"Every single man, woman and child

is a partner in the most tremendous

undertaking in our American

history." Franklin D. Roosevelt,

December 9, 1941

You know them, the men and women of the World War II Generation. Depending on your age, they are your husband, your wife, your parents, your grandparents, or perhaps even your great-grandparents. Together, members of that generation lived through two momentous events--the Depression and then the greatest war of the 20th century. Both tested their character, challenging them in ways that later generations could only imagine. Those Americans rose to each challenge. Thus the men, women, and even children of the World War II Generation have much to teach us about commitment, community, and sacrifice.

The World War II Experience is a nonprofit, educational organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It is dedicated to preserving the stories of the World War II Generation and making them available to a wide audience. This web site will focus on four areas--the experiences of soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines in the Pacific and the European theaters, life on the Home Front, and the experiences of Americans held as prisoners of war by the Japanese and the Germans.

These stories are detailed against a backdrop of the 1920s, 1930s, and the 1940s. Yet you will learn about more than history in reading these memoirs and biographical tales. You will see in their individual and collective stories testimonies to the strength of the human spirit.