Gentlemen, you're going to France.
A group of men, thousands of miles away from home,
who finally feel like Americans.
You know, we could use your help.
What would you need me to do?
We need help charting the area to get out of here.
We're a few hours away from the invasion of Europe.
You've never seen anything like it.
Hundreds of ships.
Thousands of men.
And the best part?
The skies were ours.
Nothing's the same, Croz.
Never will be.
Yeah, but now our guys are here, almost at Paris.
Hitler's worst nightmare, a two-front war.
With us right between them.
They force-march us out of here before the Russkies can set us free.
But how would they do that?
Like this.
We gotta get the men ready to fight.
The Russians crossed into Germany.
How close, Buck?
Lights out.
They're close.
Really, really close.
By the first few weeks of 1945,
we were closing in on the Third Reich from all sides.
In the west, the Allies were storming into Germany.
In the east, the Russians were approaching the Oder River.
And in the sky, the Eighth Air Force flew uncontested.
We were the true masters of the air.
Command pilot to tail, we're about to reach the target.
How are we looking back there?
Looking good, Major. All lined up.
Roger. Let's drop.
She's all yours, Gene.
Roger that, Major.
Bomb bay doors opening. One minute to drop.
-Are we hit? -Starboard engines are okay.
But Doug, come down here and take a look at this.
A couple tanks got hit.
Yes, sir. On my way.
Major, we have damage here.
More oxygen bottles are ruptured. We only have six in reserve.
Roger. Keep an eye on it, Doug.
Rockets incoming.
Engine one's on fire. Shutting her down.
Cutting fuel and oil to number one. How's she looking?
-That's it. She's out. She's out. -Good.
Approaching target. Five seconds to bomb release.
Bombs away.
Looked good, Luke. Looks like we m--
Pilot to crew, what's our damage? Report.
Gene, Luke, report.
Oil pressure is dropping on two and four. Engine three is on fire.
We're gonna lose her. We're gonna lose her.
Shit.
Lead command to deputy command, you boys are taking over.
Repeat, you boys are taking over.
Roger that. We're taking the lead.
-I'm gonna take the ship, okay? -Roger.
I'm gonna try to get us across the Russian lines where we'll be safe.
Yes, sir. Your ship, Rosie.
Come on. Come on. Hold together a little longer.
We're losing speed. Should we bail?
Not yet. We're not going down in Berlin.
Come on, come on, come on. A little longer.
Major, left wing is shredded.
We're almost there.
That's it. She's gonna stall.
Bail. Hit the alarm and then go.
We can make it across the river from here.
I'm gonna try to keep her level as long as I can.
-Go. We got smoke coming in. -Yes, sir.
Move.
-Come on, come on. Go, go. -You get it?
Come on.
Gene!
No, no! No, no, I'm American.
Amerikanski. Roosevelt. Stalin. Coca-Cola.
Roosevelt.
Goddamn it. 2300 hours. That's, what, 30 minutes? Less.
Go! Hustle!
We got half an hour. We need to be at the front gate. We're marching.
-Go tell the guys. Go! -Yes, sir. You got it.
Everyone out. Let's go. Thirty minutes.
Goons gave us 30 minutes to be at the front gate.
2300 hours, then we march. They won't say how far or for how long.
Thirty minutes. Jesus.
All right. Pack it up. Let's go. Wear the warmest clothes you got.
Where do you think we're going?
I don't know. Allies must be close.
Get your warmest gear.
Only essentials.
Just break it.
Let's go.
Bring matches.
Only take food that will keep.
The Krauts have already punched holes in the cans.
They won't keep.
Burn everything! Everything!
-Get your hands off it! -That's mine!
Get off me!
How you doing?
Would have preferred it if the Russians made it here first.
You're not thinking of running, are you?
Not in this icebox.
Ham.
Hambone. I wouldn't do that if I were you.
Yeah?
Who knows when we're gonna get this kind of food again, you know?
Fuck off.
Anyone who tries to escape will be shot. Please do not try.
That's the Russians. They're close.
That's gotta be the Russians.
Shut your mouth, Black scum! March! Faster! Faster!
Okay, we're going. We're going. We're going.
That's how you handle terror flyers and murderers.
With force!
You okay, Solomon?
As okay as a Jew taking a midnight stroll in Germany can be.
-Bucky warned you not to-- -Don't fucking say it.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, look, as soon as you have anything at all, you let me know. Okay?
Thanks, Bill.
Nothing. Still no news on any of 'em, Rosie or the crew.
So what's the story?
They went down over no-man's-land east of Berlin.
Jesus Christ.
Major, sir.
The hell are you doing here, son?
We got wheels up in five, and the equipment room's locked.
Let's move, people. Look alive. Let's go.
-You fucking-- -Hey, Clouter.
