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History.com site visitors can become a virtual eyewitness to history with the downloadable WWII Experience. Surrounded by realistic graphics, visitors can see what it was like to escort bombers into enemy territory, defend PT boats in a naval battle and engage in tank warfare in North Africa.

System Requirements:
  • Broadband Internet Connection
  • Windows 2000/XP and/or higher
  • 2.4Ghz processor
  • 512 MB RAM (512-1024 recommended)
  • 128 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card
  • DirectX 9 compatible sound card
  • DirectX Version 9
  • 600Mb hard drive space

WWII Experience

History.com site visitors can become a virtual eyewitness to history with the downloadable WWII Experience. Surrounded by realistic graphics, visitors can see what it was like to escort bombers into enemy territory, defend PT boats in a naval battle and engage in tank warfare in North Africa.

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Interactives (3)

Videos (11)

  • Blacks in the Military
    Blacks in the Military

    Video Clip (3:12)

    Learn how blacks serving in WWII helped forward the Civil Rights Movement.

    Video Clip (3:12)
  • 761st Enters Combat
    761st Enters Combat

    Video Clip (2:16)

    Two Months after D-Day the first all black panther tank battalion was ordered to the front lines.

    Video Clip (2:16)
  • Tuskegee Airman Luther Smith
    Tuskegee Airman Luther Smith

    Video Clip (3:35)

    WWII veteran Luther Smith flew with the all-black Tuskegee Airmen squadron.

    Video Clip (3:35)
  • Shelby Westbrook
    Shelby Westbrook

    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.

    Video Clip (2:20)
  • David Gilmore
    David Gilmore

    Video Clip (2:54)

    WWII veteran David Gilmore recalls his struggles during combat and the long road home.

    Video Clip (2:54)
  • 761st Activated
    761st Activated

    Video Clip (2:42)

    The 761st Panther Tank division was called to duty in 1962.

    Video Clip (2:42)
  • Charles Brown
    Charles Brown

    Video Clip (3:07)

    Raised in the segregated South, Charles Brown thought his best shot at a better life was to join the Army. He was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division and quickly appointed platoon sergeant, leading search and destroy missions through the jungles of Vietnam.

    Video Clip (3:07)
  • Massachusetts 54th Regiment
    Massachusetts 54th Regiment

    Video Clip (2:48)

    The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was one of the first official black units in the U.S. armed forces. Their courageous assault on Fort Wagner played a key role in bringing about an end to slavery.

    Video Clip (2:48)
  • Civil War Turning Point
    Civil War Turning Point

    Video Clip (3:08)

    Find out what event turned the tide of the Civil War.

    Video Clip (3:08)
  • Browning 50-Caliber Machine Gun
    Browning 50-Caliber Machine Gun

    Video Clip (1:42)

    Discover how the Browning 50-caliber machine gun changed the face of U.S. combat, from its inception during World War II to its continued role in obliterating large targets.

    Video Clip (1:42)
  • W.E.B. Dubois and the Niagara Movement
    W.E.B. Dubois and the Niagara Movement

    Video Clip (3:44)

    W.E.B. Dubois was integral to the advancement of racial equality.

    Video Clip (3:44)

Photo Galleries (2)

  • World War II Posters
    World War II Posters

    16 Photos

    View photos of famous posters from the World War II era.

    (16 Photos)
  • End of World War II
    End of World War II

    8 Photos

    View pictures from VE day and VJ day as Americans celebrate the end of World War II.

    (8 Photos)

Speeches & Audio (10)

  • Tuskegee Airmen Fly First Mission by Black Pilots
    Tuskegee Airmen Fly First Mission by Black Pilots

    Audio Clip (2:31)

    In an interview, 2nd Lt. William A. Campbell describes his experience flying as a wingman in the first combat mission for the 99th Fighter Squadron, which was sent to North Africa in April 1943.

    Audio Clip (2:31)
  • War Report on B-29 Use
    War Report on B-29 Use

    Audio Clip (2:36)

    Brig. Gen. H.S. Hansell delivers a report in June 1944 on American B-29 bomber strikes against Germany and Japan.

    Audio Clip (2:36)
  • Paul Tibbets on Dropping the Atomic Bomb
    Paul Tibbets on Dropping the Atomic Bomb

    Audio Clip (2:38)

    On July 3, 1987, 42 years after dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets recalls his mindset during the fateful mission on August 6, 1945.

    Audio Clip (2:38)
  • U.S. Goals in World War II
    U.S. Goals in World War II

    Audio Clip (0:31)

    In his speech delivered July 23, 1942, Secretary of State Cordell Hull explains the aims of the United States in World War II.

    Audio Clip (0:31)
  • Allies Liberate Bastogne
    Allies Liberate Bastogne

    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.

    Audio Clip (1:27)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer
    Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer

    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.

    Audio Clip (3:37)
  • Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day
    Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day

    Audio Clip (0:41)

    On June 6, 1984, in Normandy, France, President Ronald Reagan honors the heroes of D-Day, a pivotal moment during World War II.

    Audio Clip (0:41)
  • Douglas MacArthur Receives the Japanese Surrender
    Douglas MacArthur Receives the Japanese Surrender

    Audio Clip (1:21)

    On September 2, 1945, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, World War II comes to a close when Japanese officials sign the unconditional surrender. Gen. Douglas MacArthur presides over the signing and delivers a short speech on the momentous occasion.

    Audio Clip (1:21)
  • John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam
    John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam

    Audio Clip (6:06)

    On October 29, 1963, President John F. Kennedy meets with the National Security Council to discuss whether to support the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. During the secretly recorded conversation, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the president craft a detailed plan involving Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to South Vietnam, Gen. Paul D. Harkins and the general of the South Vietnamese military, hoping to avoid setting off a civil war in the country.

    Audio Clip (6:06)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July Address
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fourth of July Address

    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."

    Audio Clip (2:07)

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Read More about Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were black servicemen of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and constituted the first African-American flying unit in U.S. history.

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