Only in War An American plane crashes upon landing in a remote Chinese airfield. Staff Sgt. Edlemann is trapped while the plane burns around him
Mitch Touart, 11th Bombardment Squadron / 3:00
Brigadier General Harold Dye (retired) recounts an amazing story that all started with an artillery barrage at a Rhine crossing
Harold Dye, 569th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion / 9:00 Brigadier General Harold Dye (retired) recalls a prisoner exchange gone wrong near the Czechoslovakian border after the war
Harold Dye, 569th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion / 8:04 Francis Anderson shares the amazing story of how he was caught behind enemy lines as well as his journey back to base in North Africa
Francis Anderson, 1st Armored Division / 9:00 John Cunningham shares his tale of getting lost in the Casbah in Algiers
John Cunningham, 15th Air Force / 3:30 Fred Pounds recounts an unsettling experience with German prisoners (Caution: Graphic)
Fred Pounds, 76th Infantry / 1:00 John Souther recalls firing on the leaning Tower of Pisa
John Souther, 1st Armored / 2:09 Infantryman Jim Paine recalls a consistent theme for those who died
Jim Paine, 100th Division / 1:17 Herbert Braselton recalls the terrible aftermath of a torpedo attack on the USS Pennsylvania in the early hours of August 12, 1945 while anchored at Nakagusuku Bay on the island of Okinawa.
Herbert Braselton, USS Pennsylvania / 4:52 Glenn Gooch recounts the harrowing episode of his first combat experience in France
Glenn Gooch, 4th Infantry / 2:00 Jim Fletcher is left a very serious and familiar warning in Burma.
Jim Fletcher, OSS Detachment 101 / 2:46 Jim Fletcher faced many dangers in Burma, but nothing quite like the Naga Headhunters.
Jim Fletcher, OSS Detachment 101 / 2:55 Gordon Yeager describes some of the more bizarre weapons implemented at sea by the Germans during World War II.
Gordon Yeager, U.S.S. Woolsey / 5:10 William Bates tries to make his way back to his unit after a month in a field hospital.
William Bates, DUKW Crew Member / 3:38 Phil Sligar and company invade Mexico during the height of WWII.
Phil Sligar, 497th Bomber Group / 2:09 Bob Keller and his unit come across a VC tunnel that he has to search alone.
Bob Keller, 5th Special Forces Group / 4:37 Stuart Jamison recalls observing the reality and immediacy of death as his unit assaults a Viet Cong company during the Second Phase Tet Offensive.
Stuart Jamison, 9th Infantry Division (ARVN) / 4:45 Karl Waters Jr. survives the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the days adrift at sea that followed.
Karl Waters Jr., USS Indianapolis / 21:24 Rocky Bleier remembers the "foxhole prayer" that he made as he lay wounded after a grenade explosion in Vietnam. (4-time Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steeler. www.rockybleier.com)
Rocky Bleier, Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division) / 5:10 Clayton Byrd remembers the danger of showering while in the field
Clayton Byrd, 94th Infantry / 1:53 Clayton Byrd shares his favorite war story about his friend, Chet Markowski
Clayton Byrd, 94th Infantry / 4:10 William Lubbeck, author of At Leningrad's Gates: The Combat Memoirs of a Soldier with Army Group North, recalls combat on the Russian front when the German Army surrounded the Russian Army under the command of General Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov.
William Lubbeck, 13th Infantry Company (German Army) / 5:26 William Lubbeck, author of At Leningrad's Gates: The Combat Memoirs of a Soldier with Army Group North, tells of the nature of the treatment German soldiers received at the hands of the Red Army troops.
William Lubbeck, 13th Infantry Company (German Army) / 3:45 During intense combat, and fearing for the lives of both their patients and themselves, Dr. Gary Hill's PSH is calmed by their spiritual leader.
Dr. Gary Hill, Medical Service Corps - Portable Surgical Hospital / 2:48 Arthur Crowe recalls stumbling upon a German rally point while the 9th Infantry moves to isolate the German troops on the north end of the Cherbourg peninsula.
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry Division Artillery / 4:32 Arthur Crowe recalls how he watched from a plateau as a German unit, isolated in the winter wilderness, is targeted by artillery and fighter planes on strafing runs.
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry Division Artillery / 1:30 Frank Pomroy recounts the injury of friend and fellow Marine, Ben Coffee, while in combat on Peleliu.
Frank Pomroy, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines / 2:10 From a ship off the coast of Iwo Jima, H.T. Maclin and others watch the Marines attempt to climb the slopes of Mt. Suribachi.
