Above, a 1943 amphibious vehicle test in Detroit's Rouge River (Photo: Charles E. Steinheimer./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images). Life's Ben Cosgrove emails:
As Time's site has it: "For the next year, Time Inc. journalists will cover all aspects of the Motor City. Because the future of Detroit affects all of us." I believe that. I've always liked Detroit — my first visit to the amazing Detroit Institute of Arts remains one of the most wonderful cultural surprises of my life; I was a callow jerk, expecting little, and was utterly blown away by DIA's collection — and I thought I knew a little bit about the city. But somehow I never knew anything about Detroit's central role in helping the Allies win WWII. Well, when I did finally hear about it, I thought a gallery was in order.
