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The submarine USS Bowfin made nine patrol runs during WWII, all packed with hair-raising adventures. In the course of sinking some 175,000 tons of Japanese shipping, the Bowfin faced an increasingly sophisticated Japanese anti-submarine campaign and endured vicious depth bomb and surface attacks. The boat aided guerrillas in the Philippines, hunted in wolfpacks, rescued downed flyers, and scourged the Japanese throughout the war under command of various colorful skippers. The Bowfin has been gorgeously restored and is berthed next to the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. This is her glorious story.

September 17th 1944. 20,000 elite troops descend from the skies into Nazi occupied Holland in a massive airborne assault. In this dramatic race against time, an armored relief force has to fight through sixty miles of enemy defenses and reach the British paratroopers at Arnhem bridge before their 48 hour deadline runs out. The British paratroopers, known as "Red Devils", have orders to hold their positions. This fight would become legendary as they refused to surrender after being surrounded by the German Army. For the first time Aerial reconnaissance photographs taken at the time have now been layered over a 3 dimensional map to create a CGI "model" of the battle allowing the viewer to track the fighting, step by step, from the air. Individual stories of courage and heroism can be placed in the exact location where they took place.

Shot on location at Hurlburt Field, Florida, R. Lee Ermey answers viewer questions about this historic piece of real estate with a focus on Air Force Special Operations and hardware. Lee tours the Air Force Base and gets a taste of what the officer candidates call "Hell Week"; then, Gunny goes to school and trains in car bomb and explosives detection and fires assault rifles used by terrorists. Finally, Lee takes off in the meanest gunship in the Air Force, the AC-130 and squeezes off a few rounds with its 105 mm cannon.

They are the unsung heroes of the U.S. Navy. With a wrench in one hand and a rifle in the other, they build and fight. For close to 60 years, in war and peace, the Seabees have built the huts, ramps, roads, and runways that allow the Navy to land, the Marines to move, and the Air Force to fly. On the beaches of Normandy, the sands of Iwo Jima, at Inchon and Saigon, Antarctica and Saudi Arabia, the Navy's blue-collar battalion, the Seabees, have made and paved the way to victory.

A revealing look at the untold story of Japan's atomic bomb, and how they may have detonated a nuclear device just two days before surrender. Since the end of WWII, conventional wisdom claimed that Imperial Japan was years away from building an atomic weapon--this special shatters this view. Using once secret Japanese wartime documents, we provide evidence that Japan had world-class nuclear physicists, access to uranium ore, and cyclotrons to process it. They devised an innovative way to deliver the bombs using 400-foot long Sen Toku submarines, capable of carrying and launching airplanes. Most startling--just six days after Hiroshima, Japan tested its own atomic device on a small island 20 miles off the Korean coast. The sobering conclusion is that Japan may have been just weeks behind the US in the race for the bomb.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Shot on location at Hurlburt Field, Florida, R. Lee Ermey answers viewer questions about this historic piece of real estate with a focus on Air Force Special Operations and hardware. Lee tours the Air Force Base and gets a taste of what the officer candidates call "Hell Week"; then, Gunny goes to school and trains in car bomb and explosives detection and fires assault rifles used by terrorists. Finally, Lee takes off in the meanest gunship in the Air Force, the AC-130 and squeezes off a few rounds with its 105 mm cannon.

They are the unsung heroes of the U.S. Navy. With a wrench in one hand and a rifle in the other, they build and fight. For close to 60 years, in war and peace, the Seabees have built the huts, ramps, roads, and runways that allow the Navy to land, the Marines to move, and the Air Force to fly. On the beaches of Normandy, the sands of Iwo Jima, at Inchon and Saigon, Antarctica and Saudi Arabia, the Navy's blue-collar battalion, the Seabees, have made and paved the way to victory.

A revealing look at the untold story of Japan's atomic bomb, and how they may have detonated a nuclear device just two days before surrender. Since the end of WWII, conventional wisdom claimed that Imperial Japan was years away from building an atomic weapon--this special shatters this view. Using once secret Japanese wartime documents, we provide evidence that Japan had world-class nuclear physicists, access to uranium ore, and cyclotrons to process it. They devised an innovative way to deliver the bombs using 400-foot long Sen Toku submarines, capable of carrying and launching airplanes. Most startling--just six days after Hiroshima, Japan tested its own atomic device on a small island 20 miles off the Korean coast. The sobering conclusion is that Japan may have been just weeks behind the US in the race for the bomb.

