Indiana World War II Memorial

World War II expanded from the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, through Axis aggression in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, while the United States moved from peacetime preparedness to full wartime mobilization with measures including the 1940 Selective Services and Training Law and the activation of Indiana units such as the 38th Infantry Division and other Hoosier reservists. After Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the widening declarations of war, U.S. forces fought delaying actions in the Philippines, suffered defeats at Bataan and Corregidor in 1942, then began to reverse the war's course with Midway, Guadalcanal, and campaigns in Papua New Guinea and across the Pacific under Douglas MacArthur and Chester W. Nimitz. In Europe and North Africa, the United States and Britain opened offensives with the November 8, 1942 landings in Morocco and Algeria under Dwight D. Eisenhower, recovered from Kasserine Pass, defeated Axis forces in Tunisia, invaded Sicily, began the long Italian campaign at Salerno and Anzio, and mounted strategic air attacks from England. The liberation of western Europe began with the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, followed by the liberation of Paris, the southern France landings, fighting in the Huertgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Allied advance into Germany to the Elbe, ending in Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. In the Pacific, U.S. forces returned to the Philippines, where Indiana's 38th Division earned the nickname "the Avengers of Bataan," seized Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. Indiana's contribution included 395,982 who served, 17,700 wounded, 11,680 killed, and recipients of the Medal of Honor, while quoted words from Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, servicemen, Ernie Pyle, James McGregor, William Evans, and an Indianapolis civilian conveyed the sacrifice, endurance, grief, and resolve that shaped the war experience.

Indianapolis city (balance), Indiana · United States