Resilience, dedication, patriotism and unselfish sacrifice. South Carolina’s greatest generation persevered through the Great Depression; won a global war and rewrote the history of the State through their enterprise and zeal. These are just a few of the thousands of stories of how men and women of South Carolina, set aside their lives to serve their country during World War II.
Produced by South Carolina Educational Television in collaboration with The Palmetto Greatest Generation Project
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This segment documents the era of the Great Depression. It was a decade of misery that started with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Across the nation in the 1930s, 15 million were unemployed. Thirty...
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On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by air, by the Japanese. Nine South Carolinians were killed along with 1,168 of their shipmates on board the Battleship Arizona. The nation was now at...
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Sixteen million men and women joined the armed services. Women went to work in industry to support the war effort. Women received training to prepare them for jobs that were needed by the military...
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South Carolina men were eager to join the war effort, and quickly signed up.
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Ernest Henderson, a Tuskegee Airman, discusses Eleanore Roosevelt's visit to the airfield and her interest in flying in one of their airplanes, and so she did. When she got back to Washington, she...
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The story of the Doolittle Raiders is told.
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South Carolina has, by now, fully ramped up for the war with training bases dotting the state, and everyone helped in every way they could, from saving their bacon grease to giving up their aluminum...
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Moffatt Burriss’ infantry outfit fought its way through Italy, and continued to fight its way through France. Burriss’ men, along with another company, were sent across the Waal River to try to take...
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Thirty three days after the death of President Roosevelt, Germany surrenders. The allies celebrate their victory over the Nazis. In 1945, after the two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and...