The Color of War - Season 1

When the U.S. was propelled into war on December 7, 1941, Europe had been torn by war for over two years. In America, the small professional armed forces that began the war were quickly replaced by draftees--civilians thrown "into the breach" after barely three months of training. These rare and amazing images show how these fresh-faced conscripts became battle-hardened warriors.

Five out of every six men serving in WWII never saw combat, serving instead in the vast support services. But the men who were at the front lived through some of the greatest horrors of the human experience. For them, survival was all--surviving getting to the front, surviving attack, surviving combat. This episode reveals their constant struggle to stay alive. Peter Coyote narrates this compelling journey into WWII through the eyes of the those who lived it, completely in color.

Of all the assignments a serviceman might find himself undertaking in WWII, flying seemed to offer the greatest promise of glory. What was not initially apparent was that flying would become the most dangerous job of the war. A flyer had less chance of survival than any other serviceman in any other branch of the military. Peter Coyote narrates this compelling look at the air war through the eyes of those who lived it, with rare color footage and interviews with Army Air Corps and RAF veterans.

For the sailors who fought in World War II, combat at sea differed radically from any previous conflict. The jobs they performed were far more complex and technically more demanding than ever before, and the threats they faced were much more lethal. Utilizing vivid color film and photographs unearthed from archives and personal collections, along with firsthand accounts from veterans, we recall the remarkable true stories of these sailors and the battles they fought.