipolar world.
-
Article Type
'Cuidado!' The 158th Infantry 'Bushmasters' in the Pacific
“No greater fighting combat team has ever deployed for battle,” General Douglas McArthur noted after the war of the 158th Infantry Regiment “Bushmasters,” which was made up predominantly of Mexican Americans and members of the Pima and Navajo tribes from Arizona.
Explore By Topics
View More-
European Theater of Operations
-
Pacific Theater of Operations
-
Home Front
-
More Topics
Home Front
More from Topic-
Article Type
Navy Exonerates 256 Black Sailors Punished after 1944 Port Chicago Explosion
The exoneration was announced on the 80th anniversary of the explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California that killed 320 people and injured 400 others.
-
Article Type
July 4, 1941: FDR's Address to the Nation
From Franklin D. Roosevelt’s perspective in the White House, democracy was under attack overseas and at home in mid-1941.
-
Article Type
The Fallen Crew of the USS Arizona and Operation 85
The Operation 85 project aims to identify unknown servicemen who perished aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
-
Article Type
'Maxwell Opened My Eyes': Rosa Parks, WWII Defense Worker
Before her historic protest in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks was a Home Front worker at Maxwell Airfield.
-
Article Type
Patchwork Plane: Building the P-47 Thunderbolt
Roughly 100 companies, coast to coast, helped Republic Aviation Corporation manufacture each P-47 Thunderbolt.
-
Article Type
The Chopping Block: The Fate of Warplanes after WWII
After the war, hundreds of thousands of US warplanes remained—but the military needed only a fraction of them.
-
Article Type
War Time: How America's Wristwatch Industry Became a War Casualty
Prior to World War II, there was a thriving American wristwatch industry, but it became a casualty of the war.
-
Article Type
Standing against "Universal Death": The Russell–Einstein Manifesto
Penned by philosopher Bertrand Russell and endorsed by Albert Einstein, the document warned human beings about the existential threat posed by the new hydrogen bomb.
Medal of Honor Recipients of World War II
More from Topic-
Article Type
The Depths of Courage: Howard Gilmore and the USS Growler
Commander Howard Gilmore’s story is certainly one of extraordinary valor, dedication, and sacrifice.
-
Article Type
Jefferson DeBlanc and the Air Battle for Guadalcanal
When Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc entered Guadalcanal, the United States had been fighting a defensive campaign against Japanese attempts to retake Henderson Airfield and dominate the surrounding seas.
-
Article Type
Rudolph B. Davila's Medal of Honor
Second Lieutenant Rudolph B. Davila, of Spanish-Filipino descent, received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions near Artena, Italy, during World War II.
-
Article Type
Manuel Pérez Jr.’s Medal of Honor
After parachuting on Tagaytay Ridge, Manuel Pérez participated in the horrendous fighting with the Japanese in the Philippines' capital city of Manila, the scene of some of the bloodiest urban combat of the war.
-
Article Type
A 'Gallant Stand' at Monte Battaglia: Manuel V. Mendoza’s Medal of Honor
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.
-
Article Type
Johnnie David Hutchins's Medal of Honor
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.
-
Article Type
John Joseph Parle's Medal of Honor
Navy Ensign John Joseph Parle risked his own life to save a ship and ensure a successful Allied amphibious invasion of Sicily in 1943.
-
Article Type
Robert Craig’s Medal of Honor
For his heroic service as an infantry officer during the Allied invasion of Sicily, Second Lieutenant Robert Craig was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on July 11, 1943.