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Pacific War

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A view of “Battleship Row” during or immediately after the Japanese raid on Dec. 7, 1941. The capsized USS Oklahoma (BB 37) is in the center, alongside the USS Maryland (BB 46).
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What We Forget When We ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’

Seeing the war from the perspective of citizens of U.S. colonies sheds new light on the impact of World War II.
by Eri Kitada via Made By History on December 7, 2021
An illustration of a man and a woman kissing behind a Navy ship sinking into the ocean.

Eight Decades On, Vanuatu Still Struggles With America’s World War II Legacy

Americans’ love affair with the South Pacific masks the US Navy’s devastating impact on the region’s people and environment.
by Joanne Drayton via New Lines on August 8, 2025
Mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb going off.

Inside the History of Nuclear Science

Eighty years after the bomb, scientists still grapple with nuclear legacy. Some seek atonement, others insist it’s no longer their burden.
by Erik Baker via New Statesman on August 6, 2025
A veteran and a dog.

Dogs of War

The story of Lucky and his service with the U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater.
by Meg Nicholas via Library of Congress Blog on August 12, 2024
Japanese prime minister and minister of war Hideki Tojo on trial in 1947.

Japan’s Incomplete Reckoning With World War II Crimes

Gary Bass’s new book asks why the tribunal in Tokyo after World War II was so ineffective.
by Aryeh Neier via The New Republic on December 7, 2023
The nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945.

The Atomic Bombings of Japan Were Based on Lies

On the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan, we should remember that deploying the bomb wasn’t necessary to win the war.
by Taylor C. Noakes via Jacobin on August 9, 2023
Man training under water with scuba gear.

Remembering the World War II Frogmen Who Trained in Secret off the California Coast

Recruits learned the arts of infiltration, sabotage, and survival at a hidden base on Santa Catalina Island.
by Andrew Dubbins via Atlas Obscura on June 30, 2022
Photo of a tank and soldiers with guns raised in forest.

A New History of World War II

A new book argues that the conflict was a battle for empire.
by Daniel Immerwahr via The Atlantic on April 4, 2022
1890 painting of Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor Was Not the Worst Thing to Happen to the U.S. on December 7, 1941

On the erasure of American "territories" from US history.
by Daniel Immerwahr via Literary Hub on February 20, 2019

They Fought and Died for America. Then America Turned Its Back.

260,000 Filipinos served in World War II, when the country was a US territory. Most veterans have never seen benefits.
by Hertz Alegrio via Narratively on July 3, 2018

Fat Leonard's Crimes on the High Seas

The rise and fall of the defense contractor who bought off Navy brass with meals, liquor, women and bribes.
by Jesse Hyde via Rolling Stone on March 11, 2018

Brothers in Arms

The secrets and service of a World War II family, 76 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
by Dan Lamothe via Washington Post on December 6, 2017
General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito at the US embassy in Tokyo in 1945.

After Hiroshima: The US Occupation of Japan

Following Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, the US aimed to rebuild the nation in its own image – for better or worse.
by Christopher Harding via History Today on August 28, 2025
Cillian Murphy in the movie "Oppenheimer."

‘Oppenheimer’ Doesn’t Show us Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That's an Act of Rigor, Not Erasure

The movie has no interest in reducing the atomic bombings to a trivializing, exploitative spectacle, despite what some would want.
by Justin Chang via Los Angeles Times on August 11, 2023
Soldier walking through barracks

Army to Memorialize Black Soldier Lynched on Georgia Base 80 Years Ago

Pvt. Felix Hall’s killers were never brought to justice.
by Alexa Mills via Washington Post on August 1, 2021
confederate flag on a fence

Why the Confederate Flag Flew During World War II

As white, southern troops raised the battle flag, they showed that they were fighting for change abroad—but the status quo at home.
by Matt Delmont via The Atlantic on June 14, 2020
Two U.S. Marines, and dog, kneeling in front of grave marked with Christian cross.

Historic Iwo Jima Footage Shows Individual Marines Amid the Larger Battle

Films of the battle for Iwo Jima, digitized 75 years after they were made, offer lessons for Americans today.
by Greg Wilsbacher via The Conversation on February 13, 2020
Aerial view of a fortress in Puerto Rico.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

“How to Hide an Empire,” explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48.
by Daniel Immerwahr, Anna Diamond via Smithsonian on January 1, 2019

A Tale of Two Hiroshimas

Two of the earliest films to depict the bombing of Hiroshima show how politics shapes national mourning.
by Kazu Watanabe via Current [The Criterion Collection] on May 3, 2018

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