Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a special day for honoring all who have served in the armed forces. The origins of the holiday date back to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who proclaimed Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919 to mark the end of World War I.

November 11

Veterans Day is a special day for honoring all who have served in the armed forces. The origins of the holiday date back to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who proclaimed Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919 to mark the end of World War I.

The Way Home, Part 1
Episode 1

Video

This segment focuses on the racial discrimination that existed during World War II and how it affected those who served their country. The military was segregated. There were African Americans from...
The Island War, Part 4
Episode 4

Video

As U.S. troops captured island after island, Japan felt the war slipping away. At Leyte Gulf, Japan lost its navy. In the Philippines, it lost its footing. MacArthur captured the world stage and the...
The Island War, Part 3
Episode 3

Video

Veterans recall Leyte Island in the Philippines and describe their experiences there in detail. They also provide reflections on the starving Philippine children, as well as adults, and they recall...
The Island War, Part 6
Episode 6

Video

One of our veterans recalls the bombing of Iwo Jima, and going below to his quarters to get a little sleep. He opened his Bible and it fell open to the 91st Psalm, which he reads. Our veterans discuss...
The Island War, Part 5
Episode 5

Video

With Japan's navy in ruins, America unleashed its air forces. Our veterans describe their experiences, their training, and the aircraft they flew.
The Island War, Part 1
Episode 1

Video

Veterans recall the brutality of war with the Japanese, their allegiance to their emperor, the tropical heat, the jungle, the danger of the rocky reefs, and the threat of malaria, for which they took...
The Island War, Part 2
Episode 2

Video

Women discuss serving in the WAVES, the SPARS, the WACS, the WAFS, and the WASPS. All the services needed women during this period. Our women veterans remember many of the details of their service...
The Rising Sun, Part 4
Episode 4

Video

Fritz Hamer, military historian, explains that Japan was an industrial power, but it needed the resources to maintain it. Japan's purpose was to nullify the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, then destroy the...
The Rising Sun, Part 5
Episode 5

Video

Midway Island was a U.S. outpost located about a thousand miles west of Hawaii. Prior to World War II, it was basically a weather station with some U.S. Naval groups on it to protect it. The Japanese...
The Rising Sun, Part 7
Episode 7

Video

The island of Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, was the major offensive area for the Japanese, in order to control Australia and the South Pacific. Veterans and historians reflect on...