With the German Afrika Korps driving toward the Suez Canal in July 1942, heroic resistance by a small band of Indian soldiers and anti-tank gunners stopped Rommel in his tracks, setting the stage for the climactic battle of El Alamein.

Vernon Baker was one of seven African Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for service in World War II, an award delayed decades by bias and discrimination. In both war and peace, Baker served as an inspirational leader for the soldiers that served under his command and for generations to come.

The courageous volunteer pilots of three obsolete British biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope, and Charity engaged enemy raiders in combat over Malta in June 1940.

Syria became a battleground in July 1941, when British forces launched an invasion to secure their hold on the Middle East. General "Bill" Slim's strike at Deir-ez-Zor was a critical victory.

Captain Daniel Inouye witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and overcame discrimination to serve his country in war and peace.

The British torpedo bomber strike on the Italian naval base of Taranto in November 1940 changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, and set the stage for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

More than 14,000 African American men served in the US Army Air Forces in segregated units during World War II. Only about 1,000 of them were pilots. Many others, like Louisiana native Albert Porche, filled vital support roles which kept the famed Red Tails flying in Italy. 

On Memorial Day and every day, the name of Richard McCurdy, killed in action during Operation Torch, and other boys like him should be kept alive and their sacrifices and those of their families remembered. They were and are part of a nation, a city, a neighborhood, and a family.

The courageous Free French defense of the remote desert fortress of Bir Hacheim in May 1942 helped turn the tide of the war in North Africa.

The British conquest of East Africa, culminating in the May 1941 Battle of Amba Alagi, marked one of WWII's most decisive campaigns.

The Museum's Senior Director of Public Programming revisits his favorite books on World War II in North Africa.

How American PT boats became part of the last patrol conducted in the Mediterranean Sea.