Herman U.S.A.

Traces the history of one B-17 in the 390th Bombardment Group from enlistment to its 25 mission tour during the grim early days of daylight bombing.

This is the story of Navy squadron VF-17, the amazing Jolly Rogers. Flying their beloved "Hogs," the F4U-1 Corsair, they cleared the skies of 154 Japanese planes in 76 days of combat over the Solomon Islands. While never losing a bomber to enemy attack, Fighting 17 destroyed the heart of Japanese fighter command over Bougainville and Rabaul paving the way for the Allied advance in the Pacific. As related by the squadron's skipper, Tom Blackburn, and four of his men, the events of 1943-44 are enhanced by splendid film footage, personal photographs, and the memories of those who were there. This is the true story, the excitement, the agony, humor and sadness of a legendary tour of duty that will never be forgotten as long as pilots take to the air in combat.

On Christmas Day, 1944 five young soldiers of the 17th Airborne Division entered the frozen hell of the Battle of the Bulge. This is not the story of generals or strategies. It is the story of ordinary men who faced extraordinary terror fear, loss, and the fight to stay human in the chaos of war. Through their own words, these veterans recount the cold, the killing, and the haunting memories that never left them. Their courage and trauma reveal not just the brutality of war, but the strength of the human soul when survival is the only instinct left. A deeply emotional and unflinching look at the last great battle of World War II — and the men who lived to tell its truth.

The men of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment describe the ferocious battle for the Island of Peleliu, "an island on fire." In conditions that tested the sanity of each man, 9,000 Marines attacked 10,000 battle hardened Japanese soldiers dug into hundred of fortified and reinforced coral and limestone caves. Twenty-eight days of unrelenting battle with no quarter being given or taken. Brutal, harrowing, but heart-rending, the stories of these soldiers truly speak to the horror of war.