Tens of thousands of Allied civilians, including children, were caught in the crossfire of World War II in the Pacific and interned in camps such as Santo Tomas in the Philippines.

Desperate for slave labor to continue the doomed war effort and fearful of camp survivors exposing Nazi crimes, German decision-makers put in motion nearly three-quarters of a million concentration camp prisoners. Of this number, 250,000 died in these death marches.

2024 agency numbers estimate fewer than 0.5% of Americans who served in the war still living. 

Without the structure of an official branch of the military, the US Merchant Marine would have to rely on the strength of their numbers leveraged through labor unions to protect themselves.

The invasion of Tarawa marked the first major action by American forces in the Central Pacific. Waves of Marines were badly mauled as they struggled to cross reefs and assault the beach. 

The Nuremberg Laws transformed the definition of Jewish identity from religious to racial, stripping rights and paving the way for the Holocaust.

Despite facing resistance and discrimination, more than 150,000 women served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II, performing vital noncombat roles and paving the way for women's permanent inclusion in the US military.

In the midst of the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans launched Operation Nordwind, a lesser-known but significant offensive in Alsace in January 1945.

In August 1943, Jewish prisoners revolted against their Nazi captors at the Treblinka death camp. This act of resistance provides crucial insight into the horrors of the death camp and Operation Reinhard.

Days after Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany declared war on America. But why did Hitler choose to draw the United States directly into the European conflict?