1. Keep the light alive: The glimmer of cautious optimism

    To memorialize students who died in service during World War II, U-M officials sought input from such global luminaries as Winston Churchill and Orson Welles. But in the end, a new generation of students created a different kind of tribute — one that could ‘actually do something.’

  2. ‘This line of bullets missed me by 15 feet’

    Herb Elfring, BS ’50, is one of the few remaining survivors of Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. At age 99, the Army radar specialist remembers this ‘day that will live in infamy’ as though it happened yesterday.

  3. Gather and sift

    The true tale of George Koval, ‘the atomic spy in America who got away,’ makes for enthralling narrative nonfiction in the hands of a gifted writer. Learn how author/journalist Ann Hagedorn, MLIS ’75, transformed mountains of research about this ‘hero of the Russian Federation’ into a compelling page-turner.

  4. Prelude to Iwo Jima

    ‘Hands-on skipper’ Willard Vincent Nash, BA ’35/LLB ’35, is the little-known hero in the ‘battle before the battle’ as told in the new book ‘The Heart of Hell.’

  5. Five came back

    Frank Beaver looks at five war-time directors who used film to influence public opinion.

  6. The doves of 1940

    Before the attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the U.S. into World War II, U-M suspended a band of student peaceniks advocating neutrality.

  7. Coming home

    The end of World War II sent U-M’s enrollment soaring, which put housing at a premium — creating a unique college experience for many GIs.