What are you laughing at? You had a big, fat wren last week.
I guess you've never flown over Germany without a parachute, huh?
Well, I don't know, Crosby. Have you?
Now, from here on out,
you're gonna keep that equipment hut opened and manned until wheels up
plus 30 minutes. Yes, Major?
-Yes. Major. -Yes, Major?
Yes, Major.
All right. You heard the man. Clean up. Let's go.
Danke. Thank you.
Get off the road!
-To the side. -Get off the road.
-Move! -You hear me?
-Off the road. Now. -Move it.
For blood and soil!
Stand up and show respect for our heroic fighters!
Heil Hitler.
Children and old men.
All is lost.
MUSKAU BRICKWORKS
Don't run, don't run, don't run.
Hey, there's enough room for everyone.
Come on. Get in close. Get in close.
Scuttlebutt is we're heading to a train station at first light.
Scuttlebutt know where we're going?
No. Just to be ready at dawn.
This isn't good. They're gonna take us somewhere and kill us, aren't they?
Why move us?
They've had plenty of chances if they really wanted to kill us.
-I don't know. They're Nazis. -It'll be okay, Solly.
Hasn't gone exactly how we thought, has it?
Not exactly. You wish you'd done it differently?
Can't say I would have. You?
I wasn't planning on getting shot down.
You know, I really did believe that if there was only two B-17s left,
be you and me flying 'em.
Last few years would have been a lot rougher without you, John.
Same.
We're slowing down, aren't we?
Any idea where we are?
NUREMBERG CENTRAL STATION
Nuremberg. Shit! It's Nuremberg. It's fucking Nuremberg. I me--
-Settle down, Solly. -Calm down.
-I'm a dead man. -It's all right, Solly.
We're in the heart of their fatherland now, boys.
Gale? Gale!
Gale Cleven.
Jesus, I'll be.
George. How the hell are you?
Long way from home.
Oh, my God. Hey, this is George Neithammer.
-John. -Only guy I've ever met
-knows more about baseball than you do. -Is that right?
-Who's your team? -Yankees. You?
-Cubs. -There's always next year.
So I'll see if we can find you boys some tents with some fires going.
I'm warning you, most of them don't.
That's okay. Happy enough to just get out of the snow.
The general says that he can take at airport
at Baranavichy,
for a flight to Moscow.
From there to England.
He warns you that the road is going to be very dangerous.
Possibly via Tehran.
For the smell.
There is a wagon ahead that had lost its wheel.
They have to fix it.
Do you mind if I-- if I stretch my legs?
"THE JUDGE OF LIFE, WILL JUDGE FOR LIFE."
We found many of these camps.
Everyone's already dead and burned before we arrived.
There's-- There's more of them?
Yes. Our comrades found even bigger camps than this.
They were built for killing people, many people at a time.
Poles, Russians. Mostly Jews.
The wagon, it is clear. We can resume.
Stay here, Major, and I will find out when the next plane for Moscow leaves.
Thank you, Lieutenant.
Where are you headed? Are you-- you headed home?
Home? Family?
He says his family are all dead, buried in his village.
He said he buried them himself
with the other villagers the Germans killed.
The Germans, they ordered him to fill in the ditch.
Somewhere in there, his wife, his daughter, his grandchildren.
So, he takes the shovel.
To live… one must make choices.
Where will he go now?
Major, the plane to Moscow is boarding.
Go with God.
He says if God exists, He has forgotten him.
Not even the earth that covers our bones will remember us.
Major! Major, we must go. Come, hurry.
Let's go.
What did he say?
The Germans want to stay ahead of the Allies.
They're worried they're getting too close again, so another march.
We leave at 1900 hours.
Another night march?
Yeah, but I told them we won't go more than 20 kilometers a night,
and they agreed.
Spread the word.
Popeye's saying they're taking us across the Danube tomorrow.
We move tonight or we don't move at all.
-Tonight? -Tonight.
We won't be able to make a run for it after that, Gale.
The river's too damn big to get back to this side.
Listen, guys are starting to break out into groups.
Buck, if we keep it tight-- me, you, George, Aring--
you know, it's a better chance to move unseen.
-P-51! -Cigarettes and torches, put 'em all out!
Put those out!
Glemnitz! We told you we had to stop marching at night.
We're being attacked by our own goddamn planes.
-It's not safe. We told you it's not safe. -Bucky, calm down!
-It's not goddamn safe. We told you. -John, look at me. Look at me.
Look at me. I'm in.
We make a run for it tonight.
Calm down before they put a bullet in your head.
Move it! March, march, march!
Bob, go tell Simoleit we've done our 20 kilometers.
We're stopping here and now.
Yes, sir.
Korlesky, Tiller, I want you to scout for billets.
