On July 30, 1945, just days before the end of WWII, the USS Indianapolis was sailing from Guam to Leyte when she was struck by two torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in roughly 12 minutes. Survivors were thrown into the shark-infested Philippine Sea where many perished before rescuers arrived four days…
We are pleased to announce that we’ve added the unit history of the 456th Bombardment Group (Heavy) to our Fold3 archives. These records contain extensive information on the 456th Bombardment Group which included the 744th, 745th, 746th, and 747th Bomb Squadrons. The 456th was activated on June 1, 1943, at Wendover Field, Utah. After being…
By the time the United States entered WWI in 1917, photography had become a growing hobby within the country. Many soldiers had their portraits taken before heading off to war and the government trained photographers at the Columbia School of Military Photography to record America’s involvement in the war using still and motion pictures. Here…
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a naval battle fought June 19-20, 1944, in the Philippine Sea several hundred miles west of Saipan near the Mariana Islands between the United States Navy and the Japanese Imperial Navy. It resulted in a decisive American victory that put American forces within bombing range of the Japanese…
Seventy-five years ago this month, Allied forces declared victory in Europe. V-E Day came at a steep price for American troops with more than 400,000 deaths during WWII. These WWII veterans, often called the Greatest Generation, were everyday men and women who put aside families, schooling, and jobs to answer the call and serve their…
Do you have a veteran that fought in WWII in your family tree? As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, we want to honor the brave men and women who sacrificed so much. Beginning on Memorial Day and throughout this summer, we are featuring WWII veterans on our social media channels,…
Do you have an ancestor that fought in the Civil War? We are beyond excited to launch the first phase of our new Civil War Stories, an ambitious project that ultimately hopes to create a comprehensive list of every soldier that fought in the Civil War, the company and regiment he belonged to, the battles…
