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World War II the Final Chapter

The Battle of Okinawa is one of the bloodiest and most tragic chapters of the Pacific war, claiming the lives of 110,000 Japanese troops, 140,000 Okinawan civilians and 12,520 American servicemembers. It’s etched in the memory of every survivor. Though their numbers are dwindling — most are in their early 90s — they all have stories to tell, including the moral quandaries they faced.

The rarely seen images of death and damage that survived Hiroshima

To help ensure that future generations never forget the horrors of nuclear war, a Japanese photography education organization is hosting a month-long photo exhibition with images that document the death and damage. These rare images survived censorship laws and were collected over several years for the 70th anniversary of the bombing.

August 1945: After years of 'leapfrogging,' Allied forces close in

A day after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan, starting a nearly four-year campaign in places most Americans had never heard of. The conflict would end in stunning fashion, with the only two atomic bombs ever used in war. But in the early months of the conflict, the outlook for the Allies looked bleak.



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First-person account: I survived Hiroshima

Suddenly, a bright light flashed. Instantly, I squatted down and covered my face with my hands. We had been instructed to do so to protect ourselves when we were bombed. Otherwise, we were told that our eardrums would burst and eyeballs would pop out.

Hiroshima

As the Allies swept deep into German-occupied territory, they discovered the most terrible secret of the Third Reich– the vast network of slave labor and extermination camps at the heart of what came to be known as the Holocaust.

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