1. Opening Prelude
Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney and glider pilot Leo Cordier
provide dramatic words about the experiences of flying in a WWII
glider.
2. Attack on
Fortress Eben Emael
Hitler’s
bold gamble of using gliders to spearhead an attack is recalled
with dramatic footage of the attack filmed by the Germans.
3. Germany’s Glider
Program
Restricted from flying powered aircraft,
Germany turns to gliders in 1922 to build up their air forces.
8.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
America is stunned by Japan’s
bold attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and enters
the World War.
9. War Reporters Enlist
Legendary correspondent Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney recall
joining the war effort and serving along side the troops.
10. Doubts
about the Glider Program
Doubt surfaces about using
gliders in battle. Mike Murphy emerges as the “ultimate glider
program salesman”.
11. The Invasion of
Sicily
To secure a foothold backing to Europe, the
Allies decide to invade Sicily from North Africa and American
glider pilots see their first action of the war.
12. The St. Louis
Glider Crash
Tragedy strikes St. Louis with an American
glider crash that claims the Mayor. Americans learn about the
glider program for the first time.
13. The North
Carolina Glider Demonstration
Mike Murphy in
a spectacular glider demonstration at Fort Bragg convinces
military brass to continue the American glider program.
14. Mission to Burma
President Roosevelt directs Hap Arnold to aid British efforts in
Burma to stop the Japanese advance into China and India.
American glider pilots have their new mission.
17. The Invasion of Holland -
Operation Market Garden
In an effort to reclaim Holland, the largest glider mission as
part of the First Allied Airborne Army is launched to take back
the towns and bridges. The farthest bridge at Arnhem would prove
to be a “bridge too far”.
18.
End the War in ’44
With Paris in Allied hands everyone mistakenly assumes the war
will end by Christmas.
19. Battle of
the Bulge -
Bastogne
With the 101st Airborne pinned down by the Germans at Bastogne,
gliders are the only way to bring in medical supplies and food.
