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Photo 1: WOMEN WORKERS

Meda Brendall (pictured far right) may not have left Baltimore during World War II, but she made her own contribution to the war effort by working seven days a week as a welder in the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard.

Visit Meda Brendall's story page, in Experiencing War, to view her collection.

Photo Caption:
Lula Barber, Meta Kres, and Brendall, outside welding shop at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards. Baltimore, Maryland.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1942.

Photo 2: AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN IN SERVICE

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Seconding Commanding Officer Violet W. Askins finished in the first class of women who joined what would become the Women's Army Corps.

Visit Violet Hill Gordon's story page, in Experiencing War, to view her collection.

Photo Caption:
Seconding Commanding Officer Violet W. Askins aka Violet Hill Gordon, Chicago, Illinois; photo taken on completing of OCS in the first class of women in what would become the Women's Army Corps

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1942.

Photo 3: VICTORY: CIVILIANS AND SOLDIERS

Photographs such as this one, by Robert Lee Olen, a sergeant with the Tenth Mountain Division of the U.S. Army serving in Italy during World War II, are evocative and eloquent testimony to the power of images.

Visit Robert Lee Olen's story page, in Experiencing War, to view his collection.

Photo Caption:
VJ-Day Group with Newspapers

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, August, 1945. Photo by Robert Lee Olen.

Photo 4: PRISONER OF WAR

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Flying in support of the invasion at Anzio, Nathaniel Raley was shot down by ground fire. Captured by the Germans, he wound up at Stalag Luft I, populated entirely by fliers from several Allied air forces.

Visit Nathaniel Raley's story page, in Experiencing War, to view his collection.

Photo Caption:
Nathaniel Ralely P.O.W. ID Photograph, Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, August, 1944.

Photo 5: NAVY

Armed with a sketchpad, pencil, pens and brushes, Tracy Sugarman portrayed life in the Navy before, during, and after D-Day. Sugarman was as eloquent with words as he was with a brush; his frequent letters to his wife June blend heartfelt professions of love with as much information as he thought the military censors would allow.

Visit Tracey Sugarman's story page, in Experiencing War, to view his collection.

Photo Caption:
Tracy and June Sugarman

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photo 6: JAPANESE-AMERICANS IN SERVICE

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After Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered World War II, Warren Tsuneishi’s family was evacuated to Heart Mountain, a Japanese internment facility in Wyoming. But Tsuneishi craved freedom and the chance to serve his country, in spite of his family's confinement. He volunteered for the Military Intelligence Service Language School and served in the Pacific, translating captured documents that gave U.S. forces a big advantage in securing the Philippines and Okinawa.

Visit Warren Tsuneishi's story page, in Experiencing War, to view his collection.

Photo Caption:
Warren Tsuneishi with Lt. Gen. Hodge, Seoul, Korea. October, 1945.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, October, 1945.

Photo 7: SOLDIER FROM PEARL HARBOR

By the end of World War II, Donald Patrick Finn, who served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater, could say he nearly saw it all. Among his wartime stories are his memories of being stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Visit Donald Patrick Finn's story page, in Experiencing War, to view his collection.

Photo Caption:
Finn shaking hands after receiving the Presidential Unit Citation from his Commanding Officer. Whidby Island, Washington, 1943.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1943.

Photo 8: AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE
ARMY AIR FORCE

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Photo Caption:
African American soldier receiving insignia at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Digital ID: cph 3c28634. Official photograph, U.S.A.A.F. by AAF Training Command. Photo taken between 1941 and 1945.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, [between 1941 and 1945].

Photo 9: VJ-DAY -- CIVILIANS

Photo Caption:
Jubilant crowd with ticker tape on V-J day, Washington, D.C. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. U.S. Office of War Information, 1945.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, 1945.

Photo 10: NAVY

Photo Caption:
Navy corpsman gives drink to wounded marine on Guam / official U.S. Navy photo. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. July 1944.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, July 1944.

Photo 11: VICTORY -- SERVICE

Photo Caption:
A Marine standing guard while other Marines hoist the first flag-- a small American flag on an improvised flagpole-- to be set atop Mt. Suribachi. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. U.S. Marine Corps, Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery, photographer, February 23, 1945.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, February 1945.

Photo 12: CIVILIAN WOMEN WORKERS

Photo Caption:
Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American [Aviation, Inc.]'s Inglewood, California, plant. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. U.S. Office of War Information, Alfred T. Palmer, photographer, October, 1942.

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, October 1942.

Photo 13: HISPANICS IN THE ARMY AIR FORCE

Visit Charles Rodriguez's story page to view his collection.

A 22-year-old “Zoot Suitor” with a passion for Glen Miller and Count Basie, Charles Rodriguez left his birthplace in Contra Costa County, California in 1942 to serve in the Army’s 5307th Composite Unit. Signing up for a secret deployment with no knowledge of location or mission, Rodriguez landed in Burma, India. He served with Merrill’s Marauders, going behind Japanese lines to prevent cutoff of critical supply lines into India and China.

Photo Caption:
Charles Rodriguez in uniform [1942].

Photo Credit:
Photo courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Interview 1: AMERICAN INDIANS/ALASKAN NATIVES IN THE MARINE CORPS

Visit Keith Little's story page to view listen to his interview.

After a hardscrabble upbringing, Keith Little was determined to contribute to the war effort when he learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The problem was, he was only 15 years old at the time and had to wait two years to enlist. A stranger signed for him to become a Marine, and Little signed up for the code talker program. Little witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Theater, while helping to maintain communications with a code that the Japanese couldn't crack.

Image 1: GOOFEIN JOURNAL

When Marion Gurfein wrote to her husband Joe during his tours of duty in World War II and Korea, she sent him something more than letters. She created a mock newspaper, The Goofein Journal, which she hand-lettered on card stock. The Journal contained banner headlines, illustrations, photos, and "news" stories recording family events and a "social column" which kept track of their friends' whereabouts. For more of Marion’s story, visit http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00799/

Image Caption:

"Last Edition", The Goofein Journal [11/51]

Image Credit:
Image courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, November 1951.

Image 2: AVIATOR'S JUNGLE AID

This silk panel was used by airmen in the China-Burma-India theatre in the event of their being shot down. It is made of silk so as to be waterproof. The aviator’s jungle aid was contained in a sealed escape kit along with maps of the territory and a dictionary of phrases and words in local dialect. The red number at the bottom of panel designates the number of the sealed kit in which panel was contained. Generally this identification was folded and kept in an airman’s pocket, although in some instances it was sewed on the back of his jacket. A similar type of panel was used in the European Theatre of Operations.

Image Caption:
Aviator's jungle aid.

Image Credit:
Image courtesy of Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.