K-9 war hero Layka, who saved the life of her handler and his teammates in Afghanistan, is part of a long history of dogs serving in war.

Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search.

Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin is one of the many heroes you will come to know through her own words in Expressions of America.

Grant Ichikawa volunteered for US Army service while incarcerated in the Gila River camp. His service as a Japanese translator and interpreter was just the beginning of a long military career.

At Delta Shipbuilding Company, welder Mildred Aupied was part of an army of American civilians working to build the “Arsenal of Democracy.”

S/Sgt. James Killion, Jr. served for six years in the US Army. In the rain and mud of France, he dreamed of reuniting with his wife and meeting his infant son.

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

Enemy action still raged on Saipan when 10 American Army nurses landed there on July 9, 1944. Major (then Captain) Birdie Daigle was in command of the group, who found an utterly destroyed landscape and 900 wounded civilians.

John Fox was one of seven African Americans who had their earlier awards upgraded to the Medal of Honor on January 13, 1997. Like all but one of the veterans, he did not live to see this honor.

Hawaii’s initial importance to the US Army was not due to long-term planning, but it would become a crucial piece of a defensive network in the Pacific.

Dominic Martello relived traumatic moments of his WWII combat in North Africa for the rest of his life.

William Pena discusses his experiences while fighting the Germans in the Colmar Pocket in January 1945 and how he was wounded by a mine and evacuated to the United States.