National Geographic Untold Stories of World War II
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In a century riddled with unrest, |
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World War Two remains the epic tale... |
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an event of unparalleled impact. |
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Even now, |
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about secret weapons... |
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and villainous tactics, |
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about extraordinary heroism... |
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and boundless shame; |
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about a time when one life |
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separated infamy and glory... |
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defeat and victory... |
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tyranny and freedom... |
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untold stories of World War II. |
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On the 16th of July, 1945... |
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a bomb exploded in the American desert |
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The furious energy of |
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That power might have landed |
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had a few brave men not waged a secret |
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At the height of the Second World War, |
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Germany's Nazi Party |
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led by its ambitious, |
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Adolph Hitler had the will |
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All he needed was the weapon. |
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And he had found the means to make one |
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in the most unlikely place. |
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It was here, |
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that a handful of soldiers on |
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of possessing the ultimate weapon. |
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Old men now, |
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they remember how they risked their |
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They would stop at nothing |
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So the feeling that they had to be |
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We were quite certain that |
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we would all have been executed. |
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It would take three daring attempts |
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April 9, 1940. |
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German warships penetrated Oslo Fjord. |
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The blitzkrieg had come to Norway. |
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Within two months, the besieged nation |
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Well, it took some time to realize it, |
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But when Autumn 1940 came, |
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you certainly realized that it was not |
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To understand it, you need to have |
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To live in an occupied country is |
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A vast occupying army flooded |
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The Nazis now controlled all aspects |
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No actually war between each Norwegian |
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We had to do the best out of it. |
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I think that was the common opinion. |
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Inside, of course, |
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They introduced Gestapo in Norway, |
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when they understood that |
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started arresting people, |
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killing people, et cetera et cetera. |
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And then we certainly understood |
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Hitler's grasp extended |
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In this remote Norwegian valley, |
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the Germans seized |
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the Norsk Hydro factory. |
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Surrounded by mountains, |
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of a cliff overlooking a deep |
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For the Nazis, |
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it was an ideal location |
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to bomb and easy to defend. |
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But, to the generals in Berlin, |
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In 1940, it was the only |
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producing large amounts |
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deuterium oxide, |
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As soon as they took control |
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production went into high gear. |
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When word reached Great Britain, |
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a powerful sense of foreboding swept |
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As the most likely target |
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Britain faced the greatest peril. |
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Is it possible they do not realize |
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to persevere against them until |
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which they and |
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Winston Churchill's spirited defiance |
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for resistance fighters from |
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Young Norwegians eager |
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of exiles gathering in Britain. |
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There was no sacrifice that was |
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The British created |
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the Special Operations Executive |
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You volunteered and you were trained |
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and work behind the lines |
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reporting radio information, |
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and that sort of thing. |
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A few young resistance fighters would |
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armed with a plan to destroy |
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They were country boys and city kids, |
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engineers and outdoorsmen, |
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university students |
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Shock troops in a clandestine |
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they would become legends |
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And some of them would even star |
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chronicling their real-life exploits. |
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Scenes from this film give a revealing |
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October, 18, 1942 |
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Four of the men returned home |
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Their mission: |
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to the heavy-water plant. |
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When we were leaving |
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you felt that some |
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didn't expect to see you once more, |
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so we had to more or |
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It's not that this easy |
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We'll be back. Just wait and see. |
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Our target is |
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That was all. They said it's important |
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I knew that the heavy water |
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for the Germans' weapon production, |
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but in which way I had no idea. |
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The commandos' first objective was to |
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on the Hardangervidda, |
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Crossing that bleak expanse, |
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the Norwegians took over an empty cabin |
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The operation could begin. |
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For the first sortie, the British sent |
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a plan that needed clear weather. |
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But over Norway, clouds, winds, |
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and snow had cut visibility |
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For the Norwegians on the ground... |
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the flight had become |
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I tried to get a connection |
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and warn them that |
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And then, suddenly, |
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I heard interference in my headphones |
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And shortly after, we also heard |
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and it came dead on us, |
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After about half an hour, |
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the next plane with a guide glider came |
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turned, and went away. |
