June 15, 1944, marked the beginning of the Battle of Saipan against the Japanese on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Pacific D-Day and lasted from June 15, 1944, until the American victory on July 9, 1944. It was a crucial battle as it put the United States in a strategic position close enough to the Japanese mainland to strike it with its bombers. Unfortunately, it proved to be one of the most costly of the battles in the Pacific. Out of the 71,000 American soldiers who landed on the island, 10,464 were wounded, and 2,949 Americans were killed. For the Japanese, most of the 30,000 soldiers there died either at the hands of the Americans or by suicide. #WeRememberThem (fb)

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! The nation’s first Father’s Day was celebrated in Washington state on June 19, 1910. However, it was not until 1972 – 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official – that the day honoring fathers became a nationwide holiday in the United States. World War II played a role in making Father's Day part of the American consciousness. When WWII began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution. #WeRememberThem (fb)