H.T. Maclin, Hospital Corpsman, USS Anzio (CVE-57) / 3:43 Artillery observer Arthur Crowe tells of his unusual experience targeting a single enemy soldier in Normandy
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry / 1:45 Thomas Fitzgibbons remembers the atrocities of war in Northern Italy
Thomas Fitzgibbons, 1st Armored / 1:30 Harold Souther shares his experiences with an officer's treatment of SS prisoners in Northern Europe
Harold Souther, 1st Infantry / 1:00 Raymond Murray recalls an incident between a Frenchman and an SS chaplain in Normandy
Raymond Murray, 3456 Ordinance Company / 1:30 Dale Barker tells of Japanese trickery on Guam
Dale Barker, 1st Armored Amphibian Battalion / :32 Burt Vardeman loses his tail gunner over the Adriatic Sea when their bomber loses engines after a flak filled mission.
Burt Vardeman, 484th Bomber Group (Heavy) / 3:43 Burt Vardeman goes through the typical day of a member of a B-24 bomber crew during the war.
Burt Vardeman, 484th Bomber Group (Heavy) / 5:53 Pilot Denis Payne describes his experience during a German bombing raid in London (the Blitz) and of witnessing a sight that convinced him that England would win the war
Denis Payne, Royal Air Force / 1:20 Jim Paine stands guard over a hospital in France while being wounded
Jim Paine, 100th Division / 1:30 Ray Rogers recalls the Germans' unfortunate choice of escape vehicles during an artillery attack in France
Ray Rogers, 1st Infantry / :52 Jason Sedam tells of a cease-fire to allow food drops to the Dutch
Jason Sedam, 8th Air Force / 3:01 John Dyer gives his impressions of the attack on Pearl Harbor
John Dyer, Naval Aviator, USS Sangamon / 8:19 Herbert Braselton remembers the time when a German sub surfaced in the middle of an Allied convoy on the way to North Africa
Herbert Braselton, USS Pennsylvania / 1:16 William Beazley recalls a baseball game interrupted on a seemingly deserted Pacific island
William Beazley, LCI 6 / 1:17 Joe Peoples talks about how he shot down a German fighter plane himself as his company took a German village.
Joe Peoples, 9th Armored Division / 2:27 Dave Williams recounts an attempt to get a photo of a Russian female officer.
Dave Williams, 78th Infantry / 1:51 Jim Fletcher discovers the fate of refugees who fled the Japanese invasion.
Jim Fletcher, OSS Detachment 101 / 1:12 Gordon Yeager repeats a story told to him by a Navy officer about the importance of keeping your pants on while on a boat.
Gordon Yeager, Intelligence Officer / 1:16 Gordon Yeager retells the story told to him of a dud shell hitting the U.S.S. Ludlow.
Gordon Yeager, Intelligence Officer / 1:33 Frank Long talks about the dangers involved in catapulting aircraft off of the U.S.S. Trenton.
Frank Long, U.S.S. Trenton / 3:46 Hughes Davault remembers serving as a fighter squadron medic and witnessing terrible plane crashes. (Interview contributed by Russell Gray)
Hughes Davault, 339th Fighter Squadron / 5:29 Hughes Davault talks about having to "toughen up" as a medic in the South Pacific. (Interview contributed by Russell Gray)
Hughes Davault, 339th Fighter Squadron / 2:54 Hughes Davault remembers delivering a brief message for a soldier on his deathbed. (Interview contributed by Russell Gray)
Hughes Davault, 339th Fighter Squadron / 1:59 Hughes Davault recalls the callous treatment of a Japanese airman's dead body. (Interview contributed by Russell Gray)
Hughes Davault, 339th Fighter Squadron / 1:10 Richard Eaton and other Airborne soldiers take a leisurely cruise across the Atlantic.
Richard Eaton, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team / 1:06 John Davis recalls a run in with deadly chlorine gas in a submarine on the bottom of the ocean.
John Davis, USS Perch / 2:03 John Davis experiences, first hand, training with US Marines and their response to the cramped condition of a submarine.
John Davis, USS Perch / 2:26 William Bates digs himself in next to a bridge only to have other infantrymen covet his hole.
William Bates, DUKW Crew Member / 3:26 William Bates relates the speed of the war once the invasion of Italy was a success.
William Bates, DUKW Crew Member / 7:44 William Bates along with other infantrymen take over a house in Germany for a night, much to the protest of the German owner.
William Bates, DUKW Crew Member / 1:42 Christa Petersen remembers coming upon the remains of a bomb shelter during the campaign in Germany when she was only a child.
Christa Petersen, German Civilian / 1:28 Stuart Jamison discusses the toll that casualties take on infantry units during combat.
