Sergeant Irvin Schwartz describes the Fourth of July festivities in the ruined city of Nuremberg in July 1945.
Letters from War – Celebrating Independence Day 1945 in occupied Germany

Sergeant Irvin Schwartz describes the Fourth of July festivities in the ruined city of Nuremberg in July 1945.
In this letter to to Horace Reber, Irvin Schwartz reveals why he turned down a promotion and his travels through post-war Germany.
In the weeks after VE Day in the spring of 1945, General Eisenhower returned to the US. Sergeant Schwartz penned a farewell to his "supreme commander."
A year after Irvin Schwartz first experienced combat on D-Day, he reflected on the first anniversary of the important date.
Staff Sergeant Irvin Schwartz's letter home on May 8, 1945 reflected on the end of World War II in the European Theatre.
In 1945, Sergeant Irvin Schwartz was honored with the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism during the Battle of the Bulge.
Sergeant Irvin Schwartz shares how he learned the shocking news of President Roosevelt's death in April 1945.
In May 1945, the West Schuylkill Press-Herald published a photograph taken during the Battle of the Bulge showing a tank destroyed by Sgt. Irvin Schwartz.
Sergeant Schwartz took offense to a comment from a soldier in Italy about the difference in fighting conditions between the Italian front and inside Nazi Germany.
In a March 1945 letter, Sgt. Irvin Schwartz shared insights about Nazi Germany's desperate "total war" efforts to turn back Allied attacks.