Training in twin engine B-25 “Mitchell” bombers, the 477th never actually saw combat overseas, but fought another battle here in the United States. Formed as an all-Black unit, it became famous not for its combat record, but for its fight against the military version of “separate but equal.”

During World War II, surgeons and medical assistants created new treatments and procedures in plastic surgery that are still used in modern practice. These techniques not only improved soldiers’ physical appearance, but also their morale, by restoring their sense of pride and confidence.

While Navajo code talkers of World War II have been featured in several books and, in 2002, a Hollywood movie, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day it is important to remember that members of many different tribes served in this role.

At the outset of the Aleutian Islands campaign, 800 native Unangan were removed and interned in squalid camps from 1942 through 1945.

Los Alamos and other Manhattan Project Sites developed across the US in 1942 and 1943.

When President Franklin Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board in January 1944, he tasked this new government agency with rescuing and providing relief for Jews and other groups facing Nazi persecution and murder in Europe. By that time, more than five million European Jews had already been murdered. The War Refugee Board staff used creativity and the near-certainty of Allied victory to aid hundreds of thousands of people in the final seventeen months of World War II.

In March 1942, a special exhibit opened in New York City of 14 pieces of art each contributed by 14 artists who had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe.

The 92nd Infantry Division’s unit newspaper earned a place as one of the premier combat division publications in the Armed Forces during World War II.
 

Forced apart by war, newlyweds and expectant parents Richard and Jean Porritt celebrated Valentine’s Day the only way they could: through greeting cards and love letters.

The First Washington Conference, code-named ARCADIA, from December 22, 1941 to January 14, 1942, set the strategic direction for the Anglo-American war effort and established the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
 

On January 10, 1942, the United States launched one of its most important and also most memorable domestic initiatives of the entire war: the “Salvage For Victory” campaign.

Civilian workers struggle to keep their cars running amid strict wartime restrictions.