World War I & II

In Yaphank, New York, hid the greatest threat to the United States war effort during World War II: the American Nazi.

Building on racial and ethnic biases, lack of trust in government and a dose of conspiracies, the German American Bund was able to contribute to a growing American fascist movement. Fueled partially by Nazi Germany’s financing of propaganda, thousands of New Yorkers embraced the ideals of an American Reich through retreats such as Yaphank’s Camp Siegfried, which groomed Nazi sympathizers to be ready for the fascist overthrow of the American republic. In opposition to Nazism, multiple local citizen groups fought to combat the Bund’s organized efforts to undermine America. Author Christopher Verga brings to life the often-overlooked history of New York’s World War II era through a story of Nazi sedition, espionage and citizen resistance to preserve the American republic.

During World War II, Michigan became a temporary home to six thousand German and Italian POWs.

At a time of homefront labor shortages, they picked fruit in Berrien County, harvested sugar beets in the Thumb, cut pulpwood in the Upper Peninsula and maintained parks and other public spaces in Detroit. The work programs were not flawless and not all of the prisoners were cooperative, but many of the men established enduring friendships with their captors. Author Gregory Sumner tells the story of these detainees and the ordinary Americans who embodied our highest ideals, even amid a global war.

The effort to win the war began at home—and for the researchers at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, enhancing America’s military aviation arsenal was the key to victory.

Formed in 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics established itself over the next 25 years as one of the world’s finest research organizations. When World War II began in 1939, the NACA employed a mere 500 workers and maintained a budget slightly in excess of $4 million. To meet the demands of the war, a special partnership was quickly forged between NACA researchers, industry designers, and military planners. The Langley laboratory possessed world class aeronautical research facilities and flight research operations, making it ideally suited to help America win the war.

Military historian Mark Chambers tells the story of the monumental task of developing the planes that spurred Allied victory in World War II.

This WWII true crime history reveals a shocking story of murder inside an Arizona POW camp—and the U.S. military’s controversial response.

Though Arizona was far from any theater of battle during World War II, the grim realities of combat were brought home with the construction of POW camps. Located outside Phoenix, Camp Papago Park became famous for its prisoners’ attempted escape through the Faustball Tunnel, but it also had a dark reputation of violence among its prisoners.

One casualty was Werner Drechsler, a prisoner who supplied German secrets to U.S. Navy authorities. Nazis held at Papago Park labeled him a traitor and hanged him from a bathroom rafter. Controversy erupted over whether the killing was an act of war or murder. Some also questioned the lack of protection Drechsler received for aiding in espionage. Ultimately, seven POWs were hanged for the crime.

Author Jane Eppinga examines the tangled details and implications of America’s last mass execution.

From January to July 1942, more than seventy-five ships sank to North Carolina's Graveyard of the Atlantic off the coast of the Outer Banks. A Standard oil tanker sank just sixty miles from Cape Hatteras.

German U-boats sank ships in some of the most harrowing sea fighting close to America's shore. Germany's Operation Drumbeat, led by Admiral Karl Donitz, brought fear to the local communities. The U-85 was the first U-boat sunk by American surface forces, and local divers later discovered a rare Enigma machine aboard. Author Jim Bunch traces the destructive history of world war on the shores of the Outer Banks.

Tour the camps, learn stories of the daily lives of the POWs, and discover the impact they had on the Old Dominion.

During World War II, Virginians watched as German and Italian prisoners invaded the Old Dominion. At least 17,000 Germans and countless Italians lived in over twenty camps across the state and worked on five military installations. Farmers hired POWs to pick apples. Fertilizer companies, lumber yards, and hospitals hired them. At first a phenomenon of war in Virginia’s backyard, these former enemy combatants became familiar to many--often developing a rapport with their employers. Among them were die-hired Nazis and Fascists, but they benefited from double standards that placed them in better jobs and conditions than African Americans.

Historians Kathryn Coker and Jason Wetzel tell a different story of the Old Dominion at War.

Author Gretchen Knapp brings to life the challenges and contributions of daily life in World War II Buffalo.

