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World War II is the deadliest conflict in world history between 1937 and 1945. The war involved all but 17 of the nations on the planet at the time. The war was primarily fought between the Allied Powers of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, and the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and the Empire of Japan. The war occurred on every continent except Antarctica.
There were two major theaters in the war, and two major causes. The Empire of Japan, in the Pacific Theater, began an attempt to bolster its limited resources through expansion of its empire by invading China in July 1937. In Europe, the war began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Great Britain and France declared war shortly thereafter. The United States entered the war on December 8, 1941, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States' Naval Base in Hawaii. Shortly thereafter, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war against the United States.
The ensuing conflict lasted until 1945. After years of fighting, the Axis Powers in Europe were defeated by the Allies. The invasion at Normandy on June 6, 1944 was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with over 1.8 million personnel involved and over 52,000 dead on all sides. The war in Europe ended less than a year later on May 8, 1945. The leaders of Germany and Italy were either dead or they and their subordiantes were convicted of committing massive war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the Pacific, the war ended on September 9, 1945, following a long series of conventional battles, culminating with the use of two atomic bombs by the United States against Japan. The bombs were dropped in an effort to prevent another seaborne invasion like the one at Normandy that some estimates indicate would have cost tens of millions of lives. Many military leaders of Japan were later convicted of war crimes.
World War II cost 72,155,800 lives around the globe, according to official sources. The world's entire population dropped by 3.7%. The United States lost 418,500 military personnel and civilians during the war.
There are 222 names on the memorial from World War II.
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Allen - Bear, Coble - Dawkins
Bell - Butler, Dellinger - Garrison
Byrd - Clemmons, Gerringer - Guthrie
Guthrie - Huckaby, Massy - Neal
Humble - Johnston, Nichols - Phillips
Jones - Maness, Pickett - Rudd
Rush - Spence, Varner - Wolfe
Spruell - Sykes, Workman - Zachary, Later Additions
Talley - Turner
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