WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Potsdam Declaration
July 26, 1945

By July 1945, Japan was defeated nearly everywhere except in the hearts and minds of the Japanese. Even as the Japanese Empire crumbled and the suffering Japanese prepared for invasion, military leaders reminded their people that national honor prohibited surrender to the Allies.
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WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Potsdam Conference
July 17, 1945

What do you do when you’re about to win a war and your mightiest ally seems just as dangerous as your enemies?
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WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: The Trinity Test
July 16, 1945

At 5:29 AM on July 16, 1945, an enormous explosion rocked the bleak desert of southern New Mexico. The cause of the blast was a device called the Gadget, which exploded with the force of forty million pounds of TNT. It produced intense heat, a light brighter than the sun, and a mushroom cloud 7.5 miles high that glowed yellow, then red, then purple. People felt the shockwave 100 miles from ground zero, and newspapers reported that a blind woman 150 miles away asked: “What’s that brilliant light?”
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WWII highlights from the Truman Library’s archives and collections

Marching to Victory: How Children Helped Win the War
July 5, 1945

World War II was a total war. Those who were not soldiers were mobilized to some degree. They conserved, raised money, boosted soldiers’ morale, worked in war manufacturing, and contributed to the war effort in countless other ways. Even young people participated in the war effort.

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