The War (2007)
The story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.
Cast: Keith David, Katharine Phillips, Tom Hanks, Paul Fussell, Quentin Aanenson, Burt Wilson, Sascha Weinzheimer, Sam Hynes, Daniel Inouye, Rebecca Holtz, Glenn D. Frazier, Emma Belle Pelcher, Olga Ciarlo, Maurice Bell, Dwain Luce, John Gray, Sidney Phillips, Susumu Satow, Jim Sherman, Robert Kashiwagi, Kevin Conway, Burnett Miller, Ray Leopold, Earl Burke, Asako Tokuno, Tom Galloway, Jackie Greer, Josh Lucas
A World Without War: March 1945 - September 1945
A few weeks after the death of President Roosevelt shocks the country, Germany surrenders. Meanwhile, American sailors, soldiers and Marines endure the worst battle of the Pacific--Okinawa. In August, American planes drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese, too, surrender. Millions return home--to try to learn how to live in a world without war.
The Ghost Front: December 1944 - March 1945
Americans are shocked by Hitler's massive counterattack in the Ardennes Forest--but by mid March, 1945, they are across the Rhine, while the Russians are 50 miles from Berlin. In the Pacific, after weeks of desperate fighting, Iwo Jima is secured, and American bombers begin a full-fledged air assault on Japan.
FUBAR: September 1944 - December 1944
Victory in Europe seems imminent, but in Holland, the Vosges Mountains, and the Hurtgen Forest, GIs learn painful lessons as old as war itself--that generals make plans, plans go wrong and soldiers die. Meanwhile, on the island of Peleliu, the Marines fight one of the most brutal, and unnecessary, battles of the Pacific.
Pride of Our Nation: June 1944 - August 1944
On June 6, 1944, D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops take part in the greatest invasion in history, but then bog down in the Norman hedgerows for weeks. Saipan proves the costliest Pacific battle to date, while back home dreaded telegrams from the War Department begin arriving at an inconceivable rate.
A Deadly Calling: November 1943 - June 1944
Americans are shocked by terrible losses on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, while in Italy Allied forces are stalled for months at Monte Cassino and a risky landing at Anzio fails utterly. At home, as overcrowded "war towns" boom, economic transformation leads to confrontation and ugly racial violence.
When Things Get Tough: January 1943 - December 1943
January 1943 - December 1943: Americans mobilize for total war at home and overseas. Factories hum around the clock, while in North Africa and then Italy, inexperienced GIs learn how to fight. Meanwhile, in the skies over Europe, thousands of American airmen gamble their lives against preposterous odds on daylight bombing missions.
A Necessary War: December 1941 - December 1942
December 1941 - December 1942: The tranquil lives of the citizens of Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota are shattered on December 7, 1941, as they, along with the rest of America, are thrust into the greatest cataclysm in history.