The submarine USS Bowfin made nine patrol runs during WWII, all packed with hair-raising adventures. In the course of sinking some 175,000 tons of Japanese shipping, the Bowfin faced an increasingly sophisticated Japanese anti-submarine campaign and endured vicious depth bomb and surface attacks. The boat aided guerrillas in the Philippines, hunted in wolfpacks, rescued downed flyers, and scourged the Japanese throughout the war under command of various colorful skippers. The Bowfin has been gorgeously restored and is berthed next to the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. This is her glorious story.

September 17th 1944. 20,000 elite troops descend from the skies into Nazi occupied Holland in a massive airborne assault. In this dramatic race against time, an armored relief force has to fight through sixty miles of enemy defenses and reach the British paratroopers at Arnhem bridge before their 48 hour deadline runs out. The British paratroopers, known as "Red Devils", have orders to hold their positions. This fight would become legendary as they refused to surrender after being surrounded by the German Army. For the first time Aerial reconnaissance photographs taken at the time have now been layered over a 3 dimensional map to create a CGI "model" of the battle allowing the viewer to track the fighting, step by step, from the air. Individual stories of courage and heroism can be placed in the exact location where they took place.

Shot on location at Hurlburt Field, Florida, R. Lee Ermey answers viewer questions about this historic piece of real estate with a focus on Air Force Special Operations and hardware. Lee tours the Air Force Base and gets a taste of what the officer candidates call "Hell Week"; then, Gunny goes to school and trains in car bomb and explosives detection and fires assault rifles used by terrorists. Finally, Lee takes off in the meanest gunship in the Air Force, the AC-130 and squeezes off a few rounds with its 105 mm cannon.

They are the unsung heroes of the U.S. Navy. With a wrench in one hand and a rifle in the other, they build and fight. For close to 60 years, in war and peace, the Seabees have built the huts, ramps, roads, and runways that allow the Navy to land, the Marines to move, and the Air Force to fly. On the beaches of Normandy, the sands of Iwo Jima, at Inchon and Saigon, Antarctica and Saudi Arabia, the Navy's blue-collar battalion, the Seabees, have made and paved the way to victory.

A revealing look at the untold story of Japan's atomic bomb, and how they may have detonated a nuclear device just two days before surrender. Since the end of WWII, conventional wisdom claimed that Imperial Japan was years away from building an atomic weapon--this special shatters this view. Using once secret Japanese wartime documents, we provide evidence that Japan had world-class nuclear physicists, access to uranium ore, and cyclotrons to process it. They devised an innovative way to deliver the bombs using 400-foot long Sen Toku submarines, capable of carrying and launching airplanes. Most startling--just six days after Hiroshima, Japan tested its own atomic device on a small island 20 miles off the Korean coast. The sobering conclusion is that Japan may have been just weeks behind the US in the race for the bomb.

During the Vietnam War, Air Force and Marine pilots flew "low and slow" over jungles in antiquated propeller planes--often unarmed--to direct jet bombers toward target. FACs often became victims of enemy ground fire as they carried out their dangerous missions. Meet some of the brave pilots, including the man who saved BAT-21.

Many of the modern military innovations we take for granted all stem from ancient China. It was the Chinese who invented gunpowder, and in the tenth century the Chinese created a substance that allegedly powered flame throwers and ancient rockets. From automated crossbows to siege machines able to fire over 3,000 yards, we uncover the secrets of China's most awe-inspiring weaponry. Amongst many fascinating stories, we uncover insights into the legendary rotating crossbow and the Cloud Bridge Siege Engine that was used to transport hundreds of troops to the battlefield. We will recreate some of China's legendary battlefield creations to see how the designs would have fared in combat.

Movie. The true story of the "Lost Battalion" of US soldiers--a group of Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish "gangsters" from New York who were trapped behind enemy lines in World War One and fought heroically against the odds. Rick Schroder stars as battalion leader Major Charles Whittlesey, the civilian-turned-soldier who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for keeping his outnumbered troops alive and fighting in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. (2001)

As Patton's men prepare to cross the Rhine River into Germany, other American units in Belgium are completely shattered by a German counterattack, kicking off the Battle of the Bulge. Patton is called on to rush to the rescue. The small city of Bastogne quickly becomes the centerpiece of the campaign as American troops struggle to hold their ground. Despite the worst weather in 20 years, Patton's Third Army races northward, smashing through the German lines and relieving the beleaguered defenders of Bastogne.

America's most decorated surviving warship, the USS New Jersey has fought in more battles than any other fighting ship in US naval history. From WWII, to Korea and Vietnam, Lebanon and Syria, the USS New Jersey was on the front lines, lending support in every major engagement. This episode includes the emotionally stirring first reunion in three decades of two shipmates who served together on the USS New Jersey during Vietnam.