World War II was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The war involved the many of the world's countries. Two opposing military alliances were formed: the Allies and the Axis.
While Japan was already at war with China in 1937, the Second World War began on September 1, 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Germany conquered much of Europe, eventually forming the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Approximately six million European Jews were killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and this event would become known as the Holocaust.
Video
World War II occurred during the 1940s when segregation was still the norm in America. The African Americans who fought were in a segregated army even overseas in England. One of the reasons the...
Photo
Born in Charleston in 1922, E. "Fritz" Hollings (1922- ) received his education in local public schools and the Citadel, from which he graduated in 1942. During WWII, Hollings served in the U.S. Army...
Photo
Born in Charleston in 1879, Governor James Byrnes (1879-1972) attended local schools. Because of his father's death, Byrnes had to begin working early in life to help support his mother. He worked as...
Video
Barnie B. McEntire rose to lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was exactly the type of man Lieutenant General James C. Dozier was looking for when he dreamed of starting...
Photo
Bernard Mannes Baruch (1870-1965) served the United States as an economic planner during both World Wars, and was the author of the Baruch Plan, a post-World War II proposal for international control...
Video
The South Carolina Air National Guard has grown from a group of just 50 members to an essential fighting force of the United States military. South Carolina Air Guardsmen have served our country in...
Photo
James Francis Byrnes (see Governor James Byrnes) rose to prominence in South Carolina and the nation, first in the House of Representatives, and then in the Senate. A supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal...
Photo
The Columbia Army Air Base in Lexington County became the headquarters of Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's famous "Raiders," who trained there for their bombing run over Tokyo. Courtesy of the Thomas Cooper...
Photo
The end of the Second World War came with the surrender of Japan on VJ Day, August 14, 1945. South Carolinians celebrated the victory with dancing in the streets of Charleston and with great joy. They...
Photo
The April 12, 1945, death of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Warm Springs, Georgia, brought an outpouring of grief from the nation. Thousands of people flocked to watch his funeral train pass through the...
