WWII

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, 1945

A Black, all-female WWII unit got a congressional medal 80 years after making history

2:23pm April 29, 2025

The Six Triple Eight sorted millions of pieces of wartime mail in a matter of months but weren't recognized publicly for decades. Just two of the 855 women are believed to be alive for the ceremony.

African American soldiers marching in formation in 1943.

Forties Flashback chronicles Greensboro's pivotal role in WWII

8:32am July 05, 2024

by David Ford

From 1943 to 1946 some 330,000 soldiers were processed in and out of service in Greensboro's Overseas Replacement Depot. On Saturday, Greensboro History Museum's Forties Flashback chronicles those years with interactive activities open to the public.

Rod Serling enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating high school. He trained to be a paratrooper and was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division's 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment

A WWII story by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling is published for the first time

5:00am May 09, 2024

by Elizabeth Blair

Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling was a paratrooper during WWII. After the war, he wrote a short story inspired by the experience. It's now being published for the first time in The Strand.

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"Rosies" pose for a photo at the U.S. Capitol before their Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony on Wednesday.

Real-life 'Rosie the Riveters' reunite in D.C. to win the nation's top civilian honor

5:13pm April 11, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

Rosie the Riveter became an iconic symbol of the millions of women who worked industrial jobs during WWII. Dozens, now in their 90s and 100s, are accepting a Congressional gold medal on their behalf.

Lou Conter, pictured at the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, in 2016, died on Monday. He was the last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

National

Lou Conter, last survivor of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, dies at 102

12:15pm April 03, 2024

by Vanessa Romo

The seaman had a storied career in the Navy. Over 27 years he served, he survived the surprise attack by Japan, was shot down over the Pacific and was uninjured in the Korean War.

Ghost Army members John Christman, of Leesburg, N.J., second from left standing, Seymour Nussenbaum, of Monroe Township, N.J, in wheelchair at left, and Bernard Bluestein, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., in wheelchair at right, join military and congressional officials as members of their secretive WWII-era unit are presented with the Congressional Gold Medal on Thursday.

After decades of secrecy, the 'Ghost Army' is honored for saving U.S. lives in WWII

2:32pm March 21, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

The Ghost Army is credited with saving thousands of American lives and helping end WWII in Europe. But its contributions were kept secret for half a century. On Thursday, it won Congress' top honor.

A photo of Horace Barrett with his medals honoring his military service

Culture

Winston-Salem's Horace Barrett, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, celebrates his 100th birthday

10:44pm December 06, 2023

by David Ford

Winston-Salem resident Horace Barrett volunteered for military service as a paratrooper, parachuted into France on D-Day, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Along the way, he was awarded four Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars before returning home. Today Barrett celebrates his 100th birthday.

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Culture

Greensboro History Museum celebrates the city's WWII heritage during 1940s Flashback

4:29pm July 05, 2023

by David Ford

During World War II, Greensboro was home to the largest urban military base in the United States.

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Ken Burns' new three-part documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust, explores what everyday Americans knew — or didn't know — about what the Nazis were doing in Europe. Above, a tenant farmer reads a newspaper in Creek County, Okla., in February 1940.

Arts

Ken Burns connects the past and the present in 'The U.S. and the Holocaust'

1:26pm September 15, 2022

by David Bianculli

Burns' new six-hour series brings World War II history to life — and reminds us that our life, right now, is indeed history in the making.

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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.