Movies Logo

The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color

This four-hour series narrated by Martin Sheen captures America's wartime experience through original color film footage and compelling passages from diaries and letters. Rare color footage-much of it never before publicly screened-presents a vivid and intimate portrait of life on the battlefield and on the U.S. home front.

Advertisement
Created By
StatusReturning Series
Original NameThe Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color
First Air DateFebruary 12, 2003
Last Air DateFebruary 19, 2003
Seasons1
Episodes4
Episode Runtime 55min
LanguageEnglish
Original LanguageEnglish
Production Countries
Production Companies
NetworksPBS
Advertisement
S01E04

Triumph: The Pacific, 1943-1945

The series concludes by covering America's efforts to win the war in the Pacific. Among the many scenes captured by color footage are U.S. troops staging a dawn landing on tiny but strategically important Tarawa; the U.S. attack on Iwo Jima and the raising of the American flag on Mount Surabachi; the desperate fight to save the U.S.S. Franklin after the aircraft carrier is hit and set on fire by armor-piercing bombs 50 miles from Japan; U.S. aircraft carriers under attack by kamikaze pilots during the battle for Okinawa; the funeral procession for President Roosevelt following his sudden death in April 1945; the devastation wrought on Hiroshima by the atomic bomb; the Japanese surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri; and celebrations in the streets of New York marking the end of the war.

View Episodes