Stuart Jamison, 9th Infantry Division (ARVN) / 1:10 Christa Petersen remembers an encounter with an American soldier that led to a Coke and a misunderstanding.
Christa Petersen, German Civilian / 2:08 Christa Petersen meets American soldiers for the first time, but they aren't the average unit.
Christa Petersen, German Civilian / 2:06 Jack Brantley recalls the lack of rations in his battalion and what they ate to survive the Battle of Normandy.
Walter Jackson Brantley, 695th Armored Field Artillery Battalion / 1:41 Jack Brantley remembers crossing the Atlantic from New York to England, and the drama between.
Walter Jackson Brantley, 695th Armored Field Artillery Battalion / 3:22 Dick Arnold remembers his role in the Battle of the Bulge as a radio operator, and becoming the sole survivor of his 7-man spearhead group.
Dick Arnold, Temporarily detached to a heavy artillery FO Team / 16:48 Dick Arnold remembers the sights and smells of clearing out Buchenwald murder camp in Germany after thousands of prisoners had died there.
Dick Arnold, Unassigned Walking Wounded / 10:50 Harold Barber recalls seeing a tank daringly and cleverly rescue wounded soldiers from a valley on the island of Peleliu.
Harold Barber, 7th Marine Regiment / 0:52 Harold Barber finds the overabundance of salt water in Guadacanal both a blessing and a hassle.
Harold Barber, 7th Marine Regiment / 1:04 George Culpepper sits in the water of the Surigao Strait and watches as two Japanese naval task forces pass him by in the night.
George Culpepper, USS PC-1122 / 4:50 George Culpepper remembers picking up three Phillipine civilians who had been floating on the open sea in a small raft.
George Culpepper, USS PC-1122 / 2:25 Ben Griffith recalls meeting a celebrity at a popular hotel in China.
Ben Griffith, USS LST 1028 / 1:25 Ben Griffith entertains a high ranking general in the Chinese resistance during a trip from Taiwan to mainland China.
Ben Griffith, USS LST 1028 / 2:02 Ken Clark runs into hostile Japanese officers and cultural differences in post-war Tokyo.
Ken Clark, 49th Fighter Group / 3:36 Moran Helms describes his reaction to hearing about the first atomic bomb being dropped at Hiroshima during World War II.
Moran Helms, 97th Infantry Division / 1:21 Rocky Bleier remembers making use of his running back skills to retrieve a precious gift from home during a Vietnamese artillery attack. (4-time Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steeler. www.rockybleier.com)
Rocky Bleier, Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division) / 2:28 Bernard Bentfeld and his unit have to cross the bridge at Remagen but get caught out in the open during German attacks.
Bernard Bentfeld, 656th Tank Destroyer Battalion / 3:34 Ralph Turner, and the other mechanics in his squad, receive their first P38s, much to their delight. (Interview contributed by Dale Niesen)
Ralph Turner, 339th Fighter Squadron / 2:54 Herbert Hepworth remembers when his ship, the U.S.S. Vincennes, was sunk by Japanese forces at Guadalcanal in August of 1942.
Herbert Hepworth, U.S.S. Vincennes / 8:34 Herbert Hepworth describes being a gunner on the U.S.S. Santa Fe during the "Marianas Turkey Shoot", when over 300 Japanese aircraft were shot down off the coast of Saipan in June of 1944.
Herbert Hepworth, U.S.S. Santa Fe / 3:11 Herbert Hepworth talks about the marathon run of the U.S.S. Santa Fe during World War II and sinking a Japanese carrier in the Philippines.
Herbert Hepworth, U.S.S. Santa Fe / 3:58 Neill "Jack" Cox discovers the irony of war when a German 88 round sends him running for cover.
Neill "Jack" Cox, 36th Infantry Division / 2:05 Ray Stein reveals the machinations that led to the Manhattan Project and his undercover assignment for the Army at the Oak Ridge facility. (LONG CLIP)
Ray Stein, Special Engineer Detachment, Manhattan Project / 19:02 H. Read Vaughn and his crew operate out of China during their early campaign and have to endure a 45 day boat ride to their next station when a superior officer pulls rank.
H. Read Vaughn, 444th Bomber Group / 2:39 Clayton Byrd explains a comical incident on the Brittany Peninsula
Clayton Byrd, 94th Infantry / 1:38 Seymour Lavine takes a patrol out into the jungles of New Guinea, but isn't prepared for what he and his men would face.
Seymour Lavine, 11th Airborne / 1:13 Mather Hyatt recalls how he traveled through Europe during his off days after the end of the war.
