America’s Forgotten World War II Battlefield

Summary

This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Beyond Monitor National Marine Sanctuary’s (MNMS) current boundaries off North Carolina lie waters associated with nearly 500 years of western maritime history and includes shipwrecks representing coastal heritage, American Civil War, U.S. naval aviation, World War I, and most prominently World War II (WWII). MNMS is proposing a boundary expansion to protect and honor these additional resources. MNMS expansion represents an ideal opportunity to celebrate, study, and preserve a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks and would serve as a uniquely accessible underwater museum and memorial to WWII’s Battle of the Atlantic. MNMS's expansion boundaries will contain the most publicly accessible collection of WWII shipwrecks near America's shore and would constitute the largest area designated as a WWII battlefield anywhere in the United States. With the 75th anniversary of the close of WWII this is the time to honor the history and sacrifice of Allied servicemen and the U.S. Merchant Marine.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2020 SHA General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 537