MILITARY CHANNEL: Bringing viewers compelling, real-world stories of heroism, military strategy, technological breakthroughs and turning points in history, Discovery Communications, Inc. transitioned its Discovery Wings Channel to the Military Channel on Monday, January 10, 2005. While Discovery Wings Channel focused exclusively on aviation, the Military Channel will feature a dramatically broadened programming mission, as well as an all-new on-air look. The network’s revamped slate of series and specials is designed to take viewers “behind the lines” to tell the personal stories of servicemen and women and offer in-depth explorations of military technology, battlefield strategy, aviation and history. The Military Channel also provides access to military personnel and hardware, allowing viewers to experience and understand a world full of human drama, courage, innovation and long-held traditions. Military Channel
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY 2005
Special Programming
Carrier Week
In honor of Discovery’s 20th anniversary, this week-long themed event will include one world premiere film, ANATOMY OF A SUPERCARRIER, along with special encore presentations of four classic Discovery Channel programs.
World Premiere
Monday, February 14
8-9 PM
ANATOMY OF A SUPERCARRIER
In every conflict since World War II, the Navy’s aircraft carriers have been the United States’ ambassadors of naval might. Examine these vessels, their crews and the incredible arsenal they carry, including the aircraft that call these flattops home.
Tuesday, February 15
8-9 PM
CARRIER: FORTRESS AT SEA
This program profiles life on an aircraft carrier. It combines the visual excitement of flight deck operations with extraordinary photos taken from under the wings of fighter planes, in cockpits, in the air and under the planes as they catapult off the ship. The program chronicles the voyage of the carrier USS Carl Vinson from San Francisco to Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and into the Persian Gulf, where the ship and crew participated in the enforcement of the U.N. “no fly zone” below the 32nd parallel. These extraordinary images are combined with the stories of the people on board the Vinson — the pilots, on- and under-deck personnel and officers.
Wednesday, February 16
8-9 PM
CARRIER: ARSENAL OF THE SEA
This special takes viewers aboard the massive aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. It goes behind the scenes to meet the people who populate this high-tech floating arsenal. From the flight deck to the bridge, the launch operations room to the sleeping quarters, CARRIER: ARSENAL OF THE SEA tells the personal stories that reveal how thousands of sailors live and work on the Reagan.
Thursday, February 17
8-9 PM
CARRIER AT WAR WITH TOM BROKAW
Tom Brokaw joins some of America’s troops engaged in battle to learn what life is like on a carrier, away from family, friends and all things familiar. Viewers will find out what it takes to thrive and simply survive, fighting for your country at sea.
Friday, February 18
8-9 PM
CITY OF STEEL: CARRIER
CITY OF STEEL: CARRIER is a comprehensive inside look at the aircraft carriers of today’s and tomorrow’s United States Navy. This program uses the construction of a new carrier as its story backbone to give viewers an understanding of these remarkable ships and the weapons they carry.
Specials
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE
TBA Premiere: Thursday, February 3, 8-10 PM
They heard it before they saw it, calling the distinctive WHOP WHOP of its blades the sound of freedom. For veterans of Vietnam, the UH-1 “Huey” helicopter was a lifeline, a “green angel” that sang the soundtrack of their youth. In the three decades since the war, the sound of those blades has been mostly silent, until a production crew and four volunteer Vietnam veterans took a battle-scarred Huey on a tour of the country. IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE follows the 10,000-mile flight of a restored Vietnam-era Huey to 42 landing zones in eight states across America as it again carries the soldiers who once relied on it for survival. The program captures moving reunions, heart-wrenching stories and the welcome home Vietnam veterans never received.
IRAQ: THE UNTOLD WAR
TBA Premiere: Monday, February 7, 10-11 PM
This is the story you haven’t heard about the people and places that make up our current war in Iraq. With the help of top officials and experts from the Iraqi coalition, IRAQ: THE UNTOLD WAR reveals new technology, communications and airpower used to topple Saddam’s regime.
BATTLEFIELD DIARIES: LAST OF THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS
World Premiere: Monday, February 21, 10-11 PM
In August 1950, North Koreans begin to hit U.S. forces hard on their western flank, causing a swift retreat. The 24th Regiment, the last segregated, all-black Army unit, is sent to patrol the areas around Masan and Haman, but they are poorly equipped.
GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA
World Premiere: Thursday, February 24, 8-9 PM
Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Iwo Jima landings, GOIN’ BACK travels with American war veterans and their family members as they return to the battlefields where the veterans fought in their youth. A poignant, dramatic and compelling combination of adventure and firsthand accounts, GOIN’ BACK follows veterans and their families as they seek closure and completion by revisiting the actual scenes of their lost innocence. The iconic image of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima is the best known of World War II. GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA brings living heroes back to this tiny Pacific island, where the costliest battle in U.S. Marine Corps history took place in the spring of 1945. A dozen surviving veterans revisit the black-sand beaches, the tunnels and foxholes, notorious Mount Suribachi, and the all-important airfields where so many of their comrades gave their lives.
