WWII in HD
Encyclopedia
WWII in HD is a 10-part American documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 that originally aired from November 15 to November 19, 2009 on the History Channel. The program focuses on the firsthand experiences of twelve American service members during World War II, including an Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 nurse, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps....

, a second generation Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...

 and prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

, and an Austrian Jew immigrant. The twelve members recorded their time in both theaters and some had later interviews; found footage
Found footage
Found footage is a filmmaking term which describes a method of compiling films partly or entirely of footage which has not been created by the filmmaker, and changing its meaning by placing it in a new context. It should not be mistaken for documentary or compilation films. It is also not to be...

 from the battlefield was paired with the stories of the twelve service members.

The episodes premiered on five consecutive days, with two episodes per day. The series is narrated by Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...

 and was produced by Lou Reda Productions
Lou Reda
Lou Reda is filmmaker, specializing in television documentaries, who has produced some 400 productions, as chairman of Lou Reda Productions, based in Easton, Pennsylvania. Reda's production company has been called "the largest producer of programs for the A&E and History Channel cable operations",...

 in Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....

, United States.

Jimmie Kanaya

The son of Japanese immigrants, who served in the U.S. Army and was imprisoned in Europe (voiced by James Kyson Lee).

Jack Werner

Retired 1st Sergeant Hans "Jack" Werner (born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria, voiced by Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...

) is a retired Austrian American member of the 7th Infantry Division, 13th Combat Engineers of the H and S Company, a division of the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. Being Jewish, Hans fled Austria to the United States after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Hans, who changed his "far too German" name to Jack, traveled to Hollywood to become an actor. He later joined the 7th Infantry, stationed at Camp Ord
Fort Ord
Fort Ord was a U.S. Army post on Monterey Bay in California. It was established in 1917 as a maneuver area and field artillery target range and was closed in September 1994. Fort Ord was one of the most attractive locations of any U.S. Army post, because of its proximity to the beach and California...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, as a Private months before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 and although he wanted to fight in Europe
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...

, he was stationed with "undisciplined" on Attu Island
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...

 during the Battle of Attu
Battle of Attu
The Battle of Attu, which took place from 11-30 May 1943, was fought entirely between forces of the United States and the Empire of Japan on Attu Island off the coast of Alaska. The action, which was part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the Pacific War, was the only land battle of World War...

. After the Battle of Kwajalein
Battle of Kwajalein
The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of...

 and Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...

, Werner participated in Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

 and after the war ended, he retired to live with his re-united wife and had 3 children. Passed away on July 17th 2011.

Shelby Westbrook

(voiced by LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...

) Shelby Westbrook was a Fighter Pilot in World War II fighting with the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen)
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps....

. He trained at the Tuskegee institute in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 in 1943 before fighting in Europe in 1944. He was stationed in Italy in an all black airbase (since the army was still segregated). On one day of combat, he was shot down and crashed landed deep in German controlled Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. He managed to escape with the help of resistance members that were being supplied by the allies.

Jack Yusen

(voiced by Jason Ritter
Jason Ritter
Jason Morgan Ritter is an American actor, son of the late actor John Ritter and actress Nancy Morgan. Ritter is probably best known for his role as Kevin Girardi in the television series Joan of Arcadia and as Sean Walker in the NBC series The Event.-Early life:Ritter was born in Los Angeles,...

) Jack Yusen was a navy member when he joined in 1944. He was assigned the . Assigned to escort transport ships in the Atlantic Ocean from German U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 Attacks. The ship was latter assigned to move to the Pacific theatre where it engaged in the recapture of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. The ship was part of Taffy-3 escort when it engaged in the famous Battle of Samar on October 25, 1944. The ship was sunk by the Japanese task force and he abandoned ship. He spent several days in the shark infested ocean when he was finally rescued. He is retired and lives with his wife.

Rockie Blunt

(voiced by Rob Corddry
Rob Corddry
Robert William "Rob" Corddry is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a former correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and for his starring role in the comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine...

) Roscoe C. Blunt, Jr. was journalist, jazz drummer, and veteran of the U.S. Army's 84th Infantry Division from World War II. He was the youngest soldier to be awarded the Expert Infantry Badge. After returning home from the war, he became an award-winning investigative journalist as well as an expert jazz and big-band drummer. He is the author of three books, including "Inside the Battle of the Bulge" and "Foot Soldier: A Combat Infantryman's War in Europe", (Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2002). He now lives in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. passed away on February 10, 2011

June Wandrey

June Wandrey Mann (1920–2005, voiced by Amy Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...

