World War II

World War II started on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by NAZI Germany and the subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom. On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. On 7 December 1941 "A date which will live in infamy", Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and the US entered the war. The turning point of the European Theater was the German loss to the Russians at the Battle of Stalingrad. A second European front was opened on D Day (6 June 1944) with the invasion of Normandy. Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) was 8 May 1945. The turning point of the Pacific Theater was the Battle of Midway from 4 to 7 June 1942 when the US defeated Japan. The United States sustained high casualties on Iwo Jima (19 February 1945 to 16 March 1945) and Okinawa (1 April 1945 to 21 June 1945). To prevent further enormous American casualties, President Harry S Truman authorized the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. 15 August 1945 was victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) ending World War II. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president until he died on 12 April 1945. The Allied powers (Russia, United Kingdom, United States, and others) sustained 16 million military dead and 45 million civilian dead. The Axis powers (Germany, Japan, and Italy) had 8 million military dead and 4 million civilian dead. Worldwide, there were 73 million total deaths in World War II. In the United States, 16 million served in the US Armed Forces. The US sustained 405,399 killed including 78,750 missing in action; 671,278 wounded; and 130,201 American prisoners of war.