World War II (1939–1945)

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.

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A Path to Victory, Part 7

Episode 7

Headed into in area in northern France, in which they thought they could rest, the 106th infantry division, 424th infantry, expected to have time to clean their weapons, take showers and have some...

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A Path to Victory, Part 6

Episode 6

Veterans discuss how they spent their time off while serving during World War II. *** Teachers, this video contains references to behavior that may not be suitable for students. Please view before...

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A Path to Victory, Part 5

Episode 5

The Allies were finishing up the liberation of France and they were hoping the war would be over by the end of the year. Montgomery was the Allied commander of that section and he was looking for a...

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Liberation, Part 1

Episode 1

This segment features remembrances of prison camps and describes Hitler's "Mein Kampf," and the plan to annihilate the Jewish people. Those interviewed provide their remembrances of what occurred. The...

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A Path to Victory, Part 3

Episode 3

Veterans reflect on General Patton, from the way he required his men to dress to the way he so directly addressed his men right up front, saying, "Some who sailed over here are not going back home."...

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A Path to Victory, Part 2

Episode 2

The Hedgerows were unanticipated and required a new type of warfare. They were quite entangled and provided lots of cover, and made the terrain difficult to maneuver. No one could see what they were...

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A Path to Victory, Part 4

Episode 4

A first-hand account of Auschwitz is provided by Lou Fowler. "The Germans were absolutely obsessed with killing people. It was a killing machine."

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A Path to Victory, Part 1

Episode 1

This segment begins with reflections of the Parisians playing "Dixie" on the Champs-Élysées, and a band marching, and a reference to "high cotton." These are some of the memories that have lived on...

Charles Hard Townes | History of SC Slide Collection

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Charles Hard Townes | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 138

Charles Hard Townes (1915-2015 ) is South Carolina's only Nobel Prize winner, an honor he was awarded for his development of the laser. This photograph shows him accepting that award in Stockholm...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 10 10

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Vanishing Generation, Part 10

Episode 10

The single most important event in world history in the 20th century occurred more than sixty years ago, and we have lost many of our ties to that past. Preserving the history of World War II has...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 9 9

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Vanishing Generation, Part 9

Episode 9

Veterans of World War II reflect on whether they should be considered heroes or not. One says he happened to be over there, and he volunteered to go to Hawaii, but they didn't know the war would come...

Vanishing Generation, Part 6 - Red Ball Express
- Episode 6 Vanishing Generation, Part 4 4

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Vanishing Generation, Part 4

Episode 4

Tom Grove, prisoner of war survivor, recalls the Battle of the Bulge, and says that is where he got his first combat injury. He was taken prisoner that day, after a German tank pulled up in front of...

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Vanishing Generation, Part 8

Episode 8

Tom Grove, prisoner of war survivor, tells the story of being in his second prison camp, and hearing bombing way off in the distance, and how the noise of artillery got louder and closer, along with...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 7 7

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Vanishing Generation, Part 7

Episode 7

Tee Senn, cryptologist, speaks of the tank battles, about the reality, not TV, and seeing a tank explode. "...For years...you wake up...it gets to you...it's something that you don't ever want to have...

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Vanishing Generation, Part 6

Episode 6

Major C. "Buck" Wiley recalls the Red Ball Express, loading up "all those 250 trucks...with ammunition...take them to the front...gasoline...and then when it started snowing, and when the Battle of...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 5 5

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Vanishing Generation, Part 5

Episode 5

Russell Meyne, B-17 pilot, says, "But Pearl Harbor, of course, was one about 4-hour period," and he didn't get hit, didn't get shot..."there was no continuity to it...the beginning and end was right...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 3 3

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Vanishing Generation, Part 3

Episode 3

Don Ziglar, U.S.S. Yorktown Quartermaster, recalls Japanese fighter planes coming toward the Yorktown. The captain was out on the wing of the bridge, at the starboard side. The bridge wasn't big...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 1 1

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Vanishing Generation, Part 1

Episode 1

World War II is the most important event of the 20th Century. It changed everything. Fifty million people died in World War II, including 405,000 Americans. The United States became a world power, the...

Vanishing Generation, Part 4 - Prisoner of War
- Episode 4 Vanishing Generation, Part 2 2

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Vanishing Generation, Part 2

Episode 2

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...

Ernest "Fritz" Hollings | History of SC Slide Collection

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Ernest "Fritz" Hollings | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 73

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...

Governor James Byrnes | History of SC Slide Collection

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Governor James Byrnes | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 31

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...

Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 1 - Early Years
- Episode 1 Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 2 2

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Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 2

Episode 2

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...

Bernard Mannes Baruch | History of SC Slide Collection

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Bernard Mannes Baruch | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 14

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...

Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 2 - Lt. Col. Barnie B. McEntire
- Episode 2 Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 1 1

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Always First: The SC Air National Guard, Part 1

Episode 1

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...

World War II (1939–1945)

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