Mather Hyatt, 1651st Engineer Utility Detachment / 2:03 Mather Hyatt tells of his commanding officer during the early days of the occupation of Berlin.
Mather Hyatt, 1651st Engineer Utility Detachment / 2:46 Mather Hyatt loses a fellow soldier at a Russian Checkpoint during the early days of the occupation of Berlin.
Mather Hyatt, 1651st Engineer Utility Detachment / 1:33 Henk Duinhoven remembers how the war seemed to sneak up on the Dutch people, and their cautious reaction.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 3:10 When the Dutch people go on strike against the treatment of the Jews, the occupying Germans set out to prove a point.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 2:28 Henk Duinhoven's brother refuses to defer to a German soldier on the train and shocks his fellow travelers.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 1:01 Henk Duinhoven tells the story of how his brother found a way to leave Holland without running afoul of the German invaders.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 3:17 Henk Duinhoven and two of his friends have a frightening encounter with a German Paratrooper.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 1:57 Henk Duinhoven recalls the confusion that set in as Operation Market Garden began and the Germans and their collaborators scrambled to defend their occupied territory.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 4:05 Henk Duinhoven tells the story of the first few weeks of Operation Market Garden through a child's eyes.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 7:13 Henk Duinhoven, his family, and the Dutch people in general suffer with a lack of food and resources as the German's fight back against the Allied Forces as Operation Market Garden carried on.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 4:05 Arthur Crowe explains the awarding of points and how he had just enough points to go home as his unit broke up following VE Day.
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry Division Artillery / 2:01 Arthur Crowe remembers how a fellow soldier had a new deadly run in with a shallow river while laying cable for the company's communications.
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry Division Artillery / 3:07 Ed Morrison recalls the interesting, strange, and often grueling train ride across the Australian continent to Perth.
Edward Morrison, USS Chub (SS-329) / 4:11 Ed Morrison recalls the USS Chub using their conventional, non-torpedo, weapons to sink large supply ships.
Edward Morrison, USS Chub (SS-329) / 2:02 Ed Morrison tells the story of a Navy man who uses his R&R to fight with the Marines, only to alienate himself from the crew of the USS Chub.
Edward Morrison, USS Chub (SS-329) / 1:58 Reed Williams remembers an incident in the drop zone of Operation Market Garden, not long after the landings, involving a large quantity of rations and a downed General.
Reed Williams, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Pathfinders) / 2:38 Tom Parsons tells the story of how he created his own good luck charm: a bullet with a name on it.
Tom Parsons, 44th Bomber Group / 1:49 On July 4, 1944, while stationed in England, Tom Parsons gets a front row seat for an improvised Army Air Corp fireworks display.
Tom Parsons, 44th Bomber Group / 3:30 Frank Pomroy recalls how a fellow Marine is seriously injured by friendly fire.
Frank Pomroy, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines / 1:50 H.T. Maclin remembers how the crew of the USS Anzio learned of the atomic attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the immediate aftermath.
H.T. Maclin, Hospital Corpsman, USS Anzio (CVE-57) / 5:17 Lt. Col. Hap Chandler (ret.) talks about losing fellow airmen while in the air and the feelings that come with it.
Lt. Col. Hap Chandler (ret.), 491st Bomb Group / 2:50 Lew Jenkins remembers a series of little events over the course of a night spent bunkering down in a WWI redoubt near the French/German border.
Lew Jenkins, 101st Field Artillery Regiment / 3:22 NEW - After sleeping among dead Japanese soldiers in the Philippines, 1st. Lt. Leo Goldner saves a life and is rewarded with a new place to live.
Leo Goldner, WESPAC Group / 2:51 NEW - Eli Silverman, a Navy corpsman in the 8th Beach Battalion, witnesses an explosion on a ship carrying Marines during the landing at enemy-held Saipan. The gruesome sites of this event are still with him to this day.
Eli Silverman, USS Knox / 2:11 NEW - Army candidate Leo Goldner is supposed to be getting hand-to-hand combat training from Brigadier General (then Colonel) Frank Merrill but ends up training him instead.
Leo Goldner, WESPAC Group / 2:14 NEW - Fred talks about a joke played on a fellow soldier during a brief break in the action. (Caution: Graphic)
Fred Bahlau, 101st, 506th, PIR / 1:52 NEW - Fred talks about having to kill cows for food while in Holland. (Caution: Graphic)
Fred Bahlau, 101st, 506th, PIR / 1:30 NEW - Fred talks about his visit to Hitler's mountain top retreat, Berchtesgaden (Eagles Nest). (Caution: Graphic)
Fred Bahlau, 101st, 506th, PIR / 2:14 NEW - Fred visits a London bar while on leave. He finds a date but is forced to make a quick exit the following morning. (Caution: Graphic)
Fred Bahlau, 101st, 506th, PIR / 2:17 NEW - Tom Kennedy discusses a terrible accident while conducting pillbox and mine training while in England.
