Governor Livingston High School : Sergeant Curtis Maddox : An Average American Soldier

In 1944, the United States war effort in Europe was just starting to pick up. Even though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just three years prior, the growing power of the Third Reich could not be ignored. During this time, France was already occupied by Nazi Germany and Hitler's war machine was on the path of conquering all of Eurasia. In an attempt to combat this immense threat, the U.S. formulated a plan to engage the German forces through an invasion of Normandy. This bloody offensive would be remembered in infamy as D-Day. Shortly before this violent clash of U.S. and German forces, the inexperienced men of the United States Third Army was given an encouraging and inspiring speech by the four star general George S. Patton.

World War II was fought between the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allied Powers (Britain, United States, Soviet Union, and France). Although most all countries were involved in some way hence the title “World War II,” the Axis and Allied Powers were the major players on the field. The war began when Germany at the command of Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland on September 1st 1939 as a “defensive action.” However, Britain and France did not buy it hence why they had declared war on Germany two days later as a result. The real reason Germany invaded Poland was because Hitler wanted more Lebensraum (“living space”) for Germans. Hitler believed that he would be able to get away with taking over Poland due to the fact that many counties appeased him when he had taken over Austria and the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The United States’ decision to stay neutral also played a role in World War II, as they did not come to aid to the countries apart of the League of Nations.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” - President Franklin D. Roosevelt. December 7th 1941 marked an event in history that everyone in the world looks back to. On that date the Imperial Japanese Navy surprised attacked the American port of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. This marked the beginning of World War II for America. World War II was the bloodiest war in history with over 60 million deaths. World War II started in Europe when an Nazi controlled Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939. Great Britain entered the war soon after along with the rest of her (Great Britain's) allies

World War II was fought between two main opposing forces, the Allies and the Axis forces. The Axis powers consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan being the most dominant. On the other hand, some of the countries in the Allied powers were Great Britain, the United States, France, Australia, New Zealand, India, the Soviet Union, Canada, and Greece.

Introduction The Second World War had been fought between the Axis nations (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and their smaller allies) and the Allied nations, led by Britain (and its Commonwealth nations), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America (Source D). The war changed many things internationally. This included changes to do with technology and the end of European colonialism (Source D).

World War 2 was a notorious war fought between the Axis and Allied nations, during the period of 1939 to 1945. The Axis nations mainly included Germany, Japan and Italy, while the Allied nations were led by the United States of America (USA), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Britain (Source D). The war was kindled after a Nazi German invasion of Poland in 1939, which resulted in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. As Germany was determined to carry on their invasions, their allies (the Axis nations) and Britain’s allies (the Allied nations) and colonies were dragged into the war, causing it to become a major world war.

Before the United States joined World War II in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the great battle had been raging in Europe since 1939. While the British and Russians struggled against the German Reich, the United States remained officially neutral and refused to enter the war.

On December 11th 1941 Japan's allies Germany and Italy declared war on the the United States. Japan was not alone anymore. The united states wanted to stay neutral they did not want to fight but they felt obligated after the attacks of pearl harbor but even more after germany, and Italy also declared

America had been able to stay out of the war until December 7, 1941. That was when Japan ordered an attack on the American Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor on the island of Hawaii. FDR and Churchill decided that Germany needed to be defeated. The world at this time was divided into two camps. In one of the camps were the Allies which are those opposing the Axis Powers, Winston Churchill of Britain , FDR of America and Joseph Stalin of Russia.

It was said that World War I would be the war to end all wars; unfortunately U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was wrong. In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the global conflict, World War II, began. Fought from 1939 to 1945, World War II consisted of the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. The Axis Powers were led by Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Allied Powers were led by the United States, Britain, France, and several other countries. In total, over sixty million people were killed, making World War II the deadliest conflict in modern history. The intervention of the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the end of the war 4 years later.

For Americans, World War II began on December 7, 1941 with the attack of Pearl Harbor, but war had been going on for years elsewhere. In the Eastern Hemisphere, war had been going on for several years with the help of two communist powers; Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Stalin by signing the nonaggression pact accepted Germanys plan to invade Poland. Hitler quickly invaded Poland in a blitzkrieg (lightning war). France and England acted quickly by declaring war on Germany, and because the Japanese had planned so extensively they had a neutrality treaty with the Soviet Union signed in case they were to go into war with the U.S. and England. This becomes the European war, which is greatly known as WW2 when the United States, Japan, and England

The axis powers, Germany, Japan, & Italy, were strong powers which stood for overpowering weaker nations by expanding their territories. As we were a part of the allied powers, along with Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union, the United States felt it was imperative to provide military aid to not only the United Kingdom, but to whoever was in need of the help. Ultimately, what brought us into the war was when the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. Once

Germany, Italy and Japan were held together with the Tripartite Pact, which stated that if any nation was attacked, the other two nations would provide aid to help them. 11 December 1941, Germany declared war on the US, however it was Japan that was attacking and they had no obligation to declare war. At the same time, Hitler was also was managing operation Barbarossa. This came as a relief to England, as now the Wehrmacht were fighting in two different countries. This was an opportunistic moment for the . John Kenneth Galbraith, Roosevelt's advisor stated "When Pearl Harbor happened, we were desperate. ... We were all in agony. We could have been forced to concentrate all our efforts on the Pacific, unable from then on to give more than purely peripheral help to Britain. It was truly astounding when Hitler declared war on us three days later. I cannot tell you our feelings of triumph. It was a totally irrational thing for him to do, and I think it saved

America's involvement in World War II changed the course of the war and prevented Hitler from completely dominating Europe. At the dawn of World War II, America was not involved. Situations in the western hemisphere turned urgent and violent as Hitler's army invaded countries in Europe. While America watched from the sidelines, it aided its struggling allies, Great Britain and France, by sending supplies (history.state.gov). They placed an embargo on exporting goods to Japan (pearlharbor.org).These actions contradicted America's claim of neutrality in the conflict with the Axis Powers, Germany, Japan and Italy. These contradictions infuriated the Japanese who devised an attack of revenge on the U.S. The Japanese bombed

American Soldiers helped fight in WWII, but ended up doing more than just fighting. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, America declared war on Japan and traveled to Germany. What soldiers had to witness was indescribable, and it is important to know what they did. While United States troops fought in Germany, they came across concentration camps and the remains of how the Germans attempted to hide the camps.