onal cable satellite corp. 2015] >> with live coverage of the u.s. house on c-span, here on c-span3, we complement that by showing you the most relevant programs. then c-span3 is home to american history tv on the weekends. the civil war's 150th anniversary, dissing battlefield and key events. american artifacts, touring museums and historic sites to discover what artifacts reveal about america's past and, the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of our commander-in-chief. what top college professors delving into america's past. reel america features archival films from the 30's into the 70's. watch as in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on

twitter. >> monday night on american history tv, and american used -- american news special report on communist saigon from 1975. nbc news reports on the capture of south vietnam pots capital by north vietnamese communist forces. it details events in the weeks following the vietnam war. an nbc news special report from 1975 communist saigon, on american history tv on c-span3. >> each week, american history tv's reel america bring you archival films that tell the story of the 20 century. "the true glory" is a reduction of the office of war and information the british information -- british ministry of information, chronicling events from the d-day invasion until the east surrender of 1945.

-- the nazi germany surrender of 1945. the film was digitally restored using software and a more tedious manual process to remove dirt, dust and scratches from the scans of each frame of the 81 minute film. ♪ >> i have been asked to be the spokesman for this expeditionary force in saying a word of introduction to what you are about to see. it is the story of the nazi defeat on the western front. so far as possible, the editors have made it an account of the really important thing in this campaign -- the enlisted

soldiers, sailors, and airmen that through every obstacle to victory. to tell the whole story will take years, but the theme will be the same. teamwork wins wars. i mean teamwork among nations, services and men. all the way down the line from the g.i. and the tommy. our enemy in this campaign was strong, resourceful, and cunning. but he made a few mistakes. his greatest wonder was this -- he thought he could break up our partnership but we were welded together by fighting for one great cause. a team in which you were an indispensable and working member. that spirit of free people working, fighting and living together in one great cause has served us well on the western front.

we pray that spirit of comradeship will persist for ever among the free people among the united nations. ♪ ♪ >> do you who now living in love of hope who since the future in this rounding air, this testament, he may look among the violent fragments of our age and the little threads that made us the citizens of freedom.

dark was europe and the face of man when this begins. the nation had gone mad and struck out everywhere the compass. the m tied left its wreckage on 100 coasts. the german casts his fires around the globe, his strength, drawn from the smoking fire lay in our weakness and at last his conquests smoldered hind the barriers of his arms. along the channels to the west's wall of concrete and steel. wounded heart press and wasted on our strength, we can reach the wall and smash a german's might. first, the coast of europe. between -- we sought out the place of assault. sand and wind canceled the belgian coast.

cliff's barred the approaches. the port of calais was heavily defended. it all resolved on normandy on the coast. there, planes could land, the coast defenses were more light and tides at a good range and men were safe from wind. five miles of still and bloodied sans, it would be assailed by armored missions. now our people bent to the construction of a steel array and took the builders hammer in their hands. it seemed as though the sun stood still with people for of rage and power he would do the air spirit of war. this is our peoples story in their words. ♪ ♪

>> i suppose if the battle of the north atlantic had gone right, things might have been considerably different. it was then ugly time for all of us. i guess i had my share of ad luck. i lost three ships and some good friends. [explosions] >> i remember reading somewhere that when a seagull comes out on a patch of oil, its feathers six together and it can't get off the water again. there must have been a lot of head seagulls around the north atlantic. >> we saw it all happening on the war map and it was quite real. when i started there, it looked

like something out of some children's game. soon, ships carrying supplies and weapons. >> i remember coming over, the worst thing was you did not know where you were going. where ever it was, you would be a stranger and nobody likes that. the ship was loaded from stem to stern with sad sacks. the fellow said we were all in the same book, a comic. finally, we got the -- we got to leave -- we got to liverpool. "i'm dreaming of a white christmas" they would play, but it is pretty corny. it was a nice gesture. funny thing, on the way over, you like you are the whole works, but then, all over the u.k., you would see things that

made you realize you are just part of a big opposition, all kinds of things.