Abandoned buildings-- Church, school. Whatever you can find.
According to Jefferson's map, there's a forest a few miles northwest.
If we make it that far, we should be pretty well covered.
We'll make it that far.
I say we head down that way,
take advantage of the confusion while we still can.
Over that wall.
All right. Who wants to go first?
I'll go.
All right, Bill. Go.
All right.
-Get going. I'm right behind you. -All right.
Halt! Halt!
Hey, don't shoot.
-Go, Buck. Get out of here. -Halt!
Release that man. Now.
Let him go.
Goddamn it. You touch one hair on his head, and you'll have a riot.
Glemnitz.
This is one of my senior officers, and he is essential to--
Sergeant, order your man to release Major Egan.
Now.
The hell was that all about?
George, Bill and Buck, they went over that wall.
You hear that?
Sounds like GMCs.
Looks like they're retreating.
Pig!
Please.
Go!
Go.
Fucking kids.
We gotta go, Buck.
Buck.
They didn't even have any goddamn bullets.
Let's go.
There he is. He made it!
Welcome back, Major!
Hey.
-How's it going, boys? -You made it back, Rosie!
He's back. Major Rosenthal made it.
Come on!
Hey, boys.
-Aggie, how are you, my friend? -You made it.
-Hey, don't get run over. -You want me to stop?
No, no, no.
Welcome back, Rosie!
All right, Rosie!
Rosie! Yeah!
And then from Poltava, we flew in a C-46 to Iran,
and then,
same C-46 to a place called El-Aden-- which is a Brit base--
and then up through Athens and then Rome and Naples.
And then, get this,
we got transferred to Winston Churchill's personal converted B-24 Liberator--
I kid you not--
for the flight back to St. Mawgan's.
How are you?
How's Jean?
She's pregnant.
I'm gonna be a father.
You kidding me?
Croz.
Croz, congratulations!
God, I'm so happy for you two.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's-- That's a good thing. Right?
-Yes. -All right.
Are you sure?
Yes. You know, it's…
I don't know, it's--
You know, all this killing we do,
you know, day in, day out…
does something to a guy.
Makes him…
different…
not in a good way.
You know, Rosie, sometimes I wake up…
I don't even recognize myself in the mirror.
It reminds me of this quote I read at college, from Nietzsche.
He said…
"Whoever fights monsters…
should take care not to become a monster himself.
Because if you gaze into the abyss…
the abyss gazes right back into you."
We're here to fight the monsters, Croz.
Yeah.
And, yeah--
Yeah, that's made us do some tough things…
but we had to.
There's no other way.
The things these people are capable of…
No, they got it coming.
Trust me.
They got it coming.
Stop right there!
-Hey! Americans! -Whoa, we're Americans!
Americans! We're American airmen!
Keep your hands up!
We got two here. They say they're ours.
They look like POWs.
All right. Bring 'em in.
All right. At ease.
Bob, find a place to get 'em out of the weather.
Yes, sir.
Well, I guess they're not gonna process us.
Doesn't look like it.
Let's go.
Thanks for the lift, guys.
Major. Welcome back.
Crosby, they still got you at this dump?
Sure do.
-Major. -Rosie.
-Good to have you back, sir! -Major, welcome back!
Lemmons.
-Gentlemen. -Good to have you back.
You got a musette bag, Major?
No, I left that in the suite at the stalag.
What you see is what I've got.
I gotta thank the CO for letting Hank pick me up in Paris.
We've been running a few shuttle missions the past couple weeks.
What's this for?
The Dutch are starving to death,
so the Allies are dropping tons of food west and southwest of the Zuider Zee.
Supposed to be a flak truce with the Germans,
so no flak or AA guns.
So far, they have refused, but, hell, we're flying anyway.
Egan wouldn't let us ship it to your folks.
Kept saying, "I expect him back,"
and "My buddy's just MIA."
So, Major,
operations was kind of hoping you wouldn't mind flying
on this mercy mission I was just telling you about.
Should be a milk run,
but you can't be sure what the Germans are gonna do.
Be nice to get behind the yoke again.
So Bucky didn't make the breakout with you, huh?
No. No, Bucky had to-- He had to stay behind with the men.
He's okay though, right?
Yeah, when do you ever know him not to be okay?
I'm guessing when this is all over, Alex,
they'll probably send us home out of Marseille or Le Havre.
I can't see 'em shipping us out of Merry Old England.
Hey, hey!
Macon, that's a P-51.
It's the Yanks!
That's a P-51.
Here they come!
He's coming back.
He's coming back!
Down! Get down!
Yeah! Come on!
All right, we're going home!
Come on!
Everybody down!
Move! Get out of the way!
Fellas! Take out the tower!
Buckle, Kraut!
