Allied forces land at Anzio, Italy.

January 31

American forces invade Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.

*June 6

The invasion of Europe begins with the Allied landing at Normandy in France. The Eighty-second Airborne, trained at Fort Bragg, takes part in this campaign known as D-Day. During the war, Terry Sanford becomes a decorated paratrooper with the Eighty-second Airborne. He later serves as North Carolina's governor and senator and Duke University's president.

*June 10

Units from the Thirtieth Infantry Division (a former North Carolina National Guard division) arrive at Normandy. 

June 15

The U.S. Marines land on Saipan.

July 19

American forces land on Japanese-held Guam.

*July 23

For heroic action on this day during hand-to-hand combat on Noemfoor Island, Dutch New Guinea, Sergeant Ray E. Eubanks, United States Army, a native of LaGrange, Lenoir County, later receives the Medal of Honor posthumously.

*August 7–12

Units of the Thirtieth Infantry Division (a former North Carolina National Guard division) defeat elements of the German army during the Battle of Mortain in France.

August 25

Allied forces liberate France from German occupation.

September 13

American troops reach the Siegfried Line in Germany.

*September
17–23

Airborne and aviation units trained in North Carolina participate in Operation Market Garden in Holland.

October 23–26

The U.S. Navy defeats the Japanese at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, the largest naval engagement in history.

*October 18

Sergeant Max Thompson, United States Army, a native of Canton, Haywood County, single-handedly stops a German breakthrough near Haaren, Germany. For this he later receives the Medal of Honor.

October 25

The first Japanese suicide air attack (kamikaze) on American ships in the Pacific occurs.

November 7

President Franklin Roosevelt is elected to a fourth term.

December 16

The German army launches the Battle of the Bulge against Allied forces in Belgium. 

*December 16

For heroic action on this day during an attack by German forces near Kayersberg, France, First Lieutenant Charles P. Murray Jr., United States Army, of Wilmington, later receives the Medal of Honor.

*December 
20–21

For heroic action as an antitank gunner near Dom Butgenbach, Belgium, on this day during the Battle of the Bulge, Corporal Henry F. Warner, United States Army, a native of Troy, Montgomery County, later receives the Medal of Honor posthumously.