[explosions] >> i was a premed student at johns hopkins. i do know a little something about anatomy and ice they it is scientifically impossible for the human body to stand up to the training we received, an absolute impossibility. don't ask me how it happened how we did stand up to it. i don't know. it has no scientific explanation. >> listen to this -- to a young man, soldier in the army of today, i had exceptional advantages and opportunities such as physical training, foreign travel, sports, and many other facilities which are normally denied to those engaged in the majority of civilian occupations. the majority of occupations in civil life, not this to say the least.

but in the army, life is so varied that there's little or no prospect of a monotonous or irksome time. >> so men were herded to their highest hour. the planners met to watch their work mature. beyond our view, the german, proud and confident stood on the armored coast. the weapons were the factories and voices speaking in the hidden night. season by season, those you men on whom the mass of war weight worked ceaselessly. >> i used to wonder whether the millions of people doing the various jobs realized they were part of it all, paving their way for the invasion. >> we kept dashing away at german targets, mostly steel and

oil. >> dings were getting tougher every trip, more ground defenses, more night fighters. >> we got away early in the morning. we struck at the same target they did. it was deluxe service, day and night, 24 hours a day. >> we dropped agents over france . it must be awful to risk your neck and have to keep it secret. >> one-man submarines repeat owed both commandos. >> it had to be quick drying with a solid clay foundation and support 30 ton tanks. next i must have photographed every field in france. >> we dropped arms ammunition, sabotage materials and so on and

then went over ourselves and taught them how to use it. >> the only name it had was mallory. >> it is vital to know about the tides. >> we trained the men to negotiate those vehicle types. >> meyer -- miles of wire netting at the beaches. >> with an underwater pipeline to carry it to france. >> new ships poring through stocks. >> listening to the german radio officer for fresh intelligence. >> that was just part of the preinvasion work. then the plan was set and we took it to final discussion. >> russian forces are a dancing the east and an invasion from the west. then, the date was set.

>> i assumed command with the best all-around team for which a man could ask. some had already been working for months in england. others i brought with me from the mediterranean. we adopted first a master plan and then had to coordinate every last detail of the ground, c and airplanes. we led off with an air show designed to make the landing point as soft as possible and battered german communications. to make sure we had control of the. it was quite a show. those airmen did a magnificent job. >> we had polish am a french, check folks in our outfit. the only word you could ever make out was marshaling yard. >> we would just ask each other

have you cut any good bridges lately? finally, there's only one bridge over paris and the sea. >> in the late spring through the wounded town moved the mass made by our patient -- our patients. all the maps were on the walls. across the channel germans stood beside their guns and reinforcements rumbled from the right. there generals were prepared. they looked across the heaving sea and grinned. they would wreak harvest on us on the beaches and even death itself would stand amazed. yet came the thin thunder of a massive power drawn from the great peoples of the earth to crowd upon the steel encumbered ships.

♪ >> it was a funny sort of feeling marching down to the ships. we had done it previous times before. they did not tell us this was the big show. might have been just another exercise.

i think we all guest. the general feeling was if this is it, let's get in there and get it over with. even waiting for a bus, never could stand it. our ship found its way in the middle of the rest of the stuff in there we stayed for days. [siren] >> they gave us the final briefing. we knew what to do and how, they told us where and when. i listened to every word. i wrote it down in my head like a record and it began playing over and over again. ever since i became a soldier,

they have been getting me ready for this. now that time had worn away and there were only a few hours left, in a morning, i would have to face it. i tried to imagine how much fear i had that would keep me from doing my job and i suppose everyone else was wondering the same thing. >> nobody said anything official but all of a sudden the ship got much busier and over the amplifier, the chaplain said he would be seeing mass at 18:30 hours. i don't think i ever believed that the invasion was going to come off. then a voice on the loudspeaker said anyone who wishes to take

seasick pills should take the first one now. that did it. ♪

[airplane engines roar] ♪ >> i was plugging a lighter the way we always practiced. three airborne divisions

british, 82nd and 101st american. the glider pilot was cast off over the landing zone and i wished him good luck on the radio. it seemed an inadequate thing to say. >> as supreme commander, let me break in at this point to say a word about the navy. from the moment of embarkation the full burden fell upon the navy and our merchant fleets. they had to sweep the mines, bombard the coastal batteries marshall and protect the transport along the coastal line and finally, man the small boats that carried the soldiers to the beach. on that day, there were more than 8000 ships and landing craft on the shores of normandy. it was a most intricate task and a vital one for the success of our plans. their courage, fidelity and skill of the royal and american navies have no brighter page in

her history and that of june 6 1944. ♪ [explosions]

