Daily Archives: May 18, 2019

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Omaha Beach:  Honor and Sacrifice

On D-Day, a roughly 7,000-yard stretch of beach in Normandy, France given the code name “Omaha” proved to be the Allies’ biggest obstacle to the success of Operation Overlord. The assignment to take Omaha Beach, establish a beachhead, and move inland into France was given to two American divisions — the already battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) and the untested 29th Infantry Division (The Blue and the Gray), who had yet to see any combat in World War II. American Naval Combat Demolition Units also hit the beach that day, writing their own individual stories of horror and heroism. Seven decades after the “Boys of Omaha Beach” landed, many veterans are returning to this part of the Normandy coast for the last time. Other soldiers who were there on D-Day have also come back for the first time since that historic day, looking for closure as they enter the final years of their lives. OMAHA BEACH: HONOR AND SACRIFICE shows the very personal stories of several veterans as they return to Omaha Beach and documents the celebration in Normandy that continues to this day as a result of their acts of courage and determination on June 6, 1944.

Airs 5/25 at 7 p.m.

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Day of Days:  June 6 1944

On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied servicemen landed on the shores of northern France, tasked with liberating western Europe from Nazi tyranny. Over the ensuing hours and days, the men faced decimating machine-gun fire, mortars and artillery, eventually fighting their way inland, but not before suffering a staggering number of casualties. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landing, four D-Day veterans gather at the famed Museum of World War II outside of Boston, Mass. to share their experiences from that fateful “Day of Days.” Cameras eavesdrop on their conversations as they vividly recall details from their ordeal — from the perils of the amphibious assault to the invasion’s gruesome aftermath. Their interactions with one another yield long-buried, and often painful, memories. They recount their transformations from boys to men, reveal their uneasiness with the term “hero,” and grapple with why they survived when so many others did not.

Airs 5/25 at 8 p.m.; 5/26 at midnight; 5/26 at 11 p.m.