Amazon.com
From the early race to build gliders to the D-Day invasion at Normandy and Nazi Germany's final surrender, Silent Wings - The American Glider Pilots of WWII narrated by Hal Holbrook, reveals the critical role gliders played in World War II offensives. Through rare archival footage and photographs, the film places the audience right at the center of the action in the dangerous world of the American glider pilot.
During WWII, 6000 young Americans volunteered to fly large unarmed cargo gliders into battle. For these glider pilots every mission was do-or-die. It was their task to repeatedly risk their lives landing the men and tools of war deep within enemy-held territory, often in complete darkness, using only a stopwatch to navigate.
Thousands of lives were saved and battles won because of their efforts. In fact, one pilot interviewed said - the 'G' in their emblem didn't stand for glider; it stood for 'guts'.
Customer Reviews:
Silent Wings DVD Review.......2007-08-06
A month ago a man in my late father's platoon set me the DVD "Silent Wings" the story of American glider pilots during World War II. Since this man, Bill Shorter and my Dad Charles Wilber were glider riders I found this nearly 2-hour documentary very informative and a pleasure to watch. Many Americans don't realize that the gliders were an important and dangerous part of the American airborne forces during that war. Using interviews with both German and American glider pilots along with great insite by reporters Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney the DVD was excellant. It not only showed American glider action but also German glider assualts. I recommend this documentary for not only WWII buffs but anyone interested in history.
Answered a question........2007-07-14
When my graduating grandson (heading for college) asked me about "gliders" in wartime for an essay on WWII, my interest in anything that flies answered some of his questions, and to reinforce it, I got him the copy of Silent Wings and that gave him a better documented story; bravery, heroism, victory and tragedy.
A Long Past Due Tribute.......2007-05-15
They all volunteered - to serve in a branch of the service that no longer exists. They knew they were to be pilots on a one-way mission. Fly them in and then grab a rifle and join the infantry. That was the lot of a Glider Pilot. The G on their wings surely stood for "Guts"
Watch this exciting tape and you will certainly want to tip your hat to the few living veterans of this extrodinary branch of the Army Air Corp.
excellent.......2007-05-13
I did not know the full history of the glider pilots. Now I do, and I am impressed and awed by their unselfishness and heroics. Everyone interested in WWII should see this documentary.
Well worth watching.......2007-04-16
This documentary covers a subject that has not been told in it`s own light.
Well worth watching. I learned many things I was unaware of and I pride myself on being knowledgeable in WWII History. Yet I still find more every time I get a new DVD or Book.
Description
Included in the DVD are director's notes. Before the Second World War, more than 1.5 million Jewish children were living in Europe. By the end of the Holocaust, less than one in ten had survived. Secret Lives tells the emotional stories of a small number of those who were saved by non-Jews in extraordinary acts of bravery and kindness. These men and women of uncommon decency did everything from bringing Jewish children into their families to securing hiding places in closets, attics, or hastily dug bunkers. Directed by Academy Award® winner and former hidden child Aviva Slesin, this captivating documentary reveals what happened between the children and their rescuers and shows how this experience forever changed their lives.
Customer Reviews:
The courage to care.......2007-03-27
Although the vast majority of people living under Nazi-occupied Europe were either active collaborators or standing by silently and letting these things happen instead of protesting, a small group did have the courage to care and to make a stand. These were ordinary people who did extraordinary things, who didn't think of themselves as heroes but rather as people who just did what any humane compassionate human being would have done under such circumstances. Though some rescuers took children in with ulterior motives (money, converting them, wanting a child to be a laborer or servant, being abusive), most of them were like the people profiled in this film and did it because to do anything else would have been inconceivable.
