Alexander “Sandy” Nininger of Fort Lauderdale became World War II’s first serviceman to be awarded (posthumously) the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Philippines. Remarkably, some of the war’s first and last heroes hailed from the Sunshine State. Many of them had never traveled far beyond their farms or neighborhoods and now found themselves transplanted to places they had never imagined: Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, Salerno and Omaha Beach.įloridians distinguished themselves in the war. Almost a quarter million Floridians served in the armed forces.
World War II profoundly changed Florida and Floridians. War Comes to Florida: Florida Goes Overseas
