TRU Blog

TRU Blog

WWII 75: Marching to Victory | April 11, 2020

WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Liberation of Buchenwald
April 11, 1945

On April 11, GIs of the 6th Armored Division entered Buchenwald, the main camp in a large complex of concentration camps near Weimar that had recently been abandoned by German troops. American soldiers who liberated the camp were met by thousands of emaciated camp survivors. Shortly after the camp’s liberation, Bernard Bernstein reached Buchenwald and came face-to-face with the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. His story is part of the Truman Library’s archives, and it begins here…

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WWII 75: Marching to Victory

WWII 75: Marching to Victory | April 1, 2020

WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Battle of Okinawa

April 1, 1945 – Easter Sunday, April Fools’ Day, and codenamed “Love Day” by U.S. forces – must have seemed an unwarlike day for starting a major military operation. Yet it was on that date that American troops landed on the Pacific island of Okinawa, initiating one of the bloodiest and most important battles of World War II.

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WWII 75: Marching to Victory

New at The Truman Library | March 18, 2020

Ernestine “Ernie” Wagner and Women’s Military Service

On June 12, 1948, Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (WASIA) which allowed women to serve in official capacities in all four branches of the military. Most importantly, the act permitted women’s military service during peace time.

The WASIA paved the way for thousands of women’s military careers, including a Korean War veteran named Ernestine “Ernie” Wagner. Read More

New at The Truman Library

TRU History | March 16, 2020

Harry Truman and the 1918 Pandemic

In 1918, the most severe pandemic in recent history spread through the world at alarming rates. Nearly one-third of the world’s population became infected and approximately 50 million people succumbed world wide — over half a million in the United States.

The H1N1 virus, popularly referred to as the Spanish flu, began wreaking havoc around the globe just as World War I was coming to an end.

Thousands of American soldiers remained in Europe after the war’s conclusion due to logistical transportation issues. One soldier awaiting transport was Captain Harry S. Truman who led Battery D of the 35th Division. Read More

TRU History

WWII 75: Marching to Victory | February 13, 2020

 

WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

 

Marching to Victory: The Bombing of Dresden

February 13-15, 1945

Seventy-five years ago, the Allied nations joined forces to defeat fascist brutality in Germany and Japan. That march to victory, however, was not without its own horror. Then as now, the bombing of Dresden exemplifies the cruelty of that cruelest of wars.

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WWII 75: Marching to Victory

WWII 75: Marching to Victory | February 1, 2020

WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

 

Marching to Victory: The Yalta Conference

February 1945

75 years ago, three men mapped the end of World War II. Did they also pave the way for a Cold War?

From February 4-11, 1945, the Crimean resort town of Yalta hosted some of the most powerful men in the world. These officials did not come to Yalta for relaxation, however. In what was only their second (and last) meeting together, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin (along with other military and political figures of the “Big Three” nations) planned their final victory over the Axis powers and reached an agreement for governing Europe.

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WWII 75: Marching to Victory

WWII 75: Marching to Victory | January 25, 2020

WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Battle of the Bulge

Thursday, January 25, 1945

How did the Allied forces win the bloodiest American battle of the deadliest war in human history?

On December 16, 1944, at the beginning of a historically frigid winter, the Germans launched what would be their final major offensive of World War II. Over the course of six weeks, Allied forces thwarted the German armies’ attempts to split them. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for American forces on the Western Front during WWII – 20,000 Americans were killed in this battle; tens of thousands more were wounded, missing, or captured. Despite these great losses, the Battle of the Bulge ended with an Allied victory 75 years ago today.

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WWII 75: Marching to Victory