World War II

The Conversation recently talked with Charles Djou, who has headed up the American Battle Monuments Commission for the last two years.

Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II and other conflicts. But a federal lab tucked away above the bowling alley at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha and a sister lab in Hawaiʻi are steadily answering those lingering questions.

The families of five Hawaiʻi men who served in a unit of Japanese-language linguists during World War II have received posthumous Purple Heart medals on behalf of their loved ones nearly eight decades after the soldiers died in a plane crash in the final days of the conflict.

This year marks 80 years since the 442nd, the brave unit of Japanese American soldiers from Hawaiʻi, liberated a small French town called Bruyères. Young citizens from that town recently visited Hawaiʻi to learn about the war ties. They caught up with The Conversation while in Waimānalo.

Across the Hawaiian Islands, over a hundred women took part in a top-secret program called the Women’s Air Raid Defense. King’s College London lecturer and World War II historian Sarah-Louise Miller spoke to The Conversation about why few today remember their heroic contributions.

The Conversation learns about an effort to map World War II shipwrecks in Micronesia — boats that ended up on the ocean floor as payback for the Pearl Harbor bombing. Archeology professor William Jeffery of the University of Guam has more.

On Oʻahu, Honpa Hongwanji will commemorate the occasion with two lectures by actor, author and social justice advocate George Takei. He's best known as Sulu from the original "Star Trek" series.

The Japanese American soldiers who fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II are the subject of a new multimedia experience called "Defining Courage." Part film, part narration, and part live concert, the production is the work of ABC7 Los Angeles news anchor and filmmaker David Ono.

Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese American unit that made history during World War II. HPR’s Jayna Omaye spoke to community members about the unit’s legacy on and off the battlefield and what this milestone means to them.

A group of Hawaiʻi students and teachers are gearing up for an encore production of “Peace on Your Wings.” It follows the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died of cancer after the Hiroshima atomic bombing in 1945. HPR's Jayna Omaye has more.