Through the stories of the eyewitnesses who lived through World War II—from the Tar Heel home front to treacherous front lines of battle—learn how North Carolinians prepared for war, and experienced the conflict from air, land and sea, as well as how they sacrificed, dealt with love and loss, and returned home in 20 ACTS of NORTH CAROLINA'S WWII EXPERIENCE.
They were young, patriotic and full of promise. They came from every corner of North Carolina, every city, town and rural section. They ...
It was a state far different than it is today – poor, mostly agricultural, still ...
It must have been an incredible sight: young men from every corner of ...
Downtown Charlotte, NC (1940s) [North Carolina State Archives] Beginning in the early 1940’s, North Carolina boomed ...
Shores of Guadalcanal [National Archives and Records Administration] Imagine hearing that thousands of enemy soldiers were ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] In January, 1942, Chuck Paty boarded a brand new battleship ...
Members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) While North Carolinians fought overseas, its coast ...
[courtesy of Mr. Ledbetter's private collection] Jesse Ledbetter of Asheville, NC, flew ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] In the middle of May,1944, Tom Alley and other paratroopers ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] Charles McAdams of Asheville served the front lines in a ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] Soon after D-Day, Virginia Russell, from Bear Creek, flew over ...
Back home, the service flags hanging in the windows of homes were changing. ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] Jim Hunter from Charlotte joined the 1st Marine Division on ...
In the summer of 1944, Roger Casey of Dudley was a replacement soldier with the ...
As the war raged on, couples faced a growing quandary: should they get married ...
[caption id="attachment_1102" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="(image courtesy of the National Archives)"][/caption] Jesse Oxendine with the ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] By early 1945, Bill Henderson, an operations officer with the ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] By the summer of 1945, it appeared the Allies were ...
It didn’t take long for the soldiers to start returning home. Men who ...
[National Archives and Records Administration] Nearly 9,000 North Carolinians died in World War II. ...