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Concentration Camps
places where large numbers of people that were not deemed "fit" by Nazi standards, or those that opposed Nazi power, are confined to a small area with inadequate facilities. these camps are used to either provide forced labor or for the waiting of mass execution. -
Holocaust
systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of about 6 million Jews, and about 12 million people total (others such as politicians, homosexuals, gypsies, and anyone not considered in the "Aryan race") by the Nazi regime. The Jewish people were the primary targets, though, and faced anti-Jewish sentiment/segregation, ghettos, destruction of synagogues, and concentration camps. -
Congressional Medal of Honor
a medal of honor that was received for bravery and valor in the action of duty that exceeded the standards. it is the highest U.S. military decoration given for bravery. -
Chester W. Nimitz
a fleet admiral during World War II, he was in charge of Panay, a gunboat. in 1939, Nimitz became chief of the Bureau of Navigation. he also took over the Pacific Fleet in 1941, after Pearl Harbor, where he led the "island hopping" approach to Japan. -
George Marshall
Army Chief of Staff that coordinated the war effort from Washington, D.C. he experienced a large promotion for a one-star general to a four star general just before World War II because of the worldwide events. Marshall was also the man that suggested the U.S. be prepared for war even if they were in a state of neutrality, which enacted the peace time draft. -
Conventional Weapons
weapons that are in relatively high use that are not weapons of mass destruction. nonnuclear, nonbiological, and nonchemical. -
Omar Bradley
also known as "the soldiers' general," Bradley commanded the Mediterranean II Corps, the First Army during the D-Day invasion, and then commanded the 12th Army Group during World War II. -
George S. Patton
American General and tank commander during World War II. he led the Third Army of the U.S. in the final assault on Germany, and was well known for his brash speeches -
Douglas MacArthur
after Pearl Harbor, MacArthur took over the defense of the Phillipines for a couple of months until he was sent to Australia to command the Allied forces there. he is known for accepting Japan's surrender in 1945 on the U.S.S. Missouri and commanding the Allied occupation of Japan. -
Dwight Eisenhower
the commander of the Allied forces in Europe, he led the D-Day invasion and later became president in 1953 -
Flying Tigers
former pilots of the U.S. armed services who volunteered to fly with the Chinese Air Force to defend against Japanese aggression. -
Multiple Front War
when fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts, as if two "different" wars are going on at the same time when in fact it is one war. in World War II, the U.S. fought a multiple front war - the European front against Germany and Italy, and the Pacific front against Japan. -
Merchant Marines
trained crews of merchant vessels that would deliver troops, supplies and equipment across the ocean. they had the highest casualty rate for the U.S. force, however, merchant marines are considered separate from the military during this time period. they utilized the Liberty ships. -
Tuskegee Airmen
these airmen were the first African-American pilots in the U.S. military. they got their name from their place of origin, Tuskegee, Alabama. the tuskegee airmen were actually the 332nd fighter group of the U.S. Army Corps. -
Liberty Ships
slow cargo ships that were built in the U.S. during World War II. they were considered the "ugly duckling" workhorses in this time period. these ships were used by Merchant Marines. -
Island Hopping
American strategy in the Pacific, which started after the Battle of Midway, to take back the islands that Japan had occupied after attacking Pearl Harbor. this process continued until the U.S. had control of the Pacific and was ready to invade Japan -
Navajo Code Talkers
group that used the practice of encryption to convert communication into an unknown language so that it was unable to be deciphered by the enemy. -
Bataan Death March
70-mile march of Filipino and American soldiers. they were forced on this horrible march by Japanese forces, and hundreds died each day from hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and disease. they were not allowed to stop, even to go to the bathroom, or else they would be beaten or, more likely, shot. -
Battle of Midway
represented the turning point for the Allied forces in the Pacific during WWII due to the Japanese losing four large aircraft carriers. -
D-Day Invasion
Allied invasion of Northern France to repel the occupation of the German Army. they landed at Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. -
Operation Overlord
the cross channel invasion of German-occupied France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) -
Atomic Weapons
technology that gave President Truman the confidence to demand an unconditional surrender of all armed forces or suffer destruction. when Japan refused to surrender after Germany did, the U.S. dropped two bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which consequently ended WWII. -
Potsdam Conference
a meeting between the Allied leaders (Stalin, Truman, and Churchill) near Berlin, Germany that led to the international partitioning of Germany into four separate zones.
