World War II

<p>He was a lieutenant in the Army of the United States: he saw no reason to sit in the back of the bus</p>

<p>Debate over America's involvement in World War II came to a head in July 1941 as the Senate argued over a draft-extension bill. The decision would have profound consequences for the nation.</p>

<p>Eisenhower's call to proceed with D-Day was anything but inevitable.</p>

<p>The author took part in the first night combat with Japanese bombers. In that dramatic action, he witnessed the loss of Butch O'Hare, the famous World War II ace for whom O’Hare Airport was named.</p>

<p>Historian S. L. A. Marshall tells how he and “Papa” Hemingway liberated Paris.</p>

<p>The author, who once served under General Patton and whose father, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was Patton's commanding officer, shares his memories of "Ol' Blood and Guts."</p>

<p>When the first African-Americans to crew a U.S. warship sailed into the war-tossed North Atlantic, they couldn't have known it would take 50 years to gain honor in their own country.</p>

<p>Ike’s son, historian John Eisenhower, recalls attending meetings with the British wartime leader and reflects on his character and accomplishments.</p>

<p>Seventy-five years ago, Allied soldiers made a daring amphibious landing behind German lines and were soon surrounded in what would become one of the toughest battles of World War II.</p>

<p>In 1942, over a quarter of a million ordinary citizens volunteered to help defend our country as Nazi submarines terrorized the East Coast and Caribbean waters, sinking fuel tankers and cargo ships with near impunity.</p>

<p>Seventy-five years ago this June, the celebrated writer for <em>The New Yorker</em> was one of the first journalists to witness the carnage on Omaha Beach.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/content/april-1969">April 1969 issue</a> was typical of classic issues of <em>American Heritage</em>, with dramatic and substantive essays on George Washington, Ike and Patton, the Transcontinental Railroad, the "ship that wouldn't die," and many other fascinating subjects from our nation's past</p>

<p>Authentic brass “crickets” issued to American paratroopers on D-Day are now quite rare. A worldwide search recently “unearthed a lost piece of sound history.”</p>

<p>Seventy-five years ago, Ernest Hemingway and a historian were among the first Americans to enter Paris as guns were still firing.</p>

<p>The great war correspondent, who died 75 years ago during the battle of Okinawa, had a knack for connecting with everyday people, both on the front lines and at home.</p>

<p>When Germany unleashed its blitzkreig in 1939, the U.S. Army was only the 17th largest in the world. FDR and George Marshall had to build a fighting force able to take on the Nazis, against the wishes of many in Congress.</p>

<p>The<em> USS Nevada</em> was the only battleship to get underway during the attack at Pearl Harbor. The recent discovery of the ship's hull has revived interest in her dramatic story.</p>

<p>The thousands of Japanese-Americans interned in Wyoming during World War II maintained their dignity and community spirit.</p>

<p>Edward R. Murrow’s radio broadcasts from London, aired live while Nazi bombs fell around him, are classics of journalism – and literature. </p>

<p>Too often overlooked today, the New Guinea campaign was the longest of the Pacific War, with 340,000 Americans fighting more than half a million Japanese.</p>

<p>J.D. Salinger carried a draft of his subsequently classic novel with him when he landed on the beach at Normandy.</p>

<p>The “divine wind” began in October 1944 as the Japanese defended against MacArthur’s assault on the Philippines. The Americans who witnessed these first attacks were horrified and shaken, but it was only the beginning.</p>

<p>The recent discovery of the hull of the battleship <em>Nevada</em> recalls her dramatic action at Pearl Harbor and ultimate revenge on D-Day as the first ship to fire on the Nazis.</p>

<p>Vladka Meed joined the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto, eventually escaped, and helped hundreds of children survive Nazi roundups. </p>

<p>An enormous scandal erupted when it was discovered that contestants on TV quiz shows were often given answers. Did the famed psychologist also cheat when she won The $64,000 Question?</p>

<p>Allied soldiers struggled for months to clear veteran German troops dug into the mountains of northern Italy in late 1944 and early 1945.</p>

<p>Adding Republicans to key positions in his administration, Franklin Roosevelt created a unified effort to fight World War II.</p>

<p>When judging the morality of the use of atomic weapons in World War II, observers typically focus on Japanese deaths, while ignoring the far-larger number of non-Japanese casualties.</p>

<p>In the spring of 1945, American bombing raids destroyed much of Tokyo and dozens of other Japanese cities, killing at least 200,000 people, without forcing a surrender.</p>

<p>The U.S. government managed to hide the magnitude of what happened in Hiroshima until John Hersey’s story appeared in the <em>New Yorker</em>, driving home the truth about America’s new mega-weapon.</p>

<p>Eighty minutes before Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops stormed ashore at Kota Bharu in Malaysia and fired the first shots of World War II in Asia.</p>

<p>Paul Douglas was 50 years old when he left a career in politics to join the Marines at the outset of World War II, earning Purple Hearts at Peleliu and Okinawa.</p>

<p>As defeat became inevitable in the summer of 1945, Japan's government and the Allies could not agree on surrender terms, especially regarding the future of Emperor Hirohito and his throne. </p>

<p>Nearly killed by a German bomb, Pyle faced the fear and frustration known as “Anzio anxiety” among the American soldiers trapped with him on the beach.</p>

<p>U.S. military leaders drew up elaborate plans to invade Japan, with estimates of American casualties ranging as high as two to four million, given the terrible losses at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.</p>

<p>One of the great tragedies of World War II, when five brothers were lost on the same ship, is remembered at two museums.</p>