1939–1945
Sixteen million Americans served in the United States military during World War II. Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama served as part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese unit that remains the most decorated unit in history for its size and length of service. Joe Morris Sr. was a member of the Navajo Nation and served as a code talker, using the Navajo language to send classified messages in the Pacific theater. Annie Fox was the head nurse at Hickam Field hospital during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the first woman to earn a Purple Heart. John W. Rogers served in the US Army Air Corps with the Tuskegee Airmen, a unit of African American pilots.
Image Source: United States Department of the Treasury, War bonds poster with message to "Back the Attack," 1943, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC09520.33
![T/Sgt. Kuwayama presenting President Truman with a check contributed by members of the 442nd for a memorial to President Roosevelt [Sept. 11, 1945]](/sites/default/files/styles/nav_card/public/2023-04/Kuwayama%20w_%20Truman%20.webp?h=e7c29f1b&itok=X-eFtwLD)