Hey, guys, you got a flag? Who's got the flag?
No flag, sir.
-You got a flag in here? -No flag, sir!
-Flag! No flags at all, huh? -No flag.
-No flag at all? -Get our flag!
-Hey, hey, you got a flag? -I've got it! Here.
Major!
Here it is.
Help me up!
-Don't shoot. -Give me one reason.
Stay reasonable.
We're going home!
Freedom!
How does it feel?
-Yeah! -Yeah! Take that thing down!
Go, Bucky!
Bucky! Come on. Yeah!
Yeah! Tear it up!
Yeah! Do it! Tear it up!
All right, Bucky!
USA!
Colonel, the camp and the village are yours.
I will hand over my men, disarmed, in 30 minutes.
Dismissed.
Colonel Clark, let's get 'em back.
Yes!
Rosie.
Major.
Some gum, D-bars,
and, hey, look at this.
First fresh oranges we've seen in months. Probably years for the Dutch.
Nice.
-Oh, Major. -Major.
Croz.
Let's go feed some people.
Yes, sir. Sounds good.
I hope you don't mind, but I usually take the left seat.
Well, always actually.
I'll get the general on the phone.
No, I'm just kidding you.
It's an honor.
Ready preflight checks?
Never readier.
Form 1A?
Checked.
Controls and the seats?
Check.
Ken?
The hell you doing here?
A hundred bucks says you can't think of a better flight engineer.
Plus, well,
I thought he'd get a kick out of actually flying in one of these things.
-You've never flown in a plane before? -No, sir.
-Wha-- Ever? -Never.
I took a boat over here in '43 and then, well, I never had a reason to fly.
Start one.
How's the view, Kenny?
Beautiful.
It's something, ain't it?
Navigator to pilot, coming around to 090, over.
Pilot to navigator, roger.
Here we go.
Get ready, everybody.
Approaching Valkenburg.
Feel free to say a little prayer that they don't open fire on us,
if you're so inclined.
Looks like we're good, boys.
Germans decided to honor the truce.
Smart Krauts.
Hey, look at this.
You can see 'em.
Drop on your best guess, Doug.
Roger that, Major.
Bomb bay doors opening.
Crates away.
There you go. We did it.
Hey, look, look.
"Thanks, Yanks."
Look at that.
Clearup Tower, this is Chowhound One requesting landing instructions. Over.
Chowhound One, you are clear for overhead approach.
Runway 281 at 1,200 indicated.
Winds are 300 at 12.
Altimeter, 29.96. Over.
Clearup Tower, please repeat. Over.
You heard me the first goddamn time, Gale.
Well, I'll be damned.
Look who it is.
Stone in my shoe.
I'm back.
How's it feel being back up there?
Felt good.
Look who's back.
-Harry. -John Egan.
-How are ya? -Very good, sir.
-Pleasure to see you. -You too.
-Not still throwing up, are ya? -No.
-Good to have you back. -Kenny, how are ya?
Rosie, what a pleasure. Nice to see you. How are ya?
We made a few of those supply drops in the last days of the war.
And then, one day…
Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m.
at General Eisenhower's headquarters…
…It was over.
…General Jodl,
the representative of the German High Command,
and of Grand Admiral Dönitz,
the designated head of the German State,
signed the act of unconditional surrender
of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe
to the Allied Expeditionary Force
and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command.
Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight,
Tuesday, the 8th of May.
But in the interest of saving lives, the cease-fire began yesterday
to be sounded all along the front and our dear Channel Islands.
-Right. Hey, come here! Get her-- -One more, please!
Drink up, fellas. We're heading home.
Light it up!
Yeah! We're going home, baby!
We did it, fellas!
Yeah!
Close it up, boys.
Let's go.
At first, it felt unreal,
impossible, unimaginable.
And then, inevitable.
We were going home.
Your ride awaits, Major.
All of us.
I had a wife to see.
Thanks, buddy.
A son.
A life to start.
I better see you at Minton's when I get back.
I'll be there.
You can bring the little guy.
You want me to bring my infant son to a jazz club?
Hey, it's never too early.
You're gonna be a hell of a father, Croz.
You think?
I know.
They won!
Hey.
This is it.
You ready to go home?
You ready to see Marge?
I bet.
Form 1A?
Checked.
Controls and seats?
-Check. -Fuel transfer valves and switch?
Off.
Leaving a lot of good men behind.
A lot of brave men.
Yeah.
Intercoolers cold.
Gear up.
On occasion, the world must confront itself,
answer what we are with who we are.
I was going home.
I just wished more of us were.
We'll miss you. Bye-bye!
Bye for now! Bye-bye!
-All right. -All right. This is it.
Seventy.
Eighty.
Ninety.
Here we come.
Landing gear up.
Climb power.