The documentary focuses on hidden children in Holland, Poland, Belgium, and France, and gives us the perspectives of the hidden children (now elderly), their rescuers, and the children of the rescuers. Though some children, such as Fred, had to be literally hidden, there were other children, such as Moana and Irène (Rachel), who lived in the open as the pretended children or guests of their host families. Many families grew extremely attached to their foster children, and the feeling was usually very mutual. In some cases, such as with Erica and Alice, who were two weeks old and three years old, respectively, when they were taken into protective houses, these were their real parents, the only parents they could remember, the only parents they had ever really known. By the end of the war, they were usually considered as real members of the family, and it was always sad when they had to be taken back to their surviving relatives or into orphanages or DP camps. It does make sense, wanting them to be returned to their own people (even if they were being placed with surviving relatives who weren't their parents and who didn't know them that well) after so many Jewish children had already been murdered and so many families had been inalterably split up, but it also seems unfair that they should have to leave the only home they'd ever known and have to start life all over again, oftentimes in less than ideal circumstances. It wasn't often that a family were granted the right to keep and legally adopt their children, as happened with Irène/Rachel. Although it wasn't always so wonderful with the rescuing families; Hetty, one of Moana's foster sisters, remains rather bitter and upset about how her childhood was so fraught with secrecy and lies, feeling her mother cared more about the children she rescued than about her own daughters, even though she also loved Moana like a sister. Though such an attitude does seem rather surprising, to say the least, given what she surely must have found out in the decades since about the Shoah, it must have been a big burden for a child to have to bear, having to sneak and lie and live with the eternal fear of getting caught and punished. In many cases, the children didn't see their rescuing families after the liberation for decades, either because they lost touch after being placed with relatives or in orphanages, lived too far apart, or couldn't just casually write to or visit people stuck behind the Iron Curtain. The footage of some of the reunions is very emotional and powerful. In addition to the rescuers, one also can't help but admire the heroism of the birth parents. Even for those relative few who knew that the Nazis were lying to them about what was going to happen to them, it was still very very very hard to make the decision to separate from one's child, sometimes forever, and give him or her over to strangers.
As of the beginning of 2007, 21,758 people have been honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. (All of the people who participated in the rescue of Danish Jewry requested that they be listed as a single group and not individually.) Even considering those who haven't yet been nominated and those who will probably never be known, that's still a drop in the bucket considering how many people lived in Europe at the time. And yet this small minority of people had the courage to make a difference, to save the lives of children they didn't know, to just be good people and to do the right thing. And not only do these now-grown children owe their lives to these people who risked their lives to do the moral thing, but so do their children, grandchildren, and all of the generations in their line yet to be. As the oft-quoted line from the Talmud says, "Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though s/he had destroyed the world entire; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though s/he had saved the world entire."
Holocaust's Hidden Children & Rescuers--Processing The Emotions..........2006-11-20
SECRET LIVES directed by Academy Award winning Aviva Slesin, examines the emotional connection between the Jews that were hidden from the Nazis as children and their nonJewish rescuers, who risked harm, and in Poland the death penalty, to hide the children. The rescuers interviewed in this documentary acted out of basic goodness, unlike some who hid children for profit, conversion, or abuse. The film records testimonies of reunited survivors and rescuers sharing memories and emotions--notably not just from during the war, but also from after the war when most rescuers had to give up the children since the Jewish community was against adoption of the children by nonJewish parents, even if the birth parents had been killed. Intensifying the separation of the rescuers and children were the physical Iron Curtain barrier and the emotional barrier of blocking out the experience as a way to cope with trauma.
Of the twelve or so stories in the movie, most impressive were not the stories of risktaking to hide the children (sorry, but can't imagine not hiding the children), but the individualized ways each person resolved, or is still trying to resolve, lingering issues such as loss, religious identiy, and abandonment (though well-intentioned, most children experienced double abandonment, by birth parents and then by rescuer parents). Also striking is the bitterness of one rescuer's daughter who still resents the attention that was given the hidden child--disturbing since she's expressing this with the full historical light of the horrors of the Holocaust. Then there is the joy of Michael and his rescuer Johanna, who glow of a love connection that no separation could quench. In contrast, others exuded more mixed emotions, love tainted by much anguish. Also profoundly moving are the unseen heroes, the birth parents who gave up their children knowing they might never see them again--for ex, Fred's father whose instructions on keeping quiet helped save Fred who lived hidden in a small, wardrobe closet obeying his father's instructions not to cough or sneeze. It's this kind of detail that makes the film fascinating. Oh, one more interesting example--one rescuer, only a child (teen) herself, reminisces that the two children she hid actually saved HER life, since had she not taken them, she would have been at greater risk due to more active involvement in the resistance.
