Willa Brown may not be a household name, but her accomplishments and legacy are nothing short of astounding. The first African American woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States and teacher of hundreds of future Tuskegee Airmen has a fascinating and inspiring life story.

Maynard David talks about a particularly harrowing mission he and his crew flew to Tokyo, Japan in May 1945.

Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, navigator on the Enola Gay, describes arriving at Wendover Field, Utah and figuring out that he would be taking part in a mission to drop an atomic bomb.

Joseph Sasser discusses his experiences on Engineer Hill during the final hours of the Battle of Attu in May 1943.

In the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, 27 Marines and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action on Iwo Jima. No other campaign surpassed that number.

Raymond Bailey describes a horrible experience he had after the USS Franklin (CV-13) was hit by two bombs while operating off the coast of Japan in March 1945.

For extraordinary heroism and acts above and beyond the call of duty during World War II, the United States Congress awarded 473 Medals of Honor. To date, 3,534 have been awarded since the inception of the Medal during the US Civil War. Only one has ever been awarded to a US Coast Guardsman.

Joseph Armanini discusses the August 1943 Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission during which the 100th Bomb Group suffered terrible losses to German fighter aircraft.

Joseph LaNier describes two encounters he had with racism in the military, one of which surprised him.

James Allen describes his experiences aboard the USS Wahoo (SS-238) during her second war patrol in the waters off Guadalcanal.

Mary McLeod Bethune was a passionate educator and presidential advisor. In her long career of public service, she became one of the earliest black female activists that helped lay the foundation to the modern civil rights movement.

Jack Baldwin describes an experience he had with a young civilian in Germany a couple days after the war ended that remained with him for the rest of his life.