When World War II began, New Mexico had a population of 531,815 inhabitants, one of the least populated of the 48 states. Yet, New Mexico and New Mexicans played a key role in the outcome of the War in the Pacific. The New Mexico National Guard was the first U.S. military unit to fight the Japanese, holding on for four months on Bataan, and then suffering through years in POW camps. The atomic bomb was developed at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos,...