在D日之前的几个月中，美国第8航空队为击败德国空军而进行的血腥战斗的故事不为人知。通过特别介绍三名美国飞行员和星条旗记者安迪·鲁尼的第一人称，这个特别节目展示了B-17空中堡垒B的惊险空战-原始的彩色录像，大多数美国人从未见过。 -47雷电和P-51野马参加了雷根斯堡，施韦因富特和柏林等任务。此外，还突出显示了空军基地前所未有的8毫米镜头，德国的灾难以及德国空军的视角。第8空军在没有氧气的空气中飞行到25,000英尺高空，温度低至零以下50摄氏度，进行了前所未有的战争。到最后，他们将遭受26,000多人的战斗死亡，这比第二次世界大战期间美国海军陆战队损失的更多。由艾美奖提名演员Rob Lowe讲述。

Forever etched into history with its famous image of U.S. Marines hoisting 'Old Glory' over Mount Suribachi, the Battle of lwo Jima reveals a far greater story than just an iconic photograph. The Americans wanted the small island for its strategic airfields, which would bring their bombers within range of Japan's home islands; for the ragged Japanese, it represented a last-ditch effort to stop the oncoming Allied juggernaut on its island-hopping march towards Tokyo. The result was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, as fortified Japanese defenders gave no quarter to the wave of men and steel that crashed onto the volcanic blacks sands of lwo Jima.

Additional interview footage with war veterans Jack Werner, Chaeles Scheffel, Roscoe Blunt Jr, Jimmie Kanaya, Shelby Westbrook, and Jack Yusen.

Historian Don Miller, Producer Lou Reda, and others talk about searching for and obtaining the footage used in the series.