When President Roosevelt visited Buffalo in November 1940, he found a hardworking city with a large immigrant population manufacturing aircraft for the Allies. Nearby Fort Niagara inducted over 100,000 young men, resulting in an acute labor shortage. American Brass, Bell Aircraft, Chevrolet, Curtiss-Wright, Houde Engineering and Republic Steel reluctantly, then gladly, hired women. More than 300,000 defense workers toiled in hot factories for high wages despite transportation, housing and food shortages. The aircraft plants alone employed 85,000 on forty-eight-hour workweeks. Buffalonians watched the flag raising at Iwo Jima, participated in the Manhattan Project and observed the formal surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay. Author Gretchen Knapp brings to life the challenges and contributions of daily life during wartime.

“I was given the choice to join the German army or get shot!” –German prisoner of war at Camp Deaver, 1944

Wyoming's nineteen prisoner of war camps held several thousand incarcerated Italian and German prisoners during World War II. Historical records, photographs and personal stories shared by camp residents reveal details about this little-known part of the state's history. Local agricultural and timber industries utilized POW labor, while positive relationships developed between the camp's civilian area residents and prisoners.

Author Cheryl O’Brien recounts the experiences of the prisoners and the intriguing story of how U.S. military personnel, prisoners and residents-in spite of their differences-collaborated to cope with the challenges of life in a POW camp.

During World War II, the city of Evansville manufactured vast amounts of armaments that were vital to the Allied victory.

The Evansville Ordnance Plant made 96 percent of all .45-caliber ammunition used in the war, while the Republic Aviation Plant produced more than 6,500 P-47 Thunderbolts - almost half of all P-47s built during the war. At its peak, the local shipyard employed upward of eighteen thousand men and women who forged 167 of the iconic Landing Ship Tank vessels. In this captivating and fast-paced account, University of Evansville historian James Lachlan MacLeod reveals the enormous influence these wartime industries had on the social, economic and cultural life of the city.

Harrisburg Answers the Call of Duty/

In 1917, at the start of World War I, among global war and a global pandemic, Harrisburgers stepped up, surffered and served. They mustered municipal agencies, associations, churches, clubs and corporations as well as fraternal and female organizations to address the multiple challenges presented by the global events. Women volunteered for the Red Cross and sought employment in industry as locals observed federal stipulations for draft calls, food conservation, fuel savings and arms' production. The city experienced tribulations as residents feared espionage, suspected foreigners and demanded loyalty. A Teutonophobia cast aspersions on anything German. Hospitals struggled with the 1918 flu at their doorstep. Join author Rodney Ross as he charts the World War I era and the Harrisburg home front.

America's Only Shelter Established for Holocaust Refugees/

During the height of the second World War, at the order of President Roosevelt, Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York housed 982 refugees, rescued from the horrors of the Holocaust. The community of Oswego answered the call of service and opened its arms to the survivors. Oswegonian and WWII veteran Joseph Spereno’s connection with refugee Jake Sylber helped launch his tailoring business that was a fixture in the city for more than 20 years. Then high school Principal Ralph Faust was among local educators who fought to allow the refugee children into Oswego schools, forging connections with those young people who went on to distinguished careers. Local Boy Scout leader Harold Clark created a troop for refugee children to share in the American experience of scouting.Author Ann Callaghan Allen presents the harrowing narrative of how Oswego gave shelter to hundreds of Holocaust survivors.

Explore the daily lives and the history of German and Italian POWs in WWII in camps in Georgia and their impact on the Peach State.

During World War II, many Georgians witnessed the enemy in their backyards. More than twelve thousand German and Italian prisoners captured in far-off battlefields were sent to POW camps in Georgia. With large base camps located from Camp Wheeler in Macon and Camp Stewart in Savannah to smaller camps throughout the state, prisoner re-education and work programs evoked different reactions to the enemy. There was even a POW work detail of forty German soldiers at Augusta National Golf Course, which was changed from a temporary cow pasture to the splendid golf course we know today. Join author and historian Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker and coauthor Jason Wetzel as they explore the daily lives of POWs in Georgia and the lasting impact they had on the Peach State.

