Eye On History D-Day

Success was anything but assured. In fact, before the invasion even began, Dwight Eisenhower had already penned this message to the Allied leaders: "Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops." It was never sent. The D-Day landings signaled the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. With a firm foothold on the European continent, the Allies were ready to roll toward the German homeland. This thrilling program brings the epic invasion to life through the recollections of soldiers on both sides and extensive footage from government archives. Learn the first-person stories at the heart of D-Day--how 96% of one company died without firing a shot, how German soldiers pinned beneath the massive Allied barrage cried and called out for their mothers, how bullets passing through American planes "made a sound like popcorn." This is the story of D-Day told as it has never been before, through the eyes and in the words of the frightened kids and hardened soldiers who fought on the coasts of France.

• documentary