Tom Kennedy, 101st, 506th, PIR / 2:17 NEW - Tom Kennedy about holding a wounded German soldier's hand as he dies.
Tom Kennedy, 101st, 506th, PIR / 1:50 NEW - As a member of the OSS, Reed's Japanese interpretor, meets a former childhood friend while in China.
Reed Pelfrey, 101st, 502nd, H Co. / :41 Carl Beck has his first encounter with prisoners in Northern Europe
Carl Beck, 101st Airborne Division / :23 Lewis Fern shares his experience during the landing at Anzio
Lewis Fern, 82nd Airborne Division / :40 Raymond Smith tells of the fate of a German prisoner in Italy
Raymond Smith, 10th Armored / 1:00 Paul Compton tells of capturing Italians while they were still eating breakfast
Paul Compton, 1st Armored / 1:15 Paul Compton describes the heroic death of his unit's first casualty during a strafing attack by Messershmitts in North Africa
Paul Compton, 1st Armored / 1:40 Marion Holmes remembers the desperate actions of a starving village in France
Marion Holmes, 95th Infantry / 1:00 Dale Barker recalls the gruesome nature of war on Okinawa
Dale Barker, 1st Armored Amphibian Battalion / :23 Bob Adams finds a mysterious dead German in Italy
Bob Adams, 345th Engineers / 1:36 Ralph Hempel remembers a replacement in Italy
Ralph Hempel, 13th Armored Regiment / :45 Mack Abbott shares his impressions of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Mack Abbott, Marines / :50 Mack Abbot recalls the fighting on Tinian in the Pacific
Mack Abbott, Marines / 1:17 Hap Chandler retells a story of tragedy on Okinawa as told to him by his friend, Captain Jim "Hoss" Williams who was in the 77th Infantry Division.
Hap Chandler, 8th Air Force / :25 Fred King breaks a soldier’s rule and gets a humorous surprise.
Fred King, 45th Infantry Division / 2:04 Andy Kiddey tells the story of being a passenger on a hospital plane dreadfully close to running out of fuel over Japan.
Andy Kiddey, Armored / 2:31 Joe Peoples tells the story of an unexpected visit from his Vietnamese barber.
Joe Peoples, Air Cavalry / 1:06 John Souther recalls how he came into political office in Italy.
John Souther, 1st Armored / 2:32 The pressure and anticipation break good men, including Dave Williams, during the Battle of the Bulge.
Dave Williams, 78th Infantry / 3:27 As a POW, bomber crewman Don Ogden watches as the Hitler Youth act without consequences, leaving death in their wake.
Don Ogden, 15th Bomber Group / 2:49 Don Ogden is taken to a camp for rescued POWs and awaits the long trip home.
Don Ogden, 15th Bomber Group / 4:22 Don Ogden watches a saboteur get his just desserts on an American airfield.
Don Ogden, 15th Bomber Group / 0:55 Hughes Davault talks about the dangers of flying home after World War II was over, after the aircraft mechanics had already left. (Interview contributed by Russell Gray)
Hughes Davault, 339th Fighter Squadron / 2:57 Ray Stein shares his experience of working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Ray Stein, Special Engineer Detachment, Manhattan Project / 6:37 John Davis describes the design of the USS Perch, a recon and rescue submarine.
John Davis, USS Perch / 2:00 Earl Williams takes shrapnel in the arm and hip during a bombing raid on the air field at Mariveles, Bataan.
Earl Williams, Philippine Division / 1:31 Ralph Stinson describes passing a concentration camp as his unit made its way across Europe with Gen. Patton.
Ralph Stinson, Third Army / 1:14 Henk Duinhoven remembers the treatment of Jewish people as the occupation of Holland progressed.
Henk Duinhoven, Dutch Civilian / 1:34 Arthur Crowe recalls two memorable events on his transport ship in the waters off the French coast.
Arthur Crowe, 9th Infantry Division Artillery / 2:04 NEW - 1st Lt. Leo Goldner, who is Jewish, has an amazing encounter in the jungles of the Philippines.
Leo Goldner, WESPAC Group / 3:37 NEW - Eli Silverman, a Navy corpsman in the 8th Beach Battalion, comes across a wounded Marine on Saipan yelling for help. He quickly realizes that the wounds are worse than he originally thought, and has never been able to forget the man’s face.
Eli Silverman, USS Knox / 0:45
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