In This Great Struggle: The Greatest Generation Remembers World War II

Welcome to the online version of our exhibit “In This Great Struggle,” a chronicle of WWII as it was experienced by members of the Greatest Generation. You’ll hear their voices, read their letters, and see their photos and heirlooms. The exhibit includes uniforms they wore, weapons they carried, posters they read and much more.

In August 1864, President Lincoln told the veterans of the 164th Ohio Volunteer Regiment: “In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. … There is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed.”

What was true on that hot day in 1864 was equally true for Americans following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.