There are things that help you keep your green card after 6 months outside of the US, they are: If you own real estate If you maintain a savings account in the US If you maintain your US driving license and credit cards If you maintain you correspondence with your US friends and family (facebook?) Documents for reason of leave And a bunch of other stuff I will list in the website in sources (Its in the section International travel, 6months-1year).
You can lose your legal permanent residence if you remain outside the US for more than a year. You can apply for a permit that allows to remain outside the US for more than a year but less than two years or you can travel back to the United States during school breaks so that you don't remain outside the US more than a year and be considered as "abandonment of LPR status".
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.