For young men in good shape, 1944 was a year of the most brutal combat the world had ever seen. For everyone else, it was a year of figuring out how to live life in the total absence of young men.
From a league of their own, to Hollywood stars, to life on the front lines of fighting fascism, here are 24 photos of what it looked like to be alive in 1944.
1
In a dorm, University of Texas, 1944.
2
Pouring tea to a British soldier during the fighting in Normandy, 1944.
3
While her son plays with parts.
4
Inspecting the Kilt of a Scottish Soldier Near the Coliseum after the liberation of Rome, 1944.
6
During the Battle of Peleliu, 1944.
9
Cold during the Battle of the Bulge.
10
New Orleans, August of 1944.
13
The Pacific Theater, 1944.
14
Giving the side eyes in 1944.
15
Driving a Willys Jeep, 1944.
19
During Operation Bagration, June, 1944.
20
She was the only woman to land at Normandy, after dumping her husband Ernest Hemingway.
22
A soldier and his fiance, 1944.
23
Posing in front of their caricatures on their B-29 Superfortress on Nov 24, 1944.
26
With Dutch children in 1944.
