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Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, serving the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943. September 12, 1943 escaped from prison by Nazi commandos. Set up as the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a puppet regime in norther Italy. April 27, 1945 Mussolini and his mistress along with other Fascist leaders are captured and executed. -
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman became the 33rd President of the United States upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945. While Germany surrendered a few weeks after Truman assumed the Presidency, the war with Japan was expected to last another year or more. Truman approved the use of atomic weapons against Japan, intending to force Japan's surrender and spare American lives in a planned invasion; the decision remains controversial. He died on December 26th, 1972. -
Hideki Tojo
He was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from October 17, 1941 to July 22, 1944. As Prime Minister, he was directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which initiated war between Japan and the United States. He died on December 23rd, 1948. -
George Smith Patton
George Smith Patton was a United States Army General and allied Commander of the Third Army. He was instrumental in winning the Battle of the Bulge. He was also considered one of the best military commanders in American history. He died on December 21st, 1945. -
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party. He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. Hitler was at the centre of Nazi Germany, World War II in Europe, and the Holocaust. He died on April 30th, 1945. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He had the responsibility of planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch, and the successful invasion of France and Germany from the Western Front. He died on March 28th, 1969. -
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson "Brad" Bradley, was a United States Army Field Commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II, and a General of the Army. On July 25, 1944, he unleashed a massive air and land bombardment against the enemy at St. Lô, providing a gap in the German line of defense through which General George Patton and his army could advance. He died on April 8th, 1981. -
Vernon Baker
Vernon Baker was a United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by the United States Government for his valorous actions during World War II. He was awarded the medal for his actions on April 5th and 6th, 1945 near Viareggio, Italy. Baker was the only living black American World War II veteran of the seven belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor when it was bestowed upon him in 1997. He died on July 13th, 2010 at the age of 90. -
The Holocaust
A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled. -
The Manhattan Project
The code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory that designed the actual bombs. -
The Flying Tigers
The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942. Comprised pilots from the United States Army Air Corps, Navy and Marine Corps. The shark-faced nose art of the Flying Tigers remains among the most recognizable image of any individual combat aircraft or combat unit of World War II. -
Executive Order 9066
Executive Order 9066 is a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones. -
The Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March, was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. All told, approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination at Camp O'Donnell. -
Navajo Code Talkers
The Navajo Code Talkers were Native Americans from the Navajo Tribe that used their own language to make a code for the U.S. Military that the Japanese could not decipher, as a means of secret communication during wartime. There were approximately 400 to 500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages. -
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of world War II. Between the 4th and 7th of June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The United States Navy was under Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. -
Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information was a United States government agency created during World War II to consolidate existing government information services and deliver propaganda both at home and abroad. OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. -
Merchant Marines
The United States Merchant Marines is the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is responsible for transporting cargo and passengers during peacetime. -
D-Day Invasion
Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II. -
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from the 17th of July to the 2nd of August, 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. The three powers were represented by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Harry S. Truman. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The bombing on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6th 1945, was called "Little Boy". The heat from the bomb was so intense that some people simply vanished in the explosion. Many more died of the long-term effects of radiation sickness. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9th 1945, was called "Fat Man". -
Atomic Bomb
A uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a plutonium implosion-type bomb (Fat Man) on the city of Nagasaki on August 9. -
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany. -
Korematsu vs. United States
The decision in Korematsu v. United States has been very controversial. Korematsu's conviction for evading internment was overturned on November 10, 1983, after Korematsu challenged the earlier decision by filing for a writ of coram nobis