Schedule

Brandishing the stealth and cunning of a modern-day Special Forces operation, the Los Ba os raid is regarded as one of the most successful airborne raids of all time. On February 23, 1945, a combined force of US paratroopers, Filipino guerrillas, and amphibious tanks liberated over 2,000 POWs who faced a potential massacre by their Japanese captors. In this 2-hour special, we return to the Los Ba os Prison Camp with four soldiers who took part in the rescue and one of the liberated prisoners.

Mixing real-life locations, archival battle footage, and 21st-century animation, we tell the story of history's greatest conflicts. Viewers are taken inside the tunnels of Iwo Jima to tell the story of this pivotal WWII battle from both the US and Japanese soldiers' viewpoint.

How can the Marines' 26-ton AAV (Amphibious Assault Vehicle) stay afloat? Can a jeep float? How did medieval battering rams work? What types of tactics do the military use for urban warfare? Who were the guys who fired guns from the bubbles underneath WWII bombers? What's the story behind all those pictures of girls and other stuff drawn on WWII airplanes? R. Lee Ermey sends these viewers' questions to military experts in the field for explanations and short demonstrations.

R. Lee Ermey sends viewer questions to military experts for answers and demonstrations. Go aboard the Coast Guard's latest and greatest--the multi-purpose 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB); find out which and how many ships comprise a carrier battle group; learn why we call a tank a tank and not a toilet, and why the Sherman was considered a deathtrap; get a look at the M-16's replacement, the futuristic XM-29 rifle; and hear how WWII V-mail didn't talk, but kept letters flowing from the front to home.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Mixing real-life locations, archival battle footage, and 21st-century animation, we tell the story of history's greatest conflicts. Viewers are taken inside the tunnels of Iwo Jima to tell the story of this pivotal WWII battle from both the US and Japanese soldiers' viewpoint.

How can the Marines' 26-ton AAV (Amphibious Assault Vehicle) stay afloat? Can a jeep float? How did medieval battering rams work? What types of tactics do the military use for urban warfare? Who were the guys who fired guns from the bubbles underneath WWII bombers? What's the story behind all those pictures of girls and other stuff drawn on WWII airplanes? R. Lee Ermey sends these viewers' questions to military experts in the field for explanations and short demonstrations.

R. Lee Ermey sends viewer questions to military experts for answers and demonstrations. Go aboard the Coast Guard's latest and greatest--the multi-purpose 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB); find out which and how many ships comprise a carrier battle group; learn why we call a tank a tank and not a toilet, and why the Sherman was considered a deathtrap; get a look at the M-16's replacement, the futuristic XM-29 rifle; and hear how WWII V-mail didn't talk, but kept letters flowing from the front to home.

Brandishing the stealth and cunning of a modern-day Special Forces operation, the Los Ba os raid is regarded as one of the most successful airborne raids of all time. On February 23, 1945, a combined force of US paratroopers, Filipino guerrillas, and amphibious tanks liberated over 2,000 POWs who faced a potential massacre by their Japanese captors. In this 2-hour special, we return to the Los Ba os Prison Camp with four soldiers who took part in the rescue and one of the liberated prisoners.

Mixing real-life locations, archival battle footage, and 21st-century animation, we tell the story of history's greatest conflicts. Viewers are taken inside the tunnels of Iwo Jima to tell the story of this pivotal WWII battle from both the US and Japanese soldiers' viewpoint.

How can the Marines' 26-ton AAV (Amphibious Assault Vehicle) stay afloat? Can a jeep float? How did medieval battering rams work? What types of tactics do the military use for urban warfare? Who were the guys who fired guns from the bubbles underneath WWII bombers? What's the story behind all those pictures of girls and other stuff drawn on WWII airplanes? R. Lee Ermey sends these viewers' questions to military experts in the field for explanations and short demonstrations.

R. Lee Ermey sends viewer questions to military experts for answers and demonstrations. Go aboard the Coast Guard's latest and greatest--the multi-purpose 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB); find out which and how many ships comprise a carrier battle group; learn why we call a tank a tank and not a toilet, and why the Sherman was considered a deathtrap; get a look at the M-16's replacement, the futuristic XM-29 rifle; and hear how WWII V-mail didn't talk, but kept letters flowing from the front to home.

In the late summer of 52 BC, Julius Caesar, Rome's most brilliant general was pitted against the great Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix. Fifty thousand Roman soldiers came face-to-face against a quarter of a million Gallic warriors. For the first time, at a small hilltop called Alesia in what is now central France, all Caesars's enemies were gathered in one place. And Caesar won. Yet for 2,000 years there's been only one explanation for his victory--his own. Does evidence from the battlefield correspond with this account? The battle that day shaped the map of modern Europe. How did Caesar do it? Recent archaeological discoveries, systematic analysis of Roman warfare, and extraordinary photographic evidence reveal the secrets of Caesar's success.

England/France, September 1943--July 1944: Patton's victories in Sicily are overshadowed by the infamous "slapping incident." Instead of leading the D-Day invasion of France, Patton is assigned to command a fictitious army in England as part of a ruse to fool the Germans. The deception pays off, and the Allies land on the beaches of Normandy. Patton helps plan the break-out from the weeks-long battle, and American armored forces blast through the German lines. Patton is finally able to lead some of the lightning-fast armored assaults he is famous for.

Sicily, July 1943: As a result of his victories in North Africa, Patton is given command of the Seventh Army as the Allies prepare to invade Sicily. Known as Operation Husky, the combined amphibious and airborne assault is the largest invasion of the war to date. Despite a surprise counter-attack by Italian tanks, Patton and his allies successfully hold the beaches and prepare to push inland.

France, August 1944: As American forces tear through western France, Patton's superiors order him to stop before completely trapping an entire German Army. The Third Army reaches the outskirts of Paris, but Patton is denied the glory of liberating the city when the Free French Army is chosen instead to enter the city first. Patton's men engage in street fighting in the city of Troyes and, by the end of the summer, advance to within 60 miles of the German border.

For Allied servicemen, the last year of WWII proved the most difficult. Though victory was nearly assured, some of the roughest battles lay ahead. These men desperately wanted to return to home and loved ones. If they survived, what would the peace bring? WWII comes alive through a moving tapestry of letters, diaries, color film and photographs unearthed from archives and personal collections. Peter Coyote narrates.

Naval engineering has led the way in technological advances through all History. For the simple reason that if anything goes wrong at sea, you're dead. Relive the most extraordinary Naval ambitions of antiquity. The macabre collapsible death-yacht, commissioned by Roman emperor Nero, as a one- time-only assassination device--designed to kill his own mother. The ship that needed no engine and powered up-river by itself. The underwater booby trap defense system that smashed through pirate hulls in 15th century Italy. The chemical bomb fire ships that killed hundreds on the high seas of ancient Greece. And in a high adrenaline investigation, for the first time on television, we build and test the oldest white-water rapids crafts ever discovered.