♪

>> back in london, only a few people knew. it was a well-kept secret. around a break, we correspondents were called and told to be at the ministry of information at 8:00, and they told us. ♪ >> a called our beach omaha. don't ask me why. i've never been to omaha, but

it's in nebraska. if it's anything like omaha, france come you can have it. i understand omaha was the roughest spot. we lost some good men, took a few prisoners. i wasn't -- i was told what to expect, so it wasn't like a surprise or anything. for a while, we were pinned down, but a lucky thing -- other beaches were going better, so we got a little more than our share from the old teamwork. the navy came down and finally we got moving. you hear about how long it takes to make battle hardened soldiers of green troops, i got to be a veteran and one day that day. >> and so they paved the beaches with our blood. the germans carried fiercely. the three airborne divisions

fought lion like and loud across the plains of friends came german reinforcements. locked in battle, the armies clashed. our first objective then was to merge all of the beachheads into one and 50 miles of men drive on together beyond the red sands to the broken wall. >> where i was, it wasn't too bad getting ashore. it was the same each time. crawl on your belly, checking a few hand grenades and then rush them. sometimes a killed us, but we were killing more of them. they were regular little fortresses and we would have to

wait until their company commander called for artillery support. the navy commander was ahead of us and in three days, we advanced seven miles and we were told to stand fast and the again. next morning, we heard the news from the bbc. it sounded great. we had joined all along the bridge head. there was a solid line, 45 miles of it. we were in. ♪ >> we did not have to do much navigating to get there. we waited around and the ground troops would whistle us out and tell us about some target they

wanted removed and we would go on. >> there's something nice about a beach. any beach. think of a beach in kansas or iowa and you think of something nice. girls and bathing suits. the one i worked, utah, looked more like a freight yard once we got going. we brought more supplies right onto the open beach. it was like we made it up as we went along. life's -- life rafts and boats stuff just kept pouring -- tanks , trucks, food ammo, millions of things. >> we did not think we would spend 15 nights in the same

field in the wood behind us and the germans in a would in front of us and a little empty valley in between. we got into a routine. two hours, wait for breakfast came up fairly odd -- sausage t, of course, biscuits. it was good food but you got tired of it. i would have given a lot for a slice of bread and butter or a cup of tea. 15 days is a long time to stay in one place. you think everyone is coming straight for you. ♪

>> i can remember every case we ever had, especially the first one. the ambulance brought him in. i looked at where he was lying. he looked up and grinned. he said something about the german with the machine pick using him for a dart board. he was quiet and patient. he had never been hurt fighting before. he passed out. the doctor came over and looked at his wounds, said he is no business to be alive. we put him on the operating table, did what we could. we could not stop the bleeding.

i remember the radio news that night. they said the casualties of been surprisingly light. >> they said the whole thing was to roald winston's idea, collapsible prefabricated armor. it worked in the end. i felt pretty good about it because i watched it grow from the first ships to the outer bank and further along west, the yanks have brought one, too. but then, and onshore wind started up. not much at first, but it got worse, and unloading onto the beaches got very tricky. the other harbor had been put right out of action.