Over 500,000 Massachusetts residents answered the call to military duty in the Second World War, while the rest of the state’s citizens fought the war on the home front. Everyone in the family, including pets, found creative and essential ways to contribute.

Thousands worked in factories, volunteered for Civil Defense, watched for enemy aircraft, and took part in salvage collections and bond drives, all while dealing with rationing, blackouts, rumors and a host of other wartime inconveniences. And while thousands of service members left to fight overseas, the Bay State also welcomed thousands more to serve on its military bases that were such an important part of our nation’s defense./ Author James Parr reveals the stories of these brave and dedicated citizens--from the famous to the ordinary--as they faced wartime challenges. 

Rhode Island's contribution to World War II vastly exceeded its small size.

Narragansett Bay was an armed camp dotted by army forts and navy facilities. They included the country's most important torpedo production and testing facilities at Newport and the Northeast's largest naval air station at Quonset Point. Three special, top-secret German POW camps were based in Narragansett and Jamestown. Meanwhile, Rhode Island workers from all over the state - including, for the first time, many women - manufactured military equipment and built warships, most notably the Liberty ships at Providence Shipyard. Authors from the Rhode Island history blog smallstatebighistory.com trace Rhode Island's outsized wartime role, from the scare of an enemy air raid after Pearl Harbor to the war's final German U-boat sunk off Point Judith.

Immigration in the Equality State

Long before Heart Mountain Internment Camp brought Japanese prisoners to Wyoming, an immigrant work force put down lasting roots. Beginning in 1892, Japanese came to toil on Union Pacific’s railroad and coal mines. But they weren’t warmly welcomed. Newspapers charged every Japanese section worker was secret Japanese Army. Allegedly, 600 Japs in Utah, [and] about 400 in Wyoming and probably 100 in Colorado, were ready to serve Japan during the Japanese Russo War. George Wakimoto said the number was closer to six. Such misinformation about Japanese laborers spawned violence against Asians. The citizens of Evanston tried to blow them up. Rawlins ran the Japanese out of town. And in Laramie, young boys threw stones and dragged a Japanese man through the street. Author Dan Lyon chronicles Japanese perseverance, before and after both world wars, in their adopted state.

The fight against the Axis required sacrifice and dedication, and Nebraskans proudly answered the call with grit, determination and duty.

Three ordnance plants and two naval munitions depots brought employment and economic opportunities but also housing shortages and racial disturbances. The U.S. Army Air Corps established eleven air bases here, leading to community engagement through USOs and war bond drives. In central Nebraska, the North Platte Canteen welcomed thousands of service members en route to war on troop trains. Henry Doorly’s successful scrap campaign became a model for a nationwide operation. Local farmers fed the nation, K-9 war dogs trained at Fort Robinson and native sons Ben Kuroki and Andrew Higgins affected the war in very different ways.

Through detailed archival research, author Melissa Amateis tells the remarkable story of the Cornhusker State’s homefront.

Author Margaret Shiels Konitzky reveals the stories of local heroes and the relentless spirit of midcoast Maine.

While World War II raged overseas, the people of midcoast Maine responded with remarkable achievements on the homefront. The shipyard at Bath Iron Works launched a new destroyer every seventeen days. Bowdoin College had more military than civilian students and held three commencements per year. Boothbay Harbor, Bailey Island and Damariscotta all had military bases, and anyone who owned or sailed a boat was recruited for coastal defense. Women worked at machine shops, registered their neighbors for rationing and volunteered for the Civil Defense and Red Cross. Author Margaret Shiels Konitzky reveals the stories of local heroes and the relentless spirit of midcoast Maine.

From the beginning of World War II, Delaware’s movie theaters played a starring role in the state’s war effort. Delaware and every town in it – from Claymont to Delmar – did its part to support the war. From base theaters to opera houses to movie palaces, Delaware’s theaters sold hundreds of millions of dollars in war bonds. They served as WAAC recruiting stations. They were collection points for resource drives. They screened countless newsreels and documentaries about every aspect of the war. And they hosted the likes of Fay Wray, Gene Lockhart, Gail Patrick, Paulette Goddard, and other Hollywood stars who came to the state to keep morale high, support strong, and dollars flowing. /Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts how the First State, the Greatest Generation, and the Dream Factory joined forces when America’s forces needed them most.

