The generation that lived through those memorable events is fast fading from the scene.
And children whose mothers were the women in thelegendary Rosie the Riveterposters and photos also remember.
Here are stories about some of the most unforgettable moments of World War II.
He says there is only one word to describe how he felt: exhilaration.
We sort of went crazy.
It’s like trying to explain how a mother feels when she is giving birth.
Unless you’ve been through it, there’s no way you could adequately understand it.
I never let myself think I was not going to survive.
You have to keep convincing yourself you’ll make it.
I heard Marines say, I’m not going to make it, and they didn’t.
Williams was wounded by shrapnel and received a Purple Heart.
Almost 7,000 Americans were killed and 20,000 others wounded by the time the battle ended.
For many years he struggled to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was not until he recommitted himself to Christianity that he began to recover.
He went on to serve for 35 years as the chaplain of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Most days, the war feels very distant to him.
I have attempted to wipe from my mind the bad things that took place.
But sometimes it all comes surging back.
I didn’t even know them.
They sacrificed themselves for me.
I have asked the same question thousands of times in my life: Why me?
It’s not possible to describe the hell of Iwo Jima.
It’s like trying to explain how a mother feels when she is giving birth.
Unless you’ve been through it, there’s no way you’re able to adequately understand it.
I watched the Germans surrender
It was one of the most significant events of the 20th century.
One such building was the famed Little Red Schoolhouse.
The British, French, Russians, Americans had already signed.
The Germans were the last to sign.
[Jodl] wouldn’t sign [the surrender] until the others had.
Graziano and other personnel then escorted Jodl along a corridor to a room where Eisenhower was waiting.
Jodl was soon dismissed.
Later that morning, Eisenhower sent the historic message: THE MISSION OF THIS ALLIED FORCE WAS FULFILLED …
Earlier that spring he had met Eula Bobbie Shaneyfelt, a Women’s Army Corps sergeant.
The couple got married in, of all places, Reims, in October 1945.
They honeymooned in Paris and went on to have five children and many grandchildren.
She was a staff sergeant [when I met her], Graziano remembers with a chuckle.
I was a master sergeant, so I pulled rank on her.
But when we got home, she pulled rank on me.
