The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrusts the US into World War II; thousands of Japanese-Americans must enter inland internment camps.

In January 1943, the Germans continue to occupy most of Western Europe; America converts nearly all manufacturing to the war effort.

The American public sees pictures and newsreel footage of troops killed in action; Japanese-American men join the US 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

In the early hours of June 6, 1944 - D Day - the invasion of France begins. A million and a half men take part. It is the bloodiest day in American history since the Civil War. The Allies succeed in tearing a 45 mile gap in Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall. By day's end more than 150,000 men have landed on French soil, and more men and more equipment and supplies are coming ashore every hour.

Allied troops on the German border run short of fuel; commanders decide to drop airborne troops behind enemy lines in the Netherlands; Gen MacArthur plans to land forces on the Philippine island of Leyte.

After three years of fighting, bad news from the War Department seems endless; Hitler launches a counterattack in the Ardennes forest of Belgium and Luxembourg.