Stories of the Greatest Generation come alive in the hands of longtime local journalist Adrian O’Connor

What made the D-Day attack on Omaha Beach so remarkable was that it was carried out largely out by National Guardsman – men of the 29th Infantry Division who had never before seen combat. One of the companies that was part of this historic day hailed from the environs of Winchester, Virginia. Winchester’s martial gallantry was hardly restricted to the beaches of Normandy, though. A future city councilor came ashore at Anzio, Italy. A future school principal fought in what may have been the Pacific’s toughest battle, Iwo Jima. Local men held the line at the climactic Battle of the Bulge, flew over Europe and the oil fields of Ploesti and even escaped a German prisoner-of-war camp.

Following the success of World War II Rhode Island, author Christian McBurney returns, with new coauthors Norman Desmarais and Varoujan Karentz, to present extraordinary personal stories of local contributions to the war effort.

From John F. Kennedy’s training as a PT boat commander at Melville to George H.W. Bush’s training as a pilot at Charlestown, the smallest state played an oversized role preparing navy officers and sailors. Important innovations are credited here too. Radar used on night-flying aircraft was developed at Jamestown’s Spraycliff Observatory and tested at Charlestown, and at Davisville, Seabees developed a pontoon aircraft landing field tested on Narragansett Bay. Scituate was home to the nation’s most successful spy listening station. After these and more captivating stories are revealed, the final chapter details existing World War II sites across the state readers can visit.

The Greatest Generation of the Keystone State

The Pennsylvania Wilds comprise a tiny fraction of the state’s population, but when the United States entered World War II, the Wilds responded with characteristic courage and determination. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, young men rushed to recruitment centers to serve. Many returned as heroes. Many never returned, paying the ultimate sacrifice. Not to be left out, numerous women filled the ranks of Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps or became navy nurses overseas. On the homefront, workers bused in to fill vacancies left by those who went to war flooded the small towns of the Wilds, and all across the region, people stepped up to provide defense services and to plant victory gardens.

Compiling contemporary news accounts, letters and firsthand accounts, historian Kathy Myers celebrates and commemorates the region’s intrepid war efforts at home and abroad.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 the world changed for the North State - and the nation.

A national call to arms by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after the bombing of Pearl Harbor spurred local residents to action, and the normal rhythm of life immediately and dramatically changed. By Christmas of that year, everyone understood their roles. Those who could enlist served in Army and Navy operations in the Pacific and Europe. The rest gave their all to support the war from the home front. Residents volunteered their time and skills, served as Red Cross workers, airplane spotters and scrap metal collectors. Local factories and canneries ramped up production. And building the Shasta Dam to provide power became a crucial part of the war effort.

Author Al M. Rocca recounts the determination and tribulations of North State citizens during World War II.

Camp Forrest is a microcosm of the immensity that was World War II, all inside the small community of Tullahoma, Tennessee.

Originally named Camp Peay and built in 1926 as a National Guard Camp, Camp Forrest was renamed for Confederate General and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and became a World War II induction, training and prisoner of war facility in Tullahoma. The self-sustained city was home to seventy thousand soldiers and about twelve thousand civilian employees, including German and Italian prisoners of war as well as Japanese, German and Italian American citizens who were forcibly incarcerated. After the war ended, the base was decommissioned and dismantled, but the memories of those who lived, worked, trained and grew up during this time of sacrifice and war recount a time the world has not seen since. Author Elizabeth Taylor uses numerous personal interviews, newspaper articles, diaries and biographies to tell the stories of those who lived through the era.

Oklahoma in the Great War. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. As the country prepared for war, the state of Oklahoma answered the call. Thousands of men, including Native Americans who did not have American citizenship, entered the service prepared to sacrifice their lives while men and women on the home-front dedicated themselves to supporting the war effort. Like many other states, Oklahoma was hampered by overzealous Councils of Defense and the devastating Flu Epidemic, overcame those challenges to provide a unified front. Author illuminates the fascinating history of the state by bringing together little-known stories from all over Oklahoma.

