The Archive Project

Rare color footage of an intense battle between Kamikaze pilots and a US carrier group off the coast of Japan, 1945.

Gun Sight Aiming Point (GSAP) cameras were widely used by Eighth Air Force fighter units during the Normandy invasion in June 1944. Mounted to record the pilot’s gunsight view, GSAP cameras documented air-to-air combat and strafing missions flown by P-47 and P-51 squadrons supporting D-Day operations.

Fighting on Iwo Jima unfolded across a mix of exposed volcanic flats and heavily fortified ridges, where Japanese defenders turned the island’s natural terrain into a layered defensive system. U.S. Marines advancing over the open ash plains were raked by fire from concealed positions, then forced into close-quarters combat on the ridges. Jima

This footage was shot by Sgt. Richard Taylor, a U.S. Army Signal Corps combat cameraman who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Under intense enemy fire, he filmed troops approaching the beach and moving inland, capturing some of the earliest and most harrowing footage of the invasion. Wounded in the arm during the landing, Taylor continued filming until he was eventually evacuated. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions.

On 7 June 1944, elements of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division advanced north from Utah Beach and entered the village of Saint-Marcouf. As American troops secured the town, they made contact with local civilians emerging from hiding, marking Saint-Marcouf’s liberation amid continued fighting nearby at the Crisbecq coastal battery.

During the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, the U.S. Navy and its allies assembled one of the largest naval gunfire forces of World War II, with battleships, cruisers, and destroyers delivering sustained bombardment in support of the landings. Old battleships such as USS Tennessee, USS Colorado, USS Maryland, and USS New Mexico used their heavy guns to pound Japanese coastal defenses, caves, and fortifications, while heavy and light cruisers provided rapid-fire support closer to shore.

The 6th Special Operations Squadron, operating from Pleiku Air Base, played a key role in unconventional air warfare during the Vietnam War. The squadron made notable use of the A-1 Skyraider, valued for its long loiter time, heavy ordnance load, and ability to provide precise close air support, often flying low and slow over contested areas.

Thule Air Base, now known as Pituffik Space Base, is a U.S. military installation in northwest Greenland established during the Cold War as a key Arctic outpost for early warning, missile defense, and space surveillance. Its location near the North Pole made it strategically vital for monitoring Soviet activity and later for supporting global missile warning and satellite tracking systems.

Skylab was the first US space station, launched by NASA in 1973 to study longterm human spaceflight, solar astronomy, and Earth observation. Crewed by three successive missions, it operated until 1974 and provided crucial medical and engineering data before reentering Earth’s atmosphere in 1979.

During the Battle of Okinawa, U.S. forces faced deeply entrenched Japanese defenders who used caves and reinforced bunkers to withstand bombardment and inflict heavy casualties. Clearing these positions required close-quarters assaults using flamethrowers, demolition charges, and coordinated infantry tactics, often under intense fire.

The people of Washington, DC and the police struggle to coexist in the wake of the 1968 riots.

Documentary discussion of the King David Hotel bombing of 1946.