) was a First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

 in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from Wautoma, Wisconsin
Wautoma, Wisconsin
Wautoma is a city in Waushara County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,998 at the 2000 census. Wautoma is the county seat for Waushara County....

. She was the author of Bedpan Commando, an account of her military service in Africa, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, Italy, France and Germany from 1942 to 1946, during which she was awarded eight battle stars.

Mann's book garnered significant public and media attention, leading to numerous television, radio and personal appearances, including on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....

, NBC Nightly News and the Paul Harvey Show, among others.

On June 22, 1995, Mann met with President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 in Nettuno, Italy, as part of celebrations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Anzio Beachhead Invasion.

She was a life member of numerous veterans' associations, including the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Anzio Beachhead Association, 36th Inf. Div., 3rd Inf. Div., and the 10th & 40th Combat Engineers.

Bert Stiles

Bert Stiles (August 30, 1920 - November 26, 1944, voiced by Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...

) was an American author of short stories who was killed in action during World War II while serving as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Robert Sherrod

Robert Lee Sherrod (February 8, 1909 – February 13, 1994, voiced by Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...

) was an American journalist, editor and author. He was a war correspondent for TIME and LIFE magazines, covering combat from World War II to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. During World War II, embedded with the U.S. Marines, he covered the battles at Attu
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...

, Tarawa, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

, and Okinawa. He also authored five books on World War II, including Tarawa: The Story of a Battle (1944) and the definitive History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II (1952). He was an editor of TIME during World War II and later he was editor of The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...

, then vice-president of Curtis Publishing Company
Curtis Publishing Company
The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, The American Home,...

.

Richard Tregaskis

Richard William Tregaskis
Richard Tregaskis
Richard William Tregaskis was an American journalist and author whose best-known work is Guadalcanal Diary , an account of just the first several weeks of the U.S. Marine Corps invasion of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during World War II. This was actually a six-month-long campaign...

 (1916–1973, voiced by Tim DeKay
Tim DeKay
Timothy Robert DeKay is an American character actor. His first on screen acting job was as corporate giant Larry Deon on seaQuest 2032. He was a cast member of the series Party of Five from 1997–1999, Carnivàle from 2003–2005 and Tell Me You Love Me in 2007...

) was a reporter for the International News Service
International News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...

 who served as a frontline reporter for the Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 during both theatres of operation. Tregaskis was ineligible for the draft as he had Type 1 diabetes
Diabetes mellitus type 1
Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a form of diabetes mellitus that results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. The subsequent lack of insulin leads to increased blood and urine glucose...

 and he instead became a reporter during the Guadalcanal Campaign
Guadalcanal campaign
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...

 on a small island in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 in late 1942 and early 1943. He used notes written during the campaign to produce a novel entitled Guadalcanal Diary
Guadalcanal Diary (book)
Guadalcanal Diary is a memoir written by war correspondent Richard Tregaskis and published by Random House. The book recounts the author's time with the United States Marine Corps on Guadalcanal in the early stages of the pivotal months-long battle there starting in 1942.-Narrative style:Tregaskis...

, which became an instant success. The book was made into a film by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, released in late 1943, while Richard transferred from the Pacific
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...

 to Europe
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...

, covering the invasions of both Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

 and the Italian mainland
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...

. After a shrapnel shell was lodged in his brain, he retired from reporting World War II and later returned to the front lines to cover the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 and Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

.

Charles Scheffel

(Voiced by Ron Livingston
Ron Livingston
Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...

 according to http://blog.newsok.com/television/2009/11/10/oklahoman-featured-on-wwii-in-hd-nov-15-19-on-history) He was wounded twice, and asked to be sent back to his own unit after the first injury. He was sent home after a second injury resulted in the amputation of his trigger finger. He was married to his wife, Ruth, until her death in 1999. They have three children. Charles Scheffel passed away on June 24, 2011. An amazing man and soldier. His body done by his wishes was donated to medical research. He joins his wife of 57 years, 12 years after her passing. On his grave marker it says, "Alive in Christ"

Episodes


# Title Original airdate
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