World War II

Red knitted caps were a grandmother's way of saying, "I love you."

Health & Safety

We asked, you answered: What precious object is part of your family history?

7:01am November 14, 2022

by Marc Silver

Readers responded with moving stories of past journeys and crises — and keepsakes that remind them of their roots and tie them to their family. Here's a sampling of replies.

Members of the all-Black aviation squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen line up Jan. 23, 1942.

Books
Arts

'Half American' explores how Black WWII servicemen were treated better abroad

11:37am November 08, 2022

by Dave Davies

Though more than one million Black Americans contributed to the war effort, historian Matthew Delmont says a military uniform offered no protection from racism.

Queue Listen Now

Triad students hear first-hand accounts of the Holocaust during Remembrance Day

3:08pm May 24, 2022

by David Ford

Nearly 20 teenagers from Early College in Winston-Salem gather at small tables with their bagels, c

Queue Listen Now

A mosaic panel depicts the liberation of Kyiv by Russia's Red Army in 1943 at Kievskaya metro station in Moscow.

World News

Putin's claim of fighting against Ukraine 'neo-Nazis' distorts history, scholars say

3:02pm March 01, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Scholars dismiss the Russian leader's claims as a "mythical use of history." For one: Ukraine overwhelmingly elected a Jewish president, and has a relatively small right-wing movement.

Gail Halvorsen, also know as the "Candy Bomber", poses for a portrait at his son's home in Midway, Utah, in 2020. Halvorsen, who was known for his airdrops of sweets during the Berlin airlift after World War II ended, died Wednesday at the age of 101.

The 'Candy Bomber' who dropped sweets during the Berlin airlift has died at age 101

6:08pm February 17, 2022

by The Associated Press

"Halvorsen's deeply human act has never been forgotten," Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said in a statement.

World War II veteran Lawrence Brooks, pictured holding a photo of himself as a soldier in 1943, died on Wednesday at age 112.

National

The oldest living American veteran of World War II dies at 112

9:41pm January 05, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

Lawrence Brooks served in the U.S. Army when the military was still racially segregated. But the Black soldier's deployment to Australia offered a reprieve from the racism of Jim Crow laws at home.

Pilots from the American Volunteer Group sit in front of a P-40 airplane in Kunming, China, on March 27, 1942. The group was notable for its unusual mission: Its members were mercenaries hired by China to fight against Japan.

The Flying Tigers: How a group of Americans ended up fighting for China in WW II

7:01am December 19, 2021

by James Doubek

In 1941, Japan was on the offensive against China. So China hired a group of Americans to fight back in the skies. Eighty years ago this week, they fought in their first battle.

Mourners remember 'pastor's pastor' and WWII veteran Matthew Southall Brown Sr.

7:43am December 04, 2021

by Walter Ray Watson

The decorated war veteran and retired pastor was among the first African Americans to desegregate the military and fight during World War II.

Isabelita Vinuya, 88, reflected in mirror, bids farewell to Perla Bulaon Balingit in the village of Mapaniqui in Pampanga. They are two of the last living "comfort women" of the Philippines. On Nov. 23, 1944, Vinuya, Balingit and some 100 other girls and

Health & Safety

Whatever Happened To ... The WW II Sex Slaves Fighting For Justice?

4:49pm September 24, 2021

The Japanese Army systematically raped women in the Philippines. What's become of the aging survivors of this wartime atrocity in the midst of the pandemic?

Opinion: A New Spirit Joins The Panthéon

8:49am August 28, 2021

by Scott Simon

Josephine Baker will be reinterred at the Panthéon in Paris 46 years after her death. The famed entertainer will be the first Black woman to receive the honor. Scott Simon reflects on her legacy.