Series
BATTLEPLAN
One of the most important aspects of battle is often overlooked in the telling of war stories – the strategy. BATTLEPLAN takes viewers into the heart of famous battles, examining exactly how the commanders planned and fought. Through detailed analysis and historical comparisons, viewers learn how famous strategies were developed and executed.
World Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 22
8-9 PM
[TV-PG]
Assault from the Air
Go over the top of the enemy in the third dimension of a battlefield, known as “vertical envelopment.” This element became reality in the 20th century with the invention of the airplane, then the glider and parachute, and finally the helicopter.
WORLD WAR II BATTLEFRONT
Each episode of WORLD WAR II BATTLEFRONT focuses on a specific battle during the war. Through remarkable color footage, photographs and personal accounts, the series illustrates the way World War II was lived and fought by the men and women on both Allied and Axis sides.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 1
9-9:30 PM
[TV-PG]
Solomon Island
For the first time since America entered World War II, U.S. Marines would face Japanese infantrymen on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. In the jungles, two powerful armies would clash in a six-month battle that would claim nearly 30,000 lives.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 1
9:30-10 PM
[TV-PG]
Operation Dragoon
With allied victories in Italy, the tide of war continued to turn against the Axis powers. The Allies had to break into France and push the Germans back to their own border. The war continued into the resort towns of southern France.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 8
9-9:30 PM
[TV-PG]
North Africa
In November 1942, an armada of 850 Allied ships mounted the first amphibious landing of World War II. In North Africa, the Germans came up against a formidable American army and faced defeat for the first time.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 8
9:30-10 PM
[TV-PG]
The Last Stronghold
Toward the end of World War II, American B-29 high-altitude bombers struck into the heart of Japan. What followed brought the Japanese a nightmare unequalled in history”one of the most horrendous firestorms ever.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 15
9-9:30 PM
[TV-PG]
Gilbert Islands
In November 1943, a group of tiny Pacific islands would become the scene of some of the worst fighting in World War II. The Japanese defended the islands furiously against a U.S. invasion.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 15
9:30-10 PM
[TV-PG]
Liberation of the Philippines
In late 1944, General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines as Americans began the final push to retake the islands after two years of Japanese occupation. It would be a bloody confrontation with one of the highest body counts of the war.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 22
9-9:30 PM
[TV-PG]
Burma: The Forgotten Front
As Japanese armies advanced through Burma to take India in the spring of 1944, they met resistance from British forces determined to push them back. Japan’s goal of conquest instead became a retreat, which took the lives of 50,000 men.
North American Premiere
Tuesday, Feb. 22
9:30-10 PM
[TV-PG]
Battle of Norway
In early 1940, Norway, with its strategic location and access to important natural resources, became a prized target of both the German and British navies. Both countries would fight to be the victor.
MILITARY CHANNEL ACCOMPANIES WORLD WAR II VETERANS ON A PILGRIMAGE TO THE ISLAND THAT CHANGED THEIR LIVES FOREVER
Silver Spring, Md.”Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II, Military Channel proudly presents the world premiere of GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA. This moving, one-hour special accompanies a dozen American veterans”now in their 80s”as they journey together back to the tiny island outpost where they fought as teenagers in the bloodiest battle in the Pacific during the war. In the program, the veterans recall their experiences on Iwo Jima and have the opportunity to come to terms with long-buried demons and emotions. GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA premieres on Thursday, February 24, at 8 PM (PT/ET).
GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA follows a dozen Marine Corps veterans from across the United States as they revisit the barren Pacific island’s black sand beaches, underground tunnels, airfields, Mount Suribachi and the site of the iconic raising of the American flag. They returned to Iwo Jima with family members in tow, recounting their terrifying and heartbreaking experiences during the invasion. They all lost friends and comrades, some of them were wounded on the island and all recall vividly the grim duties they had to carry out. In GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA, these veterans finally were given an opportunity to bring closure to an unforgettable chapter in their lives.
Among the Marines who journeyed back to Iwo Jima is Gordon Ward, who flew from Kensington, Md., to recount the early morning when he was wounded. That day, after Ward was hit by mortar shrapnel, a medical corpsman tending to Ward’s broken leg was hit by a shell, died and fell on top of Ward. Luckily, another Marine noticed Ward beneath the dead corpsman and loaded Ward into a landing craft leaving the island. That boat was hit by artillery fire, and Ward almost drowned as he lay facedown in water spilling into the shot-up boat. A Marine aboard the boat lifted Ward’s head out of the water until they reached the hospital ship, saving his life again.
Another veteran reliving the harrowing experiences he had on Iwo Jima is Peter Burns of Scottsdale, Ariz. Burns served as a signalman, sending messages back and forth to the ships from the shores of the island. Among the experiences Burns recounts is how he had to throw dead bodies onto empty boats to be taken out to the hospital ships. Burns cried as he remembered the day he loaded the body of his childhood hero onto one of the boats.
Returning to the island where a brutal battle shaped so many of their young lives was a necessity for the veterans who made the trip. Whether they marveled at the dog tags that were recently hung at a memorial site or searched for caves where they had buried their comrades, each was able to leave again in peace.
GOIN’ BACK: IWO JIMA was produced for Military Channel by Dark Horse Media. Rick Okie is executive producer. Bill Howard is executive producer for the Military Channel.