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The British troops never arrived |
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We got a message from |
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and one of the Halifaxes had crashed |
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That was the end of |
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It was a complete disaster. |
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The soldiers who survived the crash |
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The Allies' secret war against the |
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To avoid detection, |
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the commandos withdrew deeper |
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For weeks, perhaps months, |
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they would have to live off a land |
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When this mission |
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we had actually no supplies |
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So we were dependent upon reindeer, |
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but at that moment, there were few |
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because of the wind directions. |
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It was so very difficult |
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but the day before Christmas, |
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Jens learned that if you take |
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you get vitamins |
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So we cut up the stomach and |
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the contents, and mixed it |
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and made a nice porridge mixed |
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And we were eating it |
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So on Christmas Eve... |
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we had a real fun party. |
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We chatted; we had a good time |
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I remember well. |
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You know your comrades outside |
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You know what he is going to say |
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They had endurance, they had the will |
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in you except the will which says |
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They would have to hold on through |
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But each day the Nazis' supply |
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drop by precious drop. |
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London had to make a move. |
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A second Norwegian squad, |
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would drop onto the Hardangervidda |
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in an assault on the heavy-water plant |
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February, 16, 1943 |
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under cover of night |
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Now the commandos were ready to strike |
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if they could penetrate the factory's |
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To the commandos, the heavy-water |
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To reach the factory, the saboteurs |
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There was only one road in. |
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over a suspension bridge. |
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And the bridge was patrolled 24 hours |
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Any direct assault would be doomed. |
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But the chasm itself, with its steep, |
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Someone said he thought it was rather |
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But it was decided that one should |
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In daylight, |
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I climbed down the gorge, |
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and started climbing up |
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And then the same way back up |
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and told the fact that was possible |
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You felt that this may be serious, |
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and you accepted that |
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We climbed down the river and up |
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and our plan was to get in position |
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because at 12 o'clock at night, |
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there was guards down |
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We wanted to see the German guards |
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coming up in the factory area, |
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and enter the barracks, |
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We all thought we would be discovered |
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But nothing happened. |
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Two of us carried a full set |
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in case one should be shot, |
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The task for the demolition team: |
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To attach explosives |
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located in a basement room. |
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Meanwhile, their comrades |
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Each passing moment increased |
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If we had been discovered, |
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I knew that during such circumstances |
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Do I shoot? A shot would, of course, |
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maybe spoil the whole operation. |
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Inside, they overpowered |
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Holding him at gunpoint, |
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pausing only to decide how much time |
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before the blast. |
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Suddenly, they were interrupted |
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He broke in and said, It's all right, |
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that's all right. |
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But may I have my glasses? |
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Because it's hopeless to get |
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And you would have thought that |
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We have no time for looking |
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But instead, |
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and you searched all around |
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you found the-the holster for |
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thank you very much, |
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So far, they had beaten the odds. |
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Now the commandos had only seconds |
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And after a few minutes one minute, |
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with us on the railway line. |
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And we ran the same way back |
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The road conditions and |
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because on the railway, |
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quite a lot of the snow had blown |
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and that was frozen solid ground, |
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So everything was actually on our side |
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With determination, skill, and daring, |
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the saboteurs had dealt a |
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without losing a man. |
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But heavy water had become |
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and within six months, |
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The Allies had to assume the worst: |
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Nazi scientists were close than ever |
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Another attack on the factory |
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this time, from the air. |
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In a bold noonday raid, |
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176 American bombers |
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The raid damaged factory buildings and |
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But the heavy water, secured in |
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With production halted, |
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the Germans decided to move |
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the operation to the safety |
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and inadvertently gave the commandos |
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We had got information |
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had planned to take down |
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Team members secretly scouted |
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The heavy water would be loaded |
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and taken by train to Lake Tinnsjo. |
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Here, the cars would go aboard a |
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for the two-hour trip across the lake. |
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A well-placed charge could sink the |
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But sinking a public ferry |
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Our conclusion was that the sinking |
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was about the only possible solution. |
