Schedule

Destined to become the most decorated ship of World War II, USS Enterprise and sister carriers Yorktown and Hornet, turn the tide of the Pacific War. In just a few violent days in the waters off Midway Island, the American carrier fleet pulverizes the Imperial Japanese Navy. Enterprise helps secure one of America's first victories in World War II.

In the summer of 1942, the American Navy is on the offensive and the first strike is in the Solomon Islands, north of Australia. USS Enterprise supports the first American invasion of World War II as U.S. Marines storm ashore at Guadalcanal. The Japanese strike back with a vengeance and in a hellish slugfest the Enterprise suffers her worst battle damage yet.

The Allies lay plans for the invasion of France; Bert Stiles and the 8th Air Force attempt to clear the skies over Normandy, while the Pacific remains a quagmire. D-Day arrives.

It's the most desperate shootout of the Vietnam War. During the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, North Vietnamese communist troops launch a surprise attack on dozens of towns and villages across South Vietnam. They hope the bold offensive will spur a nation-wide uprising in the south and push U.S. forces from Vietnam. U.S. troops beat back the assault and hundreds of the communist fighters are killed. From remote jungle crossroads to the streets of Saigon, average Americans, under attack, display incredible courage and make sacrifices to save their buddies. The impact will be felt in the consciousness of the American public itself. We use unique visual graphics and interviews with survivors to complete the story.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

A sniper has one chance, one breath, to rise to the occasion and save the day--if he misses, there may never be another opportunity. We'll deconstruct and analyze the little known stories of snipers and their actions. The people who planned the takedowns or pulled the trigger share their techniques and bring to light the many factors that have to be considered in each mission--terrain, wind speed, temperature, elevation changes--as well as the high tech gear each sniper carries on their classified missions to complete the job.

The Allies lay plans for the invasion of France; Bert Stiles and the 8th Air Force attempt to clear the skies over Normandy, while the Pacific remains a quagmire. D-Day arrives.

It's the most desperate shootout of the Vietnam War. During the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, North Vietnamese communist troops launch a surprise attack on dozens of towns and villages across South Vietnam. They hope the bold offensive will spur a nation-wide uprising in the south and push U.S. forces from Vietnam. U.S. troops beat back the assault and hundreds of the communist fighters are killed. From remote jungle crossroads to the streets of Saigon, average Americans, under attack, display incredible courage and make sacrifices to save their buddies. The impact will be felt in the consciousness of the American public itself. We use unique visual graphics and interviews with survivors to complete the story.

Destined to become the most decorated ship of World War II, USS Enterprise and sister carriers Yorktown and Hornet, turn the tide of the Pacific War. In just a few violent days in the waters off Midway Island, the American carrier fleet pulverizes the Imperial Japanese Navy. Enterprise helps secure one of America's first victories in World War II.

In the summer of 1942, the American Navy is on the offensive and the first strike is in the Solomon Islands, north of Australia. USS Enterprise supports the first American invasion of World War II as U.S. Marines storm ashore at Guadalcanal. The Japanese strike back with a vengeance and in a hellish slugfest the Enterprise suffers her worst battle damage yet.

A sniper has one chance, one breath, to rise to the occasion and save the day--if he misses, there may never be another opportunity. We'll deconstruct and analyze the little known stories of snipers and their actions. The people who planned the takedowns or pulled the trigger share their techniques and bring to light the many factors that have to be considered in each mission--terrain, wind speed, temperature, elevation changes--as well as the high tech gear each sniper carries on their classified missions to complete the job.

The Allies lay plans for the invasion of France; Bert Stiles and the 8th Air Force attempt to clear the skies over Normandy, while the Pacific remains a quagmire. D-Day arrives.

It's the most desperate shootout of the Vietnam War. During the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, North Vietnamese communist troops launch a surprise attack on dozens of towns and villages across South Vietnam. They hope the bold offensive will spur a nation-wide uprising in the south and push U.S. forces from Vietnam. U.S. troops beat back the assault and hundreds of the communist fighters are killed. From remote jungle crossroads to the streets of Saigon, average Americans, under attack, display incredible courage and make sacrifices to save their buddies. The impact will be felt in the consciousness of the American public itself. We use unique visual graphics and interviews with survivors to complete the story.

The Allies are bogged down in Normandy's hedgerows in the aftermath of D-Day, while on Saipan, victory turns to horror.

In March of 2003, the Marine Corps plan to send two columns north across the Iraqi desert to help the Army seize Baghdad. If there's going to be trouble, it will happen when the Marines try to traverse a north/south stretch of road between two bridges in Nasiriyah. On March 23, nothing goes right. When a convoy of supply trucks takes a wrong turn, they travel north up "Ambush Alley" almost to the end before they recognize their mistake and turn around. Returning south, they've almost made it back to the Euphrates River when gunfire explodes from buildings on both sides of the road. The Marines find themselves in a heated firefight with black-robed Fedayeen fighters. Over the next several hours, they try to fight their way out, save their wounded comrades and complete their mission.

July 10th 1943. The Allied armies launch the first major attack against Hitler's Fortress in Europe. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen will fight a bloody battle of attrition against German and Italian troops in one of the largest combined operations of World War II. Eleven months later, the men who were baptized in blood on this Mediterranean island would be hitting the beaches of Normandy and changing the course of history. Aerial reconnaissance photographs taken at the time have now been layered over a 3 dimensional map to create a CGI "model" of the island. For the first time these original high-resolution images allow the viewer to track the battle, step by step, from the air. Individual stories of courage and heroism can be placed in the exact location where they took place.

In the winter of 1943, an allied army of nearly 300,000 men invades Italy. Mussolini has surrendered, but Hitler and his feared paratroop regiments refuse to give up. At Monte Cassino, 60 miles south of Rome, the Allied forces under the command of General Harold Alexander come face to face with the fanatic defenders of Hitler's Third Reich. Will the sixth century monastery of Monte Cassino, now home to the Germans, become a casualty of war? Over the next six months more than a hundred thousand allied troops will be killed and wounded. Aerial reconnaissance photographs taken at the time have now been layered over a 3-D contour map to create a CGI "model" of the battles. For the first time these original high-resolution images allow the viewer to track the battles from the air. Individual stories of courage and heroism can be placed in the exact location where they took place.

Holding off invasion and protecting its people, ancient civilizations came up with creative, efficient and effective means of self-protection and defense. Walk the grounds of the castle that helped create Great Britain and learn why it was such an impregnable fortress. Discover the invisible underground defensive systems of Cappadocia and how they proved so successful that it is the longest continually inhabited fortress in history. Test the ancient Mayan killer bee castle defenses, and release bees in an attack. Next, build a replica section of the ancient Roman fort of Alesia and discover whether the great general Julius Caesar could really have built 24 miles of defenses in just six weeks. Investigate the most impregnable walls in history--the multi-layered defenses of Constantinople, and discover the type of cannon that the sultan Mehmet used to finally destroy them in the great siege of 1453.

In the face of bigotry and ignorance, the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black fighter squadron, shattered racist stereotypes. Their exploits became the stuff of legend. Watch as pilots Wendell Pruitt and Lee Archer, the Gruesome Twosome; score their highest victory in a single day over the skies of the Po river valley in Northern Italy. Then pilot Charles Mc Gee knocks down an Fw190 near Pardubice, Czechoslovakia. Finally pilot Roscoe Brown and the Tuskegee Airmen take down three Me262 jet fighters in a wild engagement just south of Berlin. First-hand accounts, rare archival footage and original shooting supplement the remarkable computer graphics.