the wind dropped, old mulberry looked pretty sick and after that time, it was the only bleeding harbor we had. >> at the green tip of normandy, cherbourg. the german new our lack. all our plans turned upon cherbourg. so, the americans swung toward the north. through hedge and field, they carved their heavy way. >> remember back now it seems like we took cherbourg a couple

days after we took the beach. actually it's a 19 days to cover 30 miles. otherwise, it was nice country. like connecticut. pretty trees, cows, nice little farmhouses. the apples were to eat, i remember. we hit it off i'm with the people. farmers. nice people. they had great defenses. and the artillery really carry the war. for three days we stuck it to them. sometimes we were firing at point-blank range. finally the german commander -- after telling his men to fight to the death. we took cherbourg on june 25. everything was great except the way they have left the harbor. they had really tore it up. then, we fought our way up to

cherbourg. now we would have to fight our way out of it. >> everywhere inside france, we were fighting, too. i went into the north myself. we caps on. eventually when the allies entered, it was open. it was a little easier in the mountains. factories and bridges would disappear. but the price we paid for it was frightful. the germans floated 1200, and the place was completely burned. they were not used to having to

ambush german troops. everything -- women, children -- died. the price we paid was very grave, but our job was done. narrator: it is the capital of normandy. and this is where the british set up the stonewall. this was the tightening of a drill, inch, by inch, forward. 10 of 12 divisions of armor -- paratroops, the young, against the veterans. future plans depended on him standing where he was. . everything in the ground was

priceless. it was the mineral of the war.

>> caen was the first decent sized town we are taken. jerry was as strong as ever. one of the men said, are we going to have to go around the world doing this to beat them? caen was dust, just plain death. i wondered what it would look like back home after a beating like that. we knew that there was a big dude coming in. >> when they begin moving forward, rommel was on the road. i knew he was not on the run.

there was no outflanking, no nothing like that. it was an arms, bitter bloody slugging match. at the end of the day, we gave as good as we got. >> beyond the rubble, the empire troops kept up aggression. still unaware of the plans. the americans were poised to defend freedom for the whole of

france. the arrow waited.

>> one minute it was quiet. he next minute, a tank comes around the corner. they are taking down. been waiting for three weeks. man, what a ride. >> when i think the breakthroughs, i don't seem to be able to remember anything but french.

-- but french people. people by the side of the road. farmworkers nearby. it's easier for them to look at their face and think about having to smash their homes. that morning we got in. really that was liberation. [bells ringing] [crowd singing] >> american armor plan to drive

east and northeast. the foe laid plans to stop the arrow dead, by cutting its path along the coast. so [indiscernible] to burn it down to the smoking ground. >> there's a lot of other places i'd rather talk about than that. we had been a long great up until there. and then that first german artillery crossed. pretty accurate, too. we were short 18 men. we hit back with everything we had. they were not just trying to stop us. they won it to come right through. and then me, i get a built in the face, left his side and i get healed.

the next thing i see are the aria tycoons -- the raf tycoons. when i heard them screaming, i thought, geez, i'm glad they are on our side. >> i was sitting in front of the intelligence office when it came through saying that the german army was heading west. we went nonstop. take off the tank, refuel, take off again. it was the same any airfield in normandy. the only briefing i gave the chaps was where they were and the only intelligence we got was where they were going to be. >> three days it lasted. every soldier, every min.

no sleeping. then things quieted down. we stopped them cold. heh. nobody felt like celebrating but that was a tough order out there. >> the counterattack did not hinder our plans. the north flank was weakened. now the stage was set. the empire troops swept together. the american armor turned toward aregentan. he found himself within a closing trap.

>> i covered him with a gun down at the clearing station. the tough ones with the smile froze stiff on their faces by shell fire. the plane joe's for the much ready to tell you that. and poker-faced officers with a poker-faced look. the old soldiers off the russian front. i have seen them all. the hitler youth baby, looking like they walked off the lincoln high, expert killers. smart alex, talking about their rights under the geneva convention asking, when do we go to america? the other guys who crawled out of a hole with his hands up. and he would swear that he hated hitler all the time.

kids you knew how i machine gun worked -- how a machine gun worked, but nothing else. holding that trigger finger still. middle-aged guys wanting to tell you about their wife and kids. they were through killing when i saw them. i was through getting to them, 20. some thought they were lucky and others did not. i will cover it down to the rear. not my job to think about. i just kept them covered. i never gave them more than the geneva convention. that was all. >> american tanks -- before them, the germans, their hands upraised, the roads littered with smoking gear.

