Each tattoo inked on the skin of those who lived through World War II tells a unique story, reflecting both personal experiences and collective history.

Facing the harrowing task of rebuilding a life in the wake of the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors, community and religious leaders, and Allied soldiers viewed marriage between Jewish women and military personnel as a way to move forward after unspeakable loss.

John “Paddy” Hemingway, along with his fellow RAF pilots who have been revered as “the Few,” played a critical role in defending the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany during the summer of 1940. 

Well before the war ended, President Franklin D. Roosevelt envisioned a plan for veterans to return home and better their lives through the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. But administering the massive welfare program required navigating social and political challenges.

Over 119 days of skirmishes, which included hand-to-hand combat and engagements with the enemy at close range in caves and thick jungles, the Red Arrow Division earned an incredible 28 Silver Stars, 20 Distinguished Service Crosses, and four Medals of Honor. 

Jessie Alton Mahaffey was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when Japanese air forces attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

US Third and Seventh Armies' March 1945 offensive cleared the Rhineland, pushing deep into Germany and decisively weakening German defenses before the final Allied push.

The films A Real Pain and The Brutalist deal with how Jewish victims of the Holocaust moved to the United States and built new lives for themselves and their families.

Adolf Eichmann initially escaped justice by fleeing to Argentina, where he hid out for nearly a decade until he was kidnapped by Israeli intelligence operatives and taken to Israel for trial.

Although the Washington Naval Conference concluded nearly two decades before the attack on Pearl Habor, its outcome shaped the course of World War II in the Pacific between the United States and Japan.

In the annals of US Marine Corps history, few battles resonate like that of Iwo Jima. 

The engaging daylong symposium program provided a deep dive into the significant role Black servicemembers and Home Front workers played in securing Allied victory in World War II.