WORLD WAR II —
FIGHTING
THE WAR IN
2. Before
the Flying Tigers – Although it has been 60 years,
the Flying Tigers remain well-known in
8. General Claire Chennault, Leader of the Flying Tigers – To Chinese of a certain age, Claire Chennault hardly needs introduction. But today, more than 60 years after he and his small band of daring young pilots shot down hundreds of enemy planes over Chinese airspace in a matter of months, new generations may have only a hazy idea, at best, of who this unorthodox American was and the matchless contribution he made to the Chinese war effort. From World War II chronicles.
12. Flying the Hump – For nearly three
years after the Japanese completed the conquest of
14. The Ledo Road – "An immense, laborious task, unlikely to be finished until
the need for it had passed" was Winston Churchill's terse appraisal of the
controversial
Exerpted from Time Life
Books World War II . China Burma India.
With
20. Chinese – American Composite Wing – Much of the historical accounts of American involvement in
23. Ripples of Battle – One front in the Pacific theatre of World War II was China, but as the war unfolded, the American armed forces closed in on Japan from two other directions – in the Southwest Pacific Area, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, and in the Pacific Ocean Area, where the costliest of the campaigns that projected American power directly across the Pacific Ocean was the American attack on Okinawa, conducted in the spring of 1945. This is the story of this campaign through the words of Professor Victor Davis Hanson, who relates how his uncle, Victor Hanson, died in the battle. That Professor Hanson bears the name of Private Hanson gives a special poignancy to the story. American boys born in the late 1940s were often given the names of relatives who had died in combat during the war. This is one way that the memory of the war remains in the hearts of the American people – years after the submarines came to the surface, years after the aircraft returned from their final combat missions, and years after the guns fell silent. Exerpted from the Introduction to Ripples of Battle.
32. Tad Nagaki and the Liberation
of the Weihsien (
42. Photo Essay: GIs in
THE HOME FRONT
Although it was a war fought on distant shores, World War II brought landmark changes to nearly all aspects of American society back home, three of which we examine here.
47. Civil Rights for Minorities – Though segregation was still in place even in the military, the realities of war meant black soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with their white comrades-in-arms. That equality on the battle front helped build momentum for the push for similar equality back home. From www.livinghistoryfarm.org.
50. World War II & Chinese-American Culture – For Chinese in America, the war provided an opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism by supporting the war effort, which in turn helped turn the tide of public opinion to one that was favorable to Chinese. From www.museumca.org
51. More Rights for Women – With men off fighting, women left home and hearth and stepped into jobs on production lines and offices all across the country. Many never went back to lives devoted solely to home and family. From www.livinghistoryfarm.org
With Photo Essay: "We Can Do It"
AFTER THE WAR
56. The Hunger for Learning– When American
servicemen returned home from the warfront, their lives had been irrevocably
changed. Boys who had never left the farm returned men who had seen the world.
They had new dreams, new aspirations, new skills and new experiences. Many
took advantage of the GI Bill to realize new goals, and the millions of veterans
who poured onto the nation's college campuses and other educational institutions
forever changed the landscape of higher education in
With sidebars on The GI Bill From www.livinghistoryfarm.org and The Origins of Veterans Day and Facts about the Department of Veterans Affairs
COMING HOME
66. The Lost Airman: A Memoir – Nearly
8,000 American soldiers lost their lives in World War II. But more than 78,000
remain missing 60 years after the end of that conflict. The
76. The Search for MIAs – Being a museum curator seems a job far removed from the task of recovering the nation's war dead. But the experts at The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum often are called upon to lend their knowledge of old airplanes to the job of determining whether new discoveries of old wrecks might be related to one of the nearly 90,000 American servicemen listed as missing in action since World War II. From Air & Space - Smithsonian Magazine
78. Photo Essay: Coming Home – Sometimes, American soldiers are missing in action for years, even decades, before their remains are found, recovered and returned home. In each case, there are family members waiting ...
WORLD WAR II — THEN & NOW
80. How the 'Cowboys' of the West Defeated the Nazis – When President George W. Bush travelled to Russia in May 2005, the author wrote this essay looking back at how American forces ill-prepared for war and derisively referred to as "cowboys" turned the tide of World War II. Against more hardened troops, American zeal and improvisation triumphed, though to be sure there were heartbreaking losses due to mistakes and inexperience. From Wall street Journal.
84. A Matter of History – A correct reading of history can put today's events in perspective, as this leading historian shows in comparing today's leaders with those during World War II. Roosevelt and Churchill loom large when we recall them today, and their latter-day counterparts seem mere men by comparison. But this author reminds us that in their day, these two giants faced similar criticism and nay-saying that now dog Bush and Blair. From Newsweek.
A PAGE FROM HISTORY
89. Free At Last – If it is true that greatness is formed in the crucible of adversity, then the blot of slavery on American history was also a time when ordinary men – and women – both black and white performed great acts of heroism. The Underground Railroad was one shining example of individuals doing their small part in a fight against a great moral wrong, a wrong that was enshrined in the law of the land. From Smithsonian Magazine.