Major Battles

On June 6, 1944, D-Day in the European Theater, 1.5 million Allied troops embarked on one of the greatest missions in history: the invasion of France. Learning Objective: Students will analyze how integral D-Day was to bringing about the end of World War II in Europe.

On December 7, 1941, Daniel Inouye and his family were preparing to go to church when the attack on Pearl Harbor began. The former United States Senator from Hawaii accounts his experiences of that day. Hundreds of Japanese war planes attacked the American Pacific Fleet by surprise, killing 2,403, and destroying battleships, aircraft, and naval vessels in an act that would lead the United States to declare war on Japan. Learning Objective: Students will understand how the attack on Pearl Harbor led to the United States entering World War II.

Tom Gallaway from Mobile, Alabama, found himself on the frozen frontlines as the shells started to fall in the Battle fo the Bulge. Hear a short excerpt his first-person account of the battle.

America needed to take the tiny, volcanic island of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific to secure a base for U.S. bombers. The Marines landed on February 15, 1945. The fighting would last for nearly a month and cost the United States 6,821 lives. Learning Objective: Students will understand how Iwo Jima became one of the most important battles in the Pacific Theater.

The European theater saw some of the most intense fighting of World War II. In this activity, students will review the composition of the Axis and Allied Powers and draw inferences from an analysis of primary source images  from four major battles fought in Europe: Monte Cassino, Hurtgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge and Malmedy Massacre, and the Battle of Anzio. Learning Objectives: Students will: Analyze fighting conditions in the European theater;  Theorize how the fighting conditions in the European theater led to greater civilian deaths during World War II.

Learning Objectives: Students will identify the fighting conditions in the North African theater.

Learning Objectives: Students will analyze how the American military planned and executed the greatest amphibious invasion in history.