Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

War began in 1939 between the Axis (Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy) and the Allies (France, Britain, and others). In 1940-41, German forces conquered most of Europe and North Africa and invaded Russia. Japan joined the Axis and attacked the US at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. For three years the war raged throughout the world. On D-Day, June 6, 1944 Allied forces landed at Normandy and drove across France into Germany. With Russian troops closing in from the east, Germany surrendered on VE Day, May 7, 1945. Allied forces in the Pacific mounted an island-hoping campaign brought them close to the Japanese homeland. US bombers dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945.
US losses: 293,000 KIA, 130,201 POW, and 78,976 MIA.

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