A century ago, sparsely populated and largely rural Florida rallied as America plunged into World War I, her sacrifices and contributions celebrated here in full detail.

The proud USS Florida, too often mentioned as mere adjunct to the Atlantic Fleet, receives a just accounting, as does the utterly devastating loss of the USS Tampa, the highest death toll the navy suffered in the war. Sunshine State foresters served critical roles abroad, and local libraries became essential hubs for promoting rationing and reporting news from overseas. Floridian aid workers and soldiers training for departure were stricken with the Spanish Flu, a pandemic that shook the globe with force equal to the war itself. Authors Joe Knetsch and Pamela Gibson provide a necessary and thorough chronicle of Florida in the Great War.

An extraordinary World War I tale of German raiders stranded in Hampton Roads, where 800 sailors built a vibrant village under the watchful eyes of the Allies.

During World War I, two German surface raiders sought harbor to make repairs at Hampton Roads after sinking twenty-five merchant ships. Allied ships nearby kept them from leaving, so more than eight hundred German sailors took up residence at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. They built their own miniature German village, visited family and friends and attended social events in the community. Their presence made the shipyard a major tourist area before the United States entered the war. Historian Gregory J. Hansard presents the fascinating story of how Hampton Roads was a haven of safety for German sailors during World War I.

A tribute to the heroism shown by military pilots and aircrew from rural California towns who risked their lives and made their mark on American history.

During World War II, thousands of volunteer combat aviators trained at places like Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Hancock Field in Santa Maria. Some air cadets and WASPs—young women pilots—lost their lives in training accidents. The graduates would go on to fight in both the Pacific and European theaters.

They faced flak bursts and collisions that resulted in horrifying explosions and were sent on strafing runs that made them targets in a lethal shooting gallery. Downed airmen encountered both unexpected kindness and cruel deprivation as prisoners of war.

Through interviews and official records, Jim Gregory tells the stories of heroic Central Coast veterans who fought a war that stretched from New Guinea to North Africa.

Montana's cowboys, miners, foresters, farmers and nurses entered World War I in April 1917 under the battle cry that would resonate on the battlefields in France—Powder River, Let 'Er Buck!

Montana men served in a greater percentage per capita than any other state. Hundreds responded to the call, including local women and minorities, from the nation's first congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin, to young women serving as combat nurses on the front lines. Additionally, the state provided vital supplies of copper and wheat. Learn what role celebrities like cowboy artist Charlie Russell played in the war and how Montanans mobilized, trained and deployed.

Acclaimed historian Ken Robison uncovers new and neglected stories of the Treasure State's contributions to the Great War.

Author Jake Klim chronicles the attack from the first shell fired to the aftermath and celebrates the resilience of Orleans at war.

On the morning of July 21, 1918--in the final year of the First World War--a new prototype of German submarine surfaced three miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The vessel attacked an unarmed tugboat and its four barges. A handful of the shells fired by the U-boat's deck guns struck Nauset Beach, giving the modest town of Orleans the distinction of being the only spot in the United States to receive enemy fire during the entire war. On land, lifesavers from the U.S. Coast Guard launched a surfboat under heavy enemy fire to save the sailors trapped aboard the tug and barges. In the air, seaplanes from the Chatham Naval Air Station dive-bombed the enemy raider with payloads of TNT.

Revisit a critical and little-known piece of WWII history that had a profound impact on Illinois and the nation.

During WWII, the United States was home to almost half a million POW's—German, Italian, and Japanese soldiers captured overseas and then brought to the United States. The POWs were housed in various large camps set up in forty-four of the nation's then forty-eight states. One of those states was Illinois. At its peak, Illinois housed three major base camps and twenty branch camps, stretching from the Rockford-Chicago area down to Camp Pomona, near Murphysboro. When not housed in these camps, POW's were put to work, on the state's farms and in its factories, to alleviate the country's serious wartime labor shortages. By the end of the war, there was no part of Illinois that was not touched by these prisoners of war.

Author Cary O'Dell sheds light on a largely forgotten element of home front WWII history. 

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of World War II, one soldier found solace and strength in letters from home.