For those interested in the Holocaust or in the human condition, anthropology, in addition to the films on the camps and Holocaust proper, consider this lesser known documentary for a look at another aspect of the suffering and resistance, and a reminder of the good side of humans.
overwhelming.......2004-11-01
Saw this film for the first time last night and was overwhelmed by the stories told within. This is a new and different perspective of the awful time in our history of World War II and Hitler's rampage to rid the world of jews. The stories of these saved children was well told and brought tears to my eyes. I myself immigrated as a 2 year old with my parents from Holland in 1940 just before the Nazi onslaught so this movie was particularily poignant for me.
Average customer rating:
- Closer to home
- Clark Gable in combat
- As they saw it -- and we owe them so much
- PLEASE CHECK OUT THE FACTS
- The war in color
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WWII In Color
Starring:
Brett Barry
Manufacturer: Goldhil Home Media
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Similar Items:
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World War II - The Lost Color Archives
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Hitler in Colour
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The Third Reich In Color Part II: The Sequel
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Japan's War in Colour
ASIN: B00003RQLS
Release Date: 2000-01-18 |
Amazon.com
This collection of color footage shot during World War II focuses primarily on America's involvement in the war, beginning with Col. Jimmy Doolittle's legendary raid on Tokyo in 1942 and proceeding up to the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe. The footage assembled in this package is often quite fascinating, and while some of it is occasionally marred by scratches and other signs of age, the quality is generally very good. The 16 selections in the main feature all focus on a particular aspect of the war and include footage shot during bombing missions over Germany, on the invasion beaches of Normandy, and on aircraft carriers battling in the Pacific. Some of the film, such as hand-held footage shot during the U.S. Marine's desperate fighting on Tarawa, are inherently dramatic, and some shots, such as the celebrations of liberated French citizens, show the human side of war. Seeing all of this in color, as it truly appeared, is a vastly different experience than the black-and-white newsreels that form the basis for most documentaries. Besides the main feature, which runs for more than an hour and a half, the disc also includes a bonus movie, a one-hour color documentary on American bomber crews that was filmed in England and is narrated by actor Clark Gable, who was serving as an officer in the Eighth Air Force. --Robert J. McNamara
Description
"World War Two: In Color" documents the horrors of World War II the way the soldier saw it-in color. This three-hour digitally mastered DVD presents a true picture of war that allows viewers to see the brutality GI's experienced.
Color footage includes Hitler and Eva Braun, D-Day, a B-17 bombing raid over Germany, the Allied advance into France and Italy, the liberation of Dachau, Midway, Saipan, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima. Complimenting the extraordinary color images is a 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound audio mix that places you in the middle of the action.
Additional bonus features include a timeline with vintage newsreels and photos that give an overview of WWII as well as a global map that separates the war into Pacific and European battles. Another bonus included is "Combat America"-an uncut 60 minute government film narrated by Clark Gable.
After watching this DVD you'll never think of WWII the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Closer to home.......2006-11-10
Seeing things in color that I have always seen in black and white before somehow brings them closer to home - it makes it easier to identify with the people. For me, this helps bring more immediacy to the stories my stepdad told me about his experiences in that war.
Clark Gable in combat.......2006-02-14
As a kid growing up in the forties I thought Europe was this awful, gray and grainy place full of rubble, death and suffering. That was the way it looked in the newsreels shown at the local movie houses at the time. Rubble, death and suffering it had in abundance but gray and grainy it was not, as this wonderful documentary exhibits.
In 1942 following the tragic death of his wife in a plane crash, Clark Gable, the biggest movie star in the world at the time and 41 years old, enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a private. He became an officer, attended gunnery school in Florida and was assigned by General Hap Arnold to the 8th Air Force in Hanover, England. His mission was to gather a movie crew and fly combat missions over Germany while his crew filmed the action in color in the hope that footage of Clark Gable manning a gun on actual bombing missions would stimulate the enlistment of badly needed gunnery voluteers.
Gable's crew shot 50,000 feet of color footage both on the ground in England and during the 5 combat missions Gable flew. The flip side of this DVD has an hours worth of the footage that was shot during Gable's tour of combat duty. That alone is worth the price of admission to this DVD.
