Wars & Conflicts

Explore the timeline of American wars and conflicts including the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.

Explore the timeline of American wars and conflicts from the American Revolutionary War to current global conflicts.

National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (April 9)

This day honors those veterans who have served their country while being held captive in enemy territory. The day also honors the family of the prisoners of war and their long and anxious wait to see their family again. Visit the collection.

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Sir Peter Parker | History of SC Slide Collection
Sir Peter Parker | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 108

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Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Sir Peter Parker (1721-1811) was the naval commander who directed the British fleet in the abortive attack against Fort Sullivan in the summer of 1776. Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 3 3
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 3
Episode 3

Video

Grades: 8

The three squadrons of the 20th Fighter Wing must be ready for high-intensity combat at a moment's notice. That requires training of typically about 12 hours a day. The planning usually happens the...
Vanishing Generation, Part 10 10
Vanishing Generation, Part 10
Episode 10

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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...
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 4 4
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 4
Episode 4

Video

Grades: 8

Lieutenant Colonel Jacqueline Crum, Civil Engineer, discusses the operational mission being the war on terrorism. With over 7,000 employees, a payroll of $230 million, and 35,000 acres, plus a 12,500...
Vanishing Generation, Part 9 9
Vanishing Generation, Part 9
Episode 9

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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...
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 2 2
Victory by Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 2
Episode 2

Video

The 20th Fighter Wing arrived at Shaw Air Force Base in 1946. No one knows where the motto came from. The emblem was approved in 1934. The records no longer exist, but the colors have significance...
Victory By Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 1 1
Victory By Valor: Shaw Air Force Base, Part 1
Episode 1

Video

Grades: 8

Shaw Air Base in Sumter, S.C. is the home of the 20th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force, with 88 aircraft and three fighter squadrons. Shaw is also headquarters for the 9th Air Force and U.S...
Vanishing Generation, Part 4 4
Vanishing Generation, Part 4
Episode 4

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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...
Vanishing Generation, Part 8 8
Vanishing Generation, Part 8
Episode 8

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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 7 7
Vanishing Generation, Part 7
Episode 7

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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...
Vanishing Generation, Part 6 6
Vanishing Generation, Part 6
Episode 6

Video

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 5 5
Vanishing Generation, Part 5
Episode 5

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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 3 3
Vanishing Generation, Part 3
Episode 3

Video

Grades: 5 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

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...
James L. Orr | History of SC Slide Collection
James L. Orr | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 106

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Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Born in Craytonville, in the Pendleton District, Governor James L. Orr (1822-1873) was educated in local schools and later attended the University of Virginia to study law. After graduation, he...
William Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
William Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 104

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Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Born in Charleston, William Moultrie (1730-1805) served in the South Carolina House of Commons, and in 1761, became involved in the Cherokee War. In 1775, he was elected to the first South Carolina...
Dr. John Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
Dr. John Moultrie | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 103

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Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Dr. John Moultrie, a physician, illustrates the sometimes painful divisions within families that civil war and revolution can cause. The older brother of General William Moultrie (see William Moultrie...