An Army Air Corps serviceman from a prominent Madison family, Bob Gay paints a vivid picture of a young man's journey through a tumultuous era, revealing the profound love he held for his family. As Gay fulfills his duty on the frontlines, his mother's unwavering support shines through her involvement with the Red Cross, while his father's dedication as a ration board member and air raid warden mirrors a nation's collective sacrifice.

World War II Dispatches to Madison is a tribute to a humble and kind soul who never sought the spotlight. In honor of her ancestor Robert Gay, Dannelle’s book will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

World War II Indiana Landmarks features places throughout the state that played significant roles during World War II. Many of these locations memorialize those who fought as well as those who contributed to the war effort. These places of remembrance include historical sites, monuments, markers, museums, surviving buildings, a surviving Navy ship, a surviving plane, and more. Author Ronald P. May explores the rich historical backgrounds surrounding each location and tells the personal stories of veterans and civilians related to many of these locations.

This compelling look at Charleston's twentieth-century history chronicles the changes and challenges faced by Charleston as its population exploded in response to expansion of the Charleston Navy Yard. As World War II called for the United States to flex her industrial might, the shipyard rose to meet the challenge and 55,000 new residents flooded into the city.

Charleston was unprepared for such dramatic expansion: the need for labor at the yard meant the sudden appearance of good jobs, but also resulted in severe housing shortages, food rationing and dilemmas over race and gender. Ongoing workforce shortages forced the navy to look to sources of labor previously regarded as unsuitable—African Americans and women—causing dramatic changes to the status quo.

Author and historian Fritz Hamer makes use of written documents and oral histories to argue that the war's effects pulled a reluctant Holy City into the twentieth century, setting the stage for further modernization and growth. Warm personal accounts from a range of individuals who witnessed the city's dramatic change provide a human element in Hamer's solid research.

Well written and imaginatively conceived, Charleston Reborn will interest the general reader as well as a wide range of historians—from students of World War II and chroniclers of gender and racial history, to urban historians and scholars of the modern American South.

Chippewa Falls' First World War II Casualty

Young Harry Wellington Kramer was looking for adventure and a leg up in Depression-era Wisconsin. He found both aboard the Navy battleship USS California. Traveling across the western United States and the Pacific Ocean, Harry was quick to share his experiences with family and friends in Chippewa Falls. As he realized his dreams and served his country, his parents anxiously followed the developments that would lead to America’s involvement in World War II. All of these events converged with the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which Harry was tragically killed fulfilling his duties. Though gone, Harry W. Kramer is not forgotten.

Compiling thirty-three letters between Harry and home, local author and history teacher John E. Kinville tells the story of a life cut short but well lived.

Marvel at the mettle of Montanans in World War I.

World War I continued with fury in the spring of 1918 as American Yanks endeavored to play the key role in stemming the German tide. Montana’s Marines suffered the bloodiest day in their history as they became “Devil Dogs,” charging through hell on earth at Belleau Wood. Locals in the Wild West Division stormed “over the top” into the Argonne Forest, while nurses, “hello girls,” Navy Yeomanettes and YMCA workers blazed new gender roles. And young Seaman Mike Mansfield, future legendary senator, served on convoy duty against lurking German U-boats.

Award-winning historian Ken Robison illuminates the story of young and vibrant Montanans of all ethnicities as they fought for elusive democracy, at home and abroad, in this world war to end all wars.

With a forward by Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt, learn about William Thalhimer's elaborate plan to save Jewish Germans from Hitler and the Third Reich.

During Hitler's rise to power in the 1930's, Richmond department store founder, William Thalhimer and his family traveled to Germany to visit relatives and business contacts. Thalhimer was deeply disturbed and increasingly alarmed as the anti-Semitism that he and his family witnessed escalated into the violence Brown Shirts and Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Thalhimer became determined to aid Jews fleeing from Germany, and he eventually met a representative of Gross Breesen, a German-Jewish agricultural training institute. The mission of Gross Breesen, and eventually Thalhimer, was to train young Jews in agriculture in hopes that the expertise gained would ensure the students' successful emigration from Germany. Thalhimer purchased a farm, Hyde Farmlands, in Burkeville, Virginia to give the students a home in Virginia.