>> a good solid map -- a map does much for him at united army traveling at a high -- at a high speed. the situation was well in hand. then everything went mad, stark raving mad. the army went off the map absolutely off the map. they arrived in due time. to our horror, the army progressed far beyond the operation. this is a time of acute crisis for me. we refused to be waylaid by the situation. it became evident we were going to bypass -- eventually we had to drop 10 tons by parachute. it was a very humiliating experience.

i will be glad when i get back to the library of congress. >> we french soldiers were fighting in the normandy field. and suddenly an order came. go to paris, it said. the allies, after having equipped our division with tanks, guns, jeeps, at night decided to give us paris, too. so, they start rushing in the rolls. on the right, on the left, everywhere. the american air force. what a treat. 250 kilometers and one a. -- in one day. i will tell my grandchildren and bore them until i die.

>> [indiscernible] what could be a concern toward the end of the month, the german started to leave the city. yes, those were the same germans who signed when he five-year leases on their apartments. the next day -- that wa sthe day -- that was the day, too, when the police car opened fire and began the evacuation of the city. all of the flags were made of curtains. everything. we started -- everyone. people were screaming. the french army

we sayw it was good. we began to realize how unhappy we had been for four years. >> all of a sudden another of d-day's foes -- two. american armies struck. and then they moved in light waves to join the forces on the rights. beyond this stage, where from 100 sites, germans launched the campaign of distraction on english towns -- the americans advanced garrisons enforced by

desperate foes and the canadians were sent. and then the british swept through. >> the people threw flowers in the tank and said, goodbye tony. they meant to say hello. i saw they were no longer afraid. i remember wondering then how the first germans were able to react to us. >> i remember one day we were

coming across a big, flat field. did not look like anything special. a guy says to me, guess what? i says what? he says, you are in germany. it will not be long now. >> i had a fiver on it being over by october 1. i began to think of that great double-breasted suit. >> i was in the seventh army coming up from the south of france. one day be lieutenant said, take a ride with me. i have prisoners for you to guard. a whole german division. >> one day we came across a thing i had never seen before. that really made me feel good. >> if it shows up white it is american, shows up dark it is that, and if it never shows up -- >> i found that the risk was for

five miles. >> i wrote to the old man and i told him he better cut prices on g.i. stoxx if he did not want to be stuck with a lot of military -- military apparel. >> don't worry about me. >> it was a terrific eating. we were sure nothing could stop us. -- it was a terrific beating. we were sure nothing could stop us. narrator: every line must at some point have an end. nothing lay between the southeast army and the british and the german planes except to deborah hers. so we made our plans. then they would hold them for the force that could sweep up. thus where no line existed, over the rhine at last.

>> i sat right forward by the window. i could see nothing but the blue skies. one of the boys is reading a newspaper. he showed me a funny piece in it. i could not laugh. someone yelled -- we are planning now. either member thinking, what a bit of bad luck -- i remember thinking, what a bit of luck.

>> the army came down and said -- let's bring it to a place called -- you have to wait for the british army and then we would join them and head out. >> we crossed the river and started out, but we did not get far. he put in everything he'd got. that was the worst. knowing our men needed nor me when we could not get to them. >> we got ourselves well dug in. we were short of ammo and food i will never forget those supply

initiatives, the way jerry came in. we knew that we were him then. we knew it was possible we would not get out. >> more than anything, i remember the way that everyone behaved. everyone was kind and considerate to each other. i knew a lot more about men after that. >> the guns died out in arnhem, and they knew the greatest gallantry wasn't not enough to cross the bridge. a direct force would be the only way to carve our corridor into the rigreich. thundering german guns controlled the 30 miles from walcheren to antwerp.

it was a useless city on the sea. it would stay dead and so we cut away. >> i covered that battle for the associated press. i only wish i could have written the story with the greatness of the men who fought it. vicious and fearsome fighting all the way. the canadians and the polles the norwegians charging deep in blood and water. it was the kind of fighting that makes legends. was the greatest operation of its kind in history. it was the lives of thousands of our bravest men. i reported it as well as i could. their memory deserves more than words.

