U.S. in 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.

Parade of Marine Corps Recruits at Parris Island | History of SC Slide Collection

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Parade of Marine Corps Recruits at Parris Island | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 6

The Parris Island facilities for training Marines also expanded enormously during WWII. Here, new recruits march on the main parade grounds during a 1943 rainstorm. Courtesy of the United States...

Winston Churchill Tours Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

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Winston Churchill Tours Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 5

Winston Churchill toured Fort Jackson during his visit to the United States in 1942. Courtesy of the South Carolina Department of Education.

Parade of Recruits at Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

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Parade of Recruits at Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 4

The military buildup of World War II greatly expanded the facilities at the former Camp Jackson of the First World War. Renamed Fort Jackson in 1940, the Columbia facility became one of the main...

Buildup of Troops at Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

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Buildup of Troops at Fort Jackson | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 3

The buildup of troops at Fort Jackson, even before the attack on Pearl Harbor, was the beginning of the many changes that World War II brought to Columbia, and indeed to all of South Carolina. The...

America's Reluctance to Enter World War II | History of SC Slide Collection

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America's Reluctance to Enter World War II | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 2

Senate investigations of the profits that some American corporations had made selling war materials to Britain and France prior to World War I made many Americans suspicious of entanglements with...

President Roosevelt Visits Columbia, SC | History of SC Slide Collection

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President Roosevelt Visits Columbia, SC | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 1

President Franklin D. Roosevelt occasionally stopped in Columbia on his train trips between Washington, D.C., and his home in Warm Springs, Georgia. But in January 1940, as the war expanded in Europe...

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SC Veterans in History, Part 7

Episode 7

In 2009, student filmmaker Morgan Adams created a film about the Doolittle Raiders for the National History Day Competition. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government asked...

Colonial Williamsburg, Part 2 | Project Discovery Revisited Heroes from the Korean & Vietnam Wars from SC Veterans in History | Project Discovery Revisited

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Heroes from the Korean & Vietnam Wars from SC Veterans in History | Project Discovery Revisited

In this segment, heroes of the Korean War and the Vietnam War are discussed. Korea was known as a police action, and 466 South Carolinians were killed in that conflict, and four received Medals of...

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A Segregated Military | Palmetto Scene

B.S. Plair of Rock Hill, South Carolina, served for the Montford Point Marines in 1945, until he was honorably discharged in 1946. The Montford Point Marines were based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina...

Women Worked as Mechanics, Factory Workers and Supply Pilots | Periscope

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Women Worked as Mechanics, Factory Workers and Supply Pilots | Periscope

Episode 8

Unfortunately, women were expected to leave these positions when men returned from World War II. The women who continued to enter the workforce during and after the war, found they were not paid as...

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U.S. in World War II

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