Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Mike Wintermantel
Taken: May 14, 2014
Caption: America's Sacrifice
Additional Description: After Pearl Harbor, small banners bearing blue and/or gold stars began appearing in the windows of American homes - blue signifying the military service of family members and gold representing each life lost. The number of gold stars mounted quickly. By the end of the war, more than 400,000 U.S. deaths were reported, nearly 4,300 from Allegheny County alone. Plans to invade Japan included projections that as many as 800,000 additional Americans could be killed if invasion proved necessary.

Participants in World War II served "for the duration," and the survivors of one battle or mission had little respite before beginning the next. In Europe, the enemy was formidable and entrenched, while conditions in the Pacific could be as dangerous as combat itself. Surrender or capture there also represented a threat to survival. One in three U.S. prisoners died in Japanese hands; just one in 100 perished in German custody.

Regrettably, one citizen group had to overcome both institutional racism and military policy to be permitted to fight. Nearly 1,000 African-American pilots strong, the Tuskegee Airmen primarily provided fighter support for Allied bombing missions. Unit members were recognized repeatedly for their heroism. Some 64 of its pilots were killed in action; another 32 survived capture. In 2007, group veterans and the widows of their deceased comrades accepted the Congressional Gold Medal for the unit's wartime performance.
Submitted: May 14, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Database Locator Identification Number: p273329
File Size: 1.851 Megabytes

To see the metadata that may be embedded in this photo, sign in and then return to this page.