>> i was on the first call to antwerp. i always wanted to know where stuff was. i made lots of trips. i don't know how many. driving all day, all night. things like, milkman, keep those bottles quiet. >> my job was to see if they had a new toothbrush, a cut, maybe a book to read the came from the east bank to the west bank of the mosul. we brought over one regiment at

a time because that was all anyone could spare. someone tapped them on the shoulder and said, all right boy, you are going over the river 24 hours rest. here they were for 24 hours without war. everything. one night sleep, one days hot meals, change of underwear clean pair of pants, issued, hot shower, one movie. what was the best of that day? the chance for them to write home, a hot shower? to see a girl on the screen. whatever it was, it was all over by morning. they were back. back across the mosul to the ground and the shells.

>> by that time, we knew we were going to see a winter campaign. there was no way out of it. the germans were dug in. >> the squadron was operating wherever it could. >> i suppose you are having a swell time in paris, my cousin wrote me. with all of that perfume in stockings and champagne? >> we were in the mountains with the americans. there was very little warmth. i recalled with pleasure -- [indiscernible] ah, but memories in a world war. >> before i joined the army, i would not have thought it and the sergeant said squirrels do it every year. and i thought, yes, but not with

machine guns as well. >> [indiscernible] >> i never smoked before, but pretty soon i felt myself smoking a pack a day. i worried about that law of percentages. you would look up one day. it was a lonesome feeling. >> it was pretty quiet. a lot of us had gone up north. then one day i am standing guard and he shall start. i thought, this is it. but then i realized these were not going spirit of were comings. german tanks, the next thing i knew. but they were going the wrong way. [explosions] >> the offensive we were mounting to the north was

suddenly postponed and set aside. he cut a fiery path through the american line. a night of pale december frost. he aimed for antwerp's harbor and all of our plans held fire. they curbed the germans in the balls. -- in the bulge. >> one night i was the preplacement. the next day they shoved me an airplane and the next a a was fighting germans, being kicked

around. i don't know about the other outfit. they were dropping on me. the only weapon they had was a needle, but they were around right where it was the hardest. they were yelling, medic medic! >> our whole division got a presidential citation. even me, just the cook. i will never forget that old lieutenant running into the kitchen and hollering at me, if i had any idea of how to operate a bazooka? i said no, and he said, you will learn to now, son. and by dogged, if i did not get me a jerry tank.

they said it was a cracker jack story. i would tell it at the drop of a hat. >> coming down through belgium we noticed how scare some of the civilians were. natural, i suppose. we waited for action. >> on account of the fog, we could not get any air coordination. on december 20 fourth, like a christmas present, the sun,, and after a while, we were giving them the old one to again. a -- we were giving them the old 1-2 again.

>> we stopped them dead, finally. it cost us plenty of men but we stopped them. and we started moving ahead again. >> back on the recoiling spring. the army sagged sodden toward the rhine. the three great architects of freedom that to fix the final blow. that even as they met, we moved

to act on the strategy. now we could destroy him outside his headquarters. down the gauntlet, challenging him to stand and fight. [gunfire]

>> we were attacking the north would be canadians in the dutch frontier area. it was wet and filthy. i nicknamed the army commander admiral. they put up stiff opposition but actually this is just what we hoped for. it showed that jerry's and motions about fighting for every foot of his mother and father land were getting the better of his sense of strategy and every german would make it easier for us. it was the bloodiest i have seen in this war. [explosions] >> a captain said eight positions, they follow things like that. i was with the outfit but to

the city. there were not many civilians in the streets. there was a $65 $65 ration for fraternization. i wonder how they figured out that number? i mean, why 65? >> we could see cologne cathedral a long time before we got there. it was on the rhine river. we got faster. by the time we got there, there was not too much left. there were still a few bullion's, and i was sorry. i thought about those french cities flattened. anyway we got our objective. no we had to cross that river. >> i thought they must be short of men when they put us sailors on the front. i'd never been sick at sea, but i was sick as a dog on the road.