A side note is that Hermann Goering put a price on Gable's head and offered a reward to any German pilot who shot down Gable's plane. One came close enough to shoot the heel off his boot. General Arnold thought he had better get Gable out of there before he fell into Hitler's hands so after five missions he was reassigned back to the States to edit his film.
As they saw it -- and we owe them so much.......2005-10-07
The Second World War was one of the great catastophes to befall humanity, and one of the greatest challenges of the United States (and, of course, its many allies). This film essentially comprises actual color footage of key American battles and incidents of World War II, as well as some captured home movies of Adolph Hitler in his "Eagle's Nest."
This is a very worthwhile DVD. The narrative is unabashedly American-oriented, which fits with the film and attitudes of the times in which the films were taken. There is something incredibly poignant about seeing actual footage of the men and boys (who would very shortly be men) going into action in places like Normandy Beach and Tarawa. Many of these lads would not be coming back--these are not actors, this is the real deal. Nothing can compare to this.
The film holds little back; there are some pretty graphic battle scenes complete with casualties. If the media back then had been as it is today, the press would have portrayed the victories of Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Guadacanal, Okinawa and other tough fights as gruesome American defeats due to the heavy casualties. This film reminds us that the price of victory is likely not to be cheap. Not a few of us have perhaps forgotten that, and the price that others have paid on our behalf. I will ensure that my children watch this film for that reason.
By the way, on the reverse side of the DVD there is an old US Government orientation film narrated by Clark Gable. It is a wonderful look at the attitudes of the times, as America geared up to fight the Germans over the skies of Europe. Don't miss it.
PLEASE CHECK OUT THE FACTS.......2005-08-13
I`m writing because a reviewer said that the woman throwing her child and then herself off of a cliff was because of her fear of the American Marines. This is not the truth at all. This happened on Saipan, the Japanese commander of the island ordered all the civilians to comment suicide. The Marines had a interpreter that was begging the people from a loudspeaker to choose to live, a few did most didn`t. I learned this when I watched the documentary (OUR TIME IN HELL narrated by Lee Marvin) an excellent film.
The war in color.......2005-06-17
It is not a movie; it is a kind of documentary in color shooted by ordinary men during the Second World War. Look at the war in the way that your parents and grans parents have seen it in color. It is just different but the next time that I will seen a movie in black and white, I will have a good idea about the colors. It is interesting to buy if you wish to see the war in colors.
Description
The Focke Wolf Fw-190 superiority over the Spitfire Mk. V saw it rapidly become the Luftwaffe fighter arm's 'second iron' and it was to play a major role in the widening conflict from 1941 onwards. This program covers the role of the Bf-109 on all fronts to 1942 and the early missions by the FW-190.
Customer Reviews:
German Fighter Aircraft of World War 2: 1939-1942.......2007-05-20
I collect Toy Soldiers Tanks, Trucks & Aircraft and this help me to see what he real thing was like.
Average customer rating:
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WW II: War in the Pacific
Starring:
Wwii-War in the Pacific
Manufacturer: Topics Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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WW II: War in Europe
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WW II: Air War
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WW II: War on the Homefront
ASIN: B000FJTVA6
Release Date: 2006-05-01 |
Product Description
Since 1935 the National Archives has been responsible for the acquisition preservation and public disemmination of the permanent records of the United States government. Now for the first time select materials from this inestimable national resource hFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR UPC: 781735601556 Manufacturer No: 60155
Product Description
Since 1935 the National Archives has been responsible for the acquisition preservation and public disemmination of the permanent records of the United States government. Now for the first time select materials from this inestimable national resource hFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR UPC: 781735601549 Manufacturer No: 60154
Customer Reviews:
War in Europe.......2007-07-13
I bought this DVD as a gift for my 86 year old dad. He seemed to love every minute of it. Anyone who is a wwII buff would love it , I am sure.
Description
See Germany's tank offensives and the continuous battle with the British and their Matilda II tank. See the German retreat under the command of U.S. General Patton, and on the Eastern Front, the Russians battled with their new T-54 tank, defeating the German armies. This program shows the major role that tanks played in WWII.
