WAC Recruits Take Oath of Enlistment
An October 28, 1943, oath ceremony grants to women who had served in the military the official membership of the Armed Forces. Though women had established a long record of military service dating to the early 1900s, it wasn't until the Women's Army Corps bill was signed into law on July 1, 1943, that they received full status.
Related Speeches & Audio (10)
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WAC Recruits Take Oath of Enlistment
WAC Recruits Take Oath of EnlistmentAudio Clip (2:53)
Audio Clip (2:53)
An October 28, 1943, oath ceremony grants to women who had served in the military the official membership of the Armed Forces. Though women had established a long record of military service dating to the early 1900s, it wasn't until the Women's Army Corps bill was signed into law on July 1, 1943, that they received full status.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War II
Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War IIAudio Clip (1:00)
Audio Clip (1:00)
With the United States now entered into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt uses the occasion of Washington’s birthday to broadcast to the nation on February 23, 1942, an outline of America’s progress in the war.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day Speech
Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day SpeechAudio Clip (1:37)
Audio Clip (1:37)
In his Labor Day radio broadcast in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reminds his fellow citizens of the need to devote America’s industrial effort to building weaponry in order to "crush Hitler and his Nazi forces."
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July Address
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July AddressAudio Clip (2:07)
Audio Clip (2:07)
In a broadcast from his home in Hyde Park, New York, on July 4, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt warns Americans who wish not to get involved in the war that "the United States will never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship."
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Allies Liberate Bastogne
Allies Liberate BastogneAudio Clip (1:27)
Audio Clip (1:27)
In a broadcast on December 29, 1944, Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe recounts the 101st Airborne’s victory against overwhelming odds at Bastogne, Belgium.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress Report
Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress ReportAudio Clip (0:57)
Audio Clip (0:57)
In his progress report on World War II on July 28, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt informs the nation that "the first crack in the Axis has come" as Italian Premier Mussolini falls from power.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer
Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day PrayerAudio Clip (3:37)
Audio Clip (3:37)
In a national radio broadcast on June 6, 1944, as 160,000 Allied troops land in Normandy in an attempt to liberate France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks America to join him in a prayer.
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Truman Announces Germany's Surrender
Truman Announces Germany's SurrenderAudio Clip (2:04)
Audio Clip (2:04)
In a May 8, 1945, radio broadcast, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Germany, but reminds Americans that the war wages on in the Far East.
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Truman Announces Japan's Surrender
Truman Announces Japan's SurrenderAudio Clip (1:57)
Audio Clip (1:57)
On September 1, 1945, in a radio address to the American people, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Japan, formalized aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Establishes United States as Arsenal of Democracy
Franklin D. Roosevelt Establishes United States as Arsenal of DemocracyAudio Clip (1:08)
Audio Clip (1:08)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt heralds the defense program of the United States and urges Americans to support an increase in aid to Great Britain to help defeat the Axis powers.
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761st Activated
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The 761st Panther Tank division was called to duty in 1962.
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761st Enters Combat
761st Enters CombatVideo Clip (2:16)
Video Clip (2:16)
Two Months after D-Day the first all black panther tank battalion was ordered to the front lines.
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David Gilmore
David GilmoreVideo Clip (2:54)
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WWII veteran David Gilmore recalls his struggles during combat and the long road home.
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World War II Medic
World War II MedicVideo Clip (2:37)
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Michael Curry's grandfather was a medic during World War II and left behind meticulous notes to guide Michael through the films of his war experience.
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Eisenhower Leads America
Eisenhower Leads AmericaVideo Clip (3:21)
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This five-star general and 34th U.S. president launched the Space Race and created the federal interstate highway system.
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Native Americans Aid War Effort
Native Americans Aid War EffortVideo Clip (1:00)
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Native Americans assist U.S. troops in the war effort (circa 1943).
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Jack Werner
Jack WernerVideo Clip (2:41)
Video Clip (2:41)
U.S. Army Sergeant Jack Werner was born in Austria in 1920 to a middle class Jewish family. in 1939 he fled Austria to escape Nazi persecution and soon joined the U.S. Army so he could help fight Hitler.
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Jack Yusen
Jack YusenVideo Clip (2:20)
Video Clip (2:20)
Raised in Queens, Navy Seaman 1st Class Jack Yusen enlisted in the navy in 1943. In 1944, his ship was sunk off the coast of the Philippines, but he managed to survive the harrowing ordeal.
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Jimmie Kayana
Jimmie KayanaVideo Clip (2:39)
Video Clip (2:39)
The son of Japanese immigrants, Army Medic Jimmie Kanaya joined the U.S. Army in 1941. Although his family was relocated to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor and he himself was treated as an enemy for some time, he eventually volunteered for America's first all-Japanese Regiment.
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Shelby Westbrook
Shelby WestbrookVideo Clip (2:20)
Video Clip (2:20)
First Lieutenant Shelby Westbrook enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and joined the nation's first all-black air corps shortly after Pearl Harbor. There he not only fought the enemy abroad, but worked hard to set an example for other African Americans struggling for equal rights.
Related Photo Galleries (1)
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Voices of D-Day
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Our most powerful and genuine accounts of D-Day come from the veterans who live through this momentous piece of history.
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