World War II

Someone uncovered a bit of explosive history Wednesday morning in their Southwest Side backyard. The Brighton Park resident was digging when he came across a live 75mm artillery shell dating back to World War II, according to Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern. The man called in police officers who showed up and radioed in the bomb squad to the home…

A German court has convicted a 93-year-old former SS private of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp, where he served as a guard in the final months of World War II

Queen Elizabeth II has made a knight of the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public by walking 100 laps of his garden and raising some 33 million pounds ($40 million) for the National Health Service

Dame Vera Lynn, the endearingly popular “Forces’ Sweetheart” who serenaded British troops abroad during World War II, has died at 103. During the war and long after, Lynn got crowds singing, smiling and crying with sentimental favorites such as “We’ll Meet Again,” and “The White Cliffs of Dover.” “The family are deeply saddened to announce the passing of one of…

Suffragists fighting for the right to vote 100 years ago found themselves hemmed in by the Spanish flu of 1918, their rallies and other gatherings cancelled as they tried to convince lawmakers of their cause. Historians celebrating the milestone this year during the coronavirus pandemic have a new appreciation for what those women accomplished.

This year’s D-Day anniversary in Normandy has turned out to be one of the loneliest observances ever

Memorial Day parades and celebrations all over have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but one community is spreading joy and appreciation, in the form of a car parade honoring two World War II veterans. The veterans, Seedy Ulrich and Walt Bergenthal, served in that war more than 70 years ago. “Seedy served in the Battle of the Bulge…

Seven World War II veterans, ages 96 to 100, joined President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at a wreath-laying ceremony Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. The veterans had hoped to mark the day in Moscow, but that idea was because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The British World War II veteran who became a national hero by raising millions to support the country’s National Health Service celebrated two milestones on Thursday with much fanfare, NBC News reports.

World War II Navy veteran John Ullinskey, who turned 96 on Wednesday, cannot have an Honor Flight because of the coronavirus, so the Honor Flight came to him with a surprise drive-by birthday parade. NBC 5’s Regina Waldroup reports.

More than 3,000 people on Guam are expecting to get long-awaited compensation from the U.S. government for their suffering at the hands of imperial Japan during World War II.

New U.S. Navy submarines will revive the names of the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma, two of the biggest casualties of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, officials said. Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced nuclear, Virginia-class attack submarines will carry the names, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday. The battleships were badly damaged...

As a schoolboy three quarters of a century ago, Marcel Schmetz would regularly see open trucks rumble past to a makeshift American cemetery — filled with bodies, some headless, some limbless, blood seeping from the vehicles onto the roads that the U.S. soldiers had given their lives to liberate. Sometimes, Schmetz said, there were over 200 bodies a day, casualties…

Having your personal property stolen is bad enough, but for a local author, the contents of a backpack are more than just a laptop and other assorted items. The backpack contained a lifetime’s worth of priceless memories. Tony Lifonti of Glenbard North arrived at a West Town restaurant just before 8 p.m. on Monday, and he made the fateful...

A love story for the ages, a war hero, and a backpack full of memories, all stolen. A man is making an emotional plea tonight for help and he shared his story with our Natalie Martinez.

A team of recovery experts is on a race against time to save World War II era aircraft resting off the shore of Chicago in Lake Michigan.

A team of recovery experts is on a race against time to save World War II era aircraft resting off the shore of Chicago in Lake Michigan. 

A crew of deep-sea explorers and historians looking for lost World War II warships have found a second Japanese aircraft carrier that went down in the historic Battle of Midway. Vulcan Inc.’s director of undersea operations Rob Kraft and Naval History and Heritage Command historian Frank Thompson reviewed high frequency sonar images of the warship Sunday and said that its...

Hundreds turned out Friday to honor a decorated World War II Marine in New York after a young friend ensured the 97-year-old’s life and death did not go unrecognized.

A decorated World War II veteran who died this month with no living relatives is being honored by strangers around the world thanks to an unlikely friendship with a young woman determined to give him a hero’s farewell.