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The men of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment describe the ferocious battle for the Island of Peleliu, "an island on fire." In conditions that tested the sanity of each man, 9,000 Marines attacked 10,000 battle hardened Japanese soldiers dug into hundred of fortified and reinforced coral and limestone caves. Twenty-eight days of unrelenting battle with no quarter being given or taken. Brutal, harrowing, but heart-rending, the stories of these soldiers truly speak to the horror of war. This remarkable documentary features interviews with Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge (author of "With the Old Breed") , R. V. Bergin (author of "Islands of the Damned"), William Leyden, Jay de L'eau, and Roy Kelly. Sledge, Bergin Leyden, and de L'eau were characterized in the HBO series "The Pacific."

This is the story of five soldiers, members of the 681st Glider Field Artillery Battalion of the 17th Airborne, five young men who went to war because there was a job to do. They represent hundreds of thousands of anonymous GI's who answered the call and fought and struggled and suffered and survived. They confronted the grim reality of ground combat, the sickening fear, the loss of buddies, and death. Thrown into combat during the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas Day 1944 and then in March 1945 were dropped over the Rhine in gliders as part of Operation Varsity, these young men fought their way across Germany, tree to tree, farmhouse to farmhouse, foot by foot, right to the end of the war. They were a true Band of Brothers. Soldiers interviewed were Capt. Robert Harrsch, Sgt. Walter Byrd, Jack Fisher, Carl Arend, and Stanley Polniak.

This is the story of Navy squadron VF-17, the amazing Jolly Rogers. Flying their beloved "Hogs," the F4U-1 Corsair, they cleared the skies of 154 Japanese planes in 76 days of combat over the Solomon Islands. While never losing a bomber to enemy attack, Fighting 17 destroyed the heart of Japanese fighter command over Bougainville and Rabaul paving the way for the Allied advance in the Pacific. As related by the squadron's skipper, Tom Blackburn, and four of his men, the events of 1943-44 are enhanced by splendid film footage, personal photographs, and the memories of those who were there. This is the true story, the excitement, the agony, humor and sadness of a legendary tour of duty that will never be forgotten as long as pilots take to the air in combat.

Five crew members of the B-17, Betty Boop/Pistol Packin' Mama, tell what it was like in the grim early days of daylight bombing beginning in July 1943. As members of the 390th Bomb Group flying out of Framlingham, England, they often led their squadron, their group, and sometimes the entire 8th Air Force into action. The life of a bomber crewman is described as never before . . . the strain and cold, the fear, the sense of death and loss, the bond of camaraderie. Enhanced by stunning footage and personal photos, this is how it was battling fighters and flak over Hitler's Germany. After surviving 25 missions, the crew was reassigned, some to return home, some to take on other missions. The plane itself was shot down shortly after a new crew took over. Airmen interviewed were Pilot James Geary, Co-Pilot Richard Perry, navigator Gus Mencow, engineer Shirl Hoffman, and ball-turret gunner Clifford Puckett.