World War 2 LIVE

What was the American experience of Operation Market Garden—and is there more to the story than A Bridge Too Far tells us? In this episode of World War 2 Live, John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel dive into John’s book, September Hope, to explore the American side of Operation Market Garden. From the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to the American infantry and armored units fighting in the Netherland...

You voted A Bridge Too Far your favorite World War II movie. Now it’s time to get into the action! In Part 2 of our look at this classic 1977 film, John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel break down its major battle scenes and compare Hollywood’s depiction of Operation Market Garden with what really happened in September 1944. From the desperate fighting at Arnhem Bridge and the iconic command to “Bring u...

Our fans have spoken: A Bridge Too Far is the greatest World War II movie ever made. After months of voting, World War 2 Live viewers chose the 1977 epic A Bridge Too Far as their #1 WWII movie, beating out classics including Patton, Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, Das Boot, and Tora! Tora! Tora! So why did this movie win? John McManus and Kevin Hymel take a deep dive into A Bridge Too Far,...

The first American combat parachute drop of World War II was a disaster. By the end of the war, American airborne forces were conducting extraordinarily sophisticated operations. So how did they get from one to the other? In this episode of World War 2 Live, John McManus, Kevin Hymel and Mark Fastoso trace the evolution of American airborne operations from the first combat drop in North Africa in...

What happens when World War 2 Live leaves the studio and meets its audience? John McManus, Kevin Hymel and producer Mark Fastoso headed to We Have Ways Fest in the UK—and found ourselves in the middle of thousands of World War II enthusiasts, historians, authors, reenactors, aircraft, tanks, and one unforgettable live World War 2 Live show. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of the fes...

POINTE DU HOC: Debunking D-Day's Biggest Myth | World War II Live The guns were gone by the time the Rangers scaled the cliffs — but that fact has fueled one of the most persistent myths of D-Day. Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel take aim at the idea, popularized by Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and cemented in the 1962 film of the same name, that the mission was a pointless waste because th...

Is The Forgotten Soldier one of the greatest firsthand accounts of World War II—or is it a story we can't completely trust? Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier has become one of the best-known memoirs of the German experience on the Russian Front. For generations of readers, it has offered a gripping, often brutal account of combat on the Eastern Front. But how accurate is it? In this episode of Wor...

What happens when World War 2 Live meets Someone Talked at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia? You get a special crossover episode—and a fascinating look at one of the most ambitious D-Day projects we've been involved with. The centerpiece of this episode is Keith Rocco's extraordinary Omaha Beach diorama, created with dioramist Bernie Kempinski. The massive 3D recreation captures Om...

How realistic is Greyhound? John McManus and Kevin Hymel take a close look at the Tom Hanks WWII movie and separate Hollywood from the reality of the Battle of the Atlantic. Greyhound puts viewers on the bridge of a destroyer escorting an Allied convoy across the North Atlantic as German U-boats close in. But how much of what we see on screen actually reflects what it was like to fight the Battle...

Was the Italian Campaign Worth It? John McManus and Kevin Hymel Debate Was the Allied campaign in Italy a necessary step toward victory in Europe—or a costly strategic mistake? In this special debate episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel take opposite sides of one of the most enduring controversies of World War II. After exploring the Italian Campaign over several episod...

Most accounts of the Pacific War treat Guadalcanal and New Guinea as two separate campaigns. But from the Japanese perspective, they were part of the same desperate struggle—and understanding that connection changes how we view the turning point of the Pacific War. In this episode of World War 2 Live , Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel connect the dots between these two epic campaigns and explai...

Why did one of the boldest Allied operations in Italy turn into months of brutal stalemate? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel examine the Battle of Anzio, one of the most controversial campaigns of the Italian Campaign. Conceived as a daring amphibious landing that would outflank the German Gustav Line and open the road to Rome, Operation Shingle instead beca...

What makes a great leader in combat? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel explore one of the most moving stories to emerge from World War II: the bond between famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle and the soldiers of the U.S. Army's 36th Infantry Division, culminating in his unforgettable column about Captain Henry T. Waskow. During the brutal fighting around San P...

Why did two of World War II's most famous generals become legends—and do they deserve their reputations? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel tackle one of the most enduring debates in military history: George S. Patton vs. Erwin Rommel. Although the two iconic commanders never actually faced each other in battle, Hollywood, popular culture, and decades of milit...

After surviving the brutal landings at Salerno, the Allies faced a new challenge: breaking through some of the strongest defensive terrain in Europe. In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel continue their exploration of the Italian Campaign by examining what happened after the Allies secured the Salerno beachhead. Why did the campaign in Italy become such a long, g...

Before the Allies could fight their way up Italy, they first had to survive one of the most dangerous amphibious operations of World War II. In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel examine the Invasion of Salerno—Operation Avalanche—the September 1943 landing that brought Allied forces onto the Italian mainland. While often overshadowed by Normandy and other famous...

Before the war in Europe ended, Allied armies stood poised on the borders of Germany while the Red Army raced toward Berlin from the east. But should the Western Allies have pushed harder to capture Berlin before the Soviets? Welcome to WW2 Hot Takes, a new recurring series within World War 2 Live where Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel tackle some of the biggest debates, myths, and "what ifs" o...

Could the fate of D-Day really have come down to a weather forecast? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel examine the true story behind the new film Pressure, which tells the remarkable tale of the Allied meteorologists tasked with forecasting the weather for Operation Overlord. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers, thousands of ships, and the future of Wester...

General George Patton remains one of the most studied—and controversial—American commanders of World War II. But even after decades of scholarship, are there still new things to learn about him? In this episode of World War 2 Live , Dr. John C. McManus, Kevin Hymel, and producer Mark Fastoso celebrate and discuss Kevin’s brand-new book, Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership —the th...

Every iconic World War II photograph tells a story—but how do historians actually find the right images to bring history to life? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel take viewers behind the scenes of writing military history and reveal how they search for, evaluate, and select photographs of World War II battles for their books and projects. John and Kevin disc...

How do historians turn battlefield chaos into maps readers can actually understand? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel pull back the curtain on one of the most overlooked parts of writing military history: creating maps of World War II battles. From tracing troop movements to simplifying confusing terrain and conflicting accounts, John and Kevin discuss how ma...

The Doolittle Raid was one of the most daring—and improbable—operations of World War II. In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel break down the famous April 1942 mission led by James H. Doolittle, in which American bombers launched from an aircraft carrier to strike the Japanese home islands. Though the physical damage was limited, the raid had enormous strategic a...

The struggle for Guadalcanal reached a critical turning point when a new commander stepped in. In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel examine the moment William F. Halsey Jr. took command in the South Pacific—and how his leadership helped shift the momentum of the campaign. Aggressive, determined, and willing to take risks, Halsey brought a new energy to a fight t...

What does The Thin Red Line get right about war—and where does it take artistic license? In this episode of World War 2 Live, Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel take a deep dive into one of the most thought-provoking World War II films ever made. Set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, The Thin Red Line offers a very different portrayal of combat—one that focuses as much on the inner lives of soldi...

In the chaos of Guadalcanal, one little-known story captures something essential about the American war effort: they didn’t leave their own behind. In this episode of World War 2 Live , Dr. John C. McManus and Kevin Hymel dive into a remarkable and often overlooked episode from the campaign—the rescue of a downed U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 supply plane. Based on Kevin’s article “Rescue Plane Down,”...