when we reached our destination i was feeling lousy. it was under a stinking smokescreen. the next day, we got up to the rhine. it was good to have a glimpse of the water. >> our air force was giving them the lump sum the east side of the rhine, but i was still nervous. i couldn't eat nothing but a couple of milky way bars. it was going to be d-day all over again. dangerous. >> a miracle. derek was. i'm no architect, but to me, -- there it was. i'm no architect, but to me, that was the most usable bridge in the world. they have the choppers working overtime. they give us a break and we cashed in on it.

the rhine was finished, washed up. ♪

>> we got across in a meeting was going fine. the airborne blokes started to come over. they started looking and after about half an hour of it, one of them looks at me and says, drop again.

>> the pocket was the first big objective across the rhine. they exploded in all directions. they got the jerry, they were going to take them one by one. that was the program. they were carved up like a christmas turkey. >> chasing the germans was getting monotonous. there were a few shells, the occasional sniper rifles shot. then one day, i saw myself in the war camp. there were cries. i've never seen him so happy. i told them -- president roosevelt died yesterday afternoon. they quieted down. they all felt that they had suffered a major defeat. i might have stayed there until noon trying to do them up, but there was no time to lose.

where to get the men a few hundred square miles. you've got to hurry them up. >> we were in the home stretch, getting deeper all the time. we ran into slave workers. they were sick and hungry and all over europe. the roads were jammed with them. i guess there's a lot more than towns going to have to be reconstructed. >> i started to wonder with those personnel, as they were urgently called for. i soon found out. we are taken the concentration camp. well, i'm not squeamish. i've seen amputations operations deaths, long before i went into the army and -- in '41. i was a warden. i lost count of everything i had

seen. this was different. bloody different. i'm not proud of this. i had to fall out. like i said, i'm not squeamish, but well -- [indiscernible] >> the government sent a few of those congressmen over to see those camps and if there is anyone left to wonders if this war was worth fighting, well, i wish they had been along. there it was, right in front of us fascism, and what it does wherever it crops up. i talked to some of the britons the ones that had the strength -- some of the prisoners the ones that have the strength to talk. they had the wrong religion, wrong race, wrong political party. in germany, it led to over 400

camps like the ones i saw. it was the worst thing i have ever saw in my life and i would not have missed it or anything. >> we have been flying around with the british transport command since d-day. >> as pocket after pocket left, in italy, a million prisoners came in as with a single side and blow the german power was smashed. the russians took berlin and cut the heart from hitler's empire.

and he vanished like smoke. upon the green banks of the river elbe, we waited for east and west to meet. >> we linked up with the ru sskis at the elaba river. he did not know any english. i taught him to say something. we did all right. i don't like to think where we would have been without this. [explosions]

>> we were going toward the danish frontier. a million and a half surrendered in the north. the fighting would be over and our job was beginning. we were prepared for plenty of trouble. resistance. perhaps something more violent. where wolves in sheep's clothing. they seemed healthy, well fed. their disease was in their minds. a german woman, looking to the left of the town said to me -- if only you had given up in 1940, none of this need have happened.

[explosions] >> at one minute after midnight may 9, 1945, the guns stopped. d plus 347. >> now it starts. all the arguments about which

country won the war. anyone who wants to take it up by himself is not only boasting, but nuts. >> i spent four years in the infantry. during that time i only met three men who likes to fight, but they were little cracked. it had to be done. now that it is over, i feel good except for one thing. all this talk about world war iii. these big pessimists to talk so easy about another were just did not see this one. or enough of it. >> i would rather be friends with some of them. i was thinking of those who bought it -- friends shot down missing. our member their faces or a joke they played -- i remember their faces or a joke they played or the way they laughed or something. it can be such a loss.

>> to the victor belongs these spoils. that's what they say. a chance to build a free world, better than before. it may be our last chance. remember that. >> now the time has come to put our victory to the test. in the rebuilding of a broken earth, may we keep in our hearts this ancient prayer -- the lord god now giveth to thy servants -- grant to us also to know it is not the beginning but the contin