European Theater of Operations

Narrow Escapes of World War II episode 4: The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, a depleted unit of black soldiers, risked everything to tenaciously fight off the Nazis at Bastogne. When Hitler launches his final major offensive on the Western front, everything turns on the ability of the U.S. Army to hold the town of Bastogne. Outnumbered 10 to one, an artillery unit of African American soldierswith little combat experience and even less respect from their white colleaguesmust stand fast against the battle-hardened troops of the Waffen-SS. Unsung heroes: the battalion of black soldiers who were surrounded, down to their last […]