Customer Reviews:
A solid documentary.......2006-09-16
This DVD is composed of two smaller documentaries. The sound quality is not very good and the narrator a bit boring but the content of the narration is not too bad and the film clips used are pretty good. So while overall it is not a great documentary it is not bad either and gets the job done.
Average customer rating:
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WWII in Color: VE Day
Starring:
Wwii in Color: Ve Day
Manufacturer: Time Life Records
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000ENUKHQ
Release Date: 2006-04-04 |
Description
Recently uncovered color footage follows British and American troops, and documents, as never before, the massive outpouring of joy and relief among ordinary citizens as news of the German surrender spreads throughout Europe. With the costly success of D-Day behind them, the Allies began their final push to Berlin...and to victory in Europe. For Allied troops, there were still hardships to come, as they searched for fugitive Nazis and tried to maintain order on a continent devastated by six years of brutal war.
Customer Reviews:
Focuses on the Marines and the Navy.......2007-02-02
This is an excellent overview of the Marines and Navy in the South Pacific during WWII. For those of you looking for an overview or detailed account of the Army during WWII in the South Pacific, look elsewhere, because you will find next to nothing about the Army in "Fury in the Pacific". If one didn't know differently, after watching this DVD set one might think that the Army had no involvement at all in the South Pacific.
For anyone wanting to broaden their knowledge of the South Pacific beyond the Marines and the Navy, a good book to start with is the "25th Infantry Division: WWII" originally published in 1946 and reprinted by the Battery Press Inc. in 1996. If it's not available on Amazon, it can definitely be found elsewhere on the internet. I also HIGHLY recommend "Across the Dark Islands: The War in the Pacific" by Floyd W. Radike. It is an excellent first person account of what the Army infantry contributed and experienced in the South Pacific. It is available on Amazon and elsewhere.
Despite being disappointed by the tunnel vision of this set, I would still recommend it as a "must have" in any WWII video collection. The first section, focusing on Pearl Harbor, is excellent and very informative. The interviews with Pearl Harbor survivors are truthful, engaging and heartbreaking. The black and white and color footage throughout the series is great and the entire set includes interviews with Marine and Navy veterans from every battle mentioned.
Fantastic WWII DVD Set.......2004-07-16
My grandfather was stationed at one of the many American Army bases in the surrounding islands around Japan during WWII, so he is sort of an afficianado when it comes to WWII documentaries and videos when it comes to the war in the Pacific. He enjoys reading and watching various videos and films on the subject so I picked up this DVD set for him. After watching some of it with him, I could tell that this had quickly moved to the head of the list as his favorite film on the subject.
The set naturally begins with Pearl Harbor and follows the trail of war along the major islands in the Island Hopping campaign. So much of this set is actual footage from wartime cameramen that its almost staggering. The commentary was informative and entertaining and the comments and insights from men actually stationed on the various islands the film is discussing at that time adds a feeling of the true vastness of this campaign, triumph at victory and the sadness at the loss of human life.
Like another reviewer, I managed to pick it up for half the Amazon asking price and it was a steal. For people interested in the subject it's worth the full forty bucks. A great addition to any War film collection.
Battle of the Pacific War - WWII.......2004-05-21
This is a three DVD set that is fantastic. We get to see firsthand the great battles fought during World War II across the vast Pacific Ocean. This shows us some of what occured during this war through the lenses of combat cameramen. And told by those who were there and experience the events depicted.
It begins with the suprise attack at Pearl Harbor, to the initial USA counterattack at Guadalcanal, to ultimate victory in the island hopping campaign. If you want some idea of what transpired in the Pacific during World War II....You will want to get this DVD set.
Shop Around..........2002-07-15
I found this collection of DVDs to be very interesting and the footage to be as good as most other documentaries. However, I purchased this set for less than HALF what Amazon is asking... So I'd watch out for a good deal...
Average customer rating:
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Semper-Fi: The Us Marines in WWII
Starring:
Semper-Fi: Marines in Wwii
Manufacturer: Columbia River Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
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ASIN: B000RPHDTO
Release Date: 2007-07-10 |
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