World War II

This original Blue Seal ice cream store opened its doors to Okinawans in 1963. It's now the flagship location.

Blue Seal: The GI Ice Cream That Okinawans Made Their Own

12:58pm December 08, 2016

by Sonia Narang

Blue Seal ice cream was launched after World War II for American soldiers stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Today, it's a fusion of American and Okinawan tastes that's loved by locals and tourists alike.

Diver Sammy Lee, the first American to win gold medals in platform diving in consecutive Olympic games, was also among the country's earliest "cultural ambassadors."

Diver's Ambassador Life Showed Bigotry Is Never Far From The Surface

8:37pm December 07, 2016

by Ellen Wu

Years after Pearl Harbor and decades before a proposed "Muslim registry," Sammy Lee tried to "prove that in America, I could do anything." America hasn't always been convinced.

Will Lehner, a Pearl Harbor veteran, attends an honor flight trip in 2010.

National

Pearl Harbor Survivor Recounts Sinking Of Japanese Sub Before Aerial Attack

2:27pm December 07, 2016

by NPR Staff

Seventy-five years have passed since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Will Lehner was on a destroyer that fired the first shot sinking a small Japanese sub an hour-and-a-half before the aerial attack.

North Platte Canteen officers pose for a publicity photo, including (left to right) Helen Christ, Mayme Wyman, Jessie Hutchens, Edna Neid, and Opal Smith.

National

North Platte Canteen: Where The Heartland Opened Its Heart In WWII

11:22am December 07, 2016

by Kim Kankiewicz

At this bustling Nebraska railroad hub, volunteers — mostly women — greeted and fed about 6 million soldiers. And the taste of those home front meals was a comfort to troops on the battlefield.

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga was a high school senior when she entered the Manzanar internment camp. Now 92, she points to the place in Manzanar, near Death Valley in California, where she lived.

National

At 92, A Japanese-American Reflects On The Lessons Of Internment Camps

8:48am December 07, 2016

by Lauren Migaki

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga was at a Los Angeles high school when she and other Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps. Decades later, her efforts helped lead to an official apology.

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Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The history of the attack is clear, yet the conspiracy theory that President Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed the attack to take place to draw America into the war never dies.

No, FDR Did Not Know The Japanese Were Going To Bomb Pearl Harbor

12:08pm December 06, 2016

by NPR Staff

There's no evidence to support it, but the conspiracy theory that President Franklin Roosevelt knew beforehand about Pearl Harbor refuses to die, to the consternation of World War II historians.

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Elaine D. Harmon, a former pilot of the Women Airforce Service Pilots program, walks through the "Fly Girls of World War II" exhibit in 2008 at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va. Harmon was laid to rest at Arlington Natio

National

Female WWII Pilot Is Finally Laid To Rest At Arlington National Cemetery

2:39pm September 07, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Elaine Harmon was a WASP — a woman flying military planes to free up a male pilot for combat. WASPs have received veteran status, but the Army had ruled their ashes couldn't be placed at Arlington.

Those who were helped by Portugal's consul general, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, during World War II assemble outside the former Portuguese consulate in Bordeaux. Sousa Mendes issued 10,000 visas to Jews including Stephen Rozenfeld (center front, in blue),

World News

'Portugal's Schindler' Is Remembered, Decades After His Lifesaving Deeds

12:11pm August 04, 2016

by Eleanor Beardsley

Descendants of Jews who escaped Nazi-occupied France recently gathered to honor Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who issued some 30,000 visas to Jews and others before he was recalled.

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Tuskegee Airman Roscoe Brown poses during the publicity tour for the 2012 movie, Red Tails. The film was based on their experiences during World War II.

National

Remembering Tuskegee Airman Roscoe Brown, Educator And Civil Rights Trailblazer

3:26pm July 06, 2016

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Brown was one of the last surviving "Red Tail" pilots of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. These African-American pilots served in World War II, laying the foundation for integrating the U.S. armed forces.

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A typical CARE package: Among its comestible treasures are canned beef and liver loaf, powdered eggs and milk, coffee, sugar, flour, dried apricots, raisins — and chocolate.

Care Packages: How The U.S. Won Hearts Through Stomachs After WWII

4:42pm May 11, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

Before they were boxes of comforting essentials sent to college students, soldiers and others far from home, care packages were a vital lifeline for thousands of displaced families in postwar Europe.