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It would have to be civilian sabotage, |
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which was naturally a |
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There was no doubt in our mind |
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that there were going to be |
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and furthermore, it could be anybody. |
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And Rjukan was a small town, |
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and it was really |
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Fearing neighbors and |
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the Norwegians sent |
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The British reply was immediate |
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It has been talked over |
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and the conclusion is they heavy water |
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Good luck and when you get such a |
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Not to be. |
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They were sad. |
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But everyone in my family |
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I couldn't do anything about it. |
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The Germans never put any guards |
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They were watching their barrels |
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But the ferryboat itself |
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At ten o'clock |
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the ferry men cast off |
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Forty-five minutes later, |
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a blast tore through the bottom |
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It was a very, very bad blow, |
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and the cargo on the ferry-there |
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so they rushed down and |
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Within moments, the mortally damaged |
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carrying with it innocent passengers |
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and Nazi Germany's atomic ambitions. |
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And the heavy water being |
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and it's still on the bottom |
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Later, the Allies would learn that |
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the Nazis were never close |
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The U.S. won the A-bomb race. |
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Within months of the German defeat, |
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But in the Allies hands, |
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not perpetuate one. |
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If Hitler had the bomb, he might |
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The Norwegian resistance fighters |
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Their mission was one of the greatest |
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something that had to be done, |
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You have to fight for your freedom |
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It's not something that |
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You have to fight for it every day, |
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to keep it. |
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It's like a glass bowl; |
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It's easy to lose. |
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Half a world away, on December 7, 1941 |
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American learned the cost of freedom, |
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when Japan devastated Pearl Harbor. |
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That sneak attack included |
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midget submarines |
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They were sleek, deadly, and, |
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The National Park Service |
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have searched for the wreck |
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An hour before the |
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a U.S. destroyer sank the tiny vessel. |
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The encounter could have |
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that bombs and torpedoes were |
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But it did not. |
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Marine archeologist Dan Lenihan |
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Jim Delgado was the project's historian |
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Their collaboration grew out |
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below the surface of Pearl Harbor. |
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They searched for evidence |
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a battle waged underwater |
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One sub played a special role. |
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It was particularly exciting about the |
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It would have represented the |
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between the United States |
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And, because, remember, |
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an hour before |
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An incredibly important, |
00:28:52 |
The search for the midget sub |
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focused on a square mile |
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The area is a graveyard of war relics, |
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A thousand feet down, in the darkness, |
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But what they're looking for is |
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It carried two torpedoes and was |
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They were going to come on in, |
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And then, when the attack occurred, |
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when all hell broke loose |
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fire their torpedoes, |
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and wreak as much havoc as they could, |
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head back on out, and rendezvous |
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with their mother subs to be |
00:29:48 |
The mother ships moved into position |
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December 6, 1941. |
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They arrived ahead of |
00:30:00 |
Each mother ship had a |
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The larger craft would release |
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and retrieve them after the attack. |
00:30:10 |
But the tiny vessels would |
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a clash of giants that |
00:30:19 |
From Manchuria to French Indochina |
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Japan had rolled up a long list |
00:30:29 |
Despite an Allied embargo on war |
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By late 1941, |
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lay before the "Rising Sun". |
00:30:42 |
Their only protection: |
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a scattering of British |
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and the U.S. Pacific Fleet. |
00:30:49 |
I think there was a general sense |
00:30:52 |
I don't think anybody expected that it |
00:30:57 |
Successfully surprising an island |
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also seemed impossible |
00:31:06 |
But admiral Isoroku Yamamoto |
00:31:10 |
was the only way to disarm |
00:31:14 |
Japan had to |
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even if that meant attacking its |
00:31:25 |
Japanese pilots trained hard through |
00:31:30 |
So did the crews handpicked |
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the fastest boats of their kind. |
00:31:36 |
Soon they would have their chance |
00:31:41 |
In Washington, |
00:31:42 |
Japanese diplomats continued |
00:31:46 |
until the final hour. |
00:31:49 |
Not even Japan's ambassador knew |
00:32:01 |
December 7, 1941. |
00:32:05 |
As Oahu slept, the Japanese task |
00:32:10 |
into striking distance of Pearl Harbor |
00:32:16 |
In Washington, |
00:32:18 |
military intelligence teams had |
00:32:23 |
They knew an armada was somewhere |
00:32:27 |
But they did not know its destination. |
00:32:30 |
Near diamond Head, |
00:32:33 |
The Japanese mother subs surfaced |
00:32:37 |
But something went wrong. |
00:32:39 |
At 6:30 a.m., a seaplane pilot |
00:32:43 |
reported a strange sub |
00:32:48 |
The captain of a nearby destroyer, |
00:32:51 |
realized intruders were trying to |
00:32:56 |
His gunners opened fire. |
00:32:59 |
The midget sub began sinking |
00:33:03 |
Depth charges finished her off. |
00:33:09 |
The Ward reported the sinking twice. |
00:33:13 |
But before notifying Pacific Fleet |
00:33:16 |
district headquarters waited |
00:33:20 |
The delay was all the attackers needed |
00:33:23 |
News of the sub might have prevented |
00:33:27 |
Well, the message was radioed in |
00:33:29 |
that they fired |
00:33:32 |
It didn't reach Admiral Kimmel. |
00:33:34 |
It wasn't until just a few minutes |
00:33:38 |
with the planes coming in, that the |
00:33:42 |
look, we got this message in |
00:33:44 |
of the Ward saying that |
00:33:46 |
operating in the defensive zone. |
00:33:47 |
Kimmel says, |
00:33:50 |
He's putting his uniform on, |
00:33:53 |
and that moment the planes come |
00:33:56 |
the bombs start dropping. |
00:34:03 |
At five minutes to eight, forty |
00:34:07 |
bearing the mark of the Rising Sun. |
00:34:11 |
Accompanying them were |
00:34:14 |
forty-nine high-level bombers, |
00:34:17 |
and forty-three fighters. |
00:34:20 |
American sailors thought they |
00:34:24 |
Bombs and bullets found them |
00:34:29 |
or staring into the fatal sky. |
00:34:38 |
Arizon... Oklahoma... California. |
00:34:45 |
One by one, great ships sank. |
00:34:49 |
The West Virginia alone took |
00:34:56 |
Pearl Harbor's air defense |
00:35:00 |
Only a handful of pilots managed |
00:35:02 |
to scramble into a sky |
00:35:10 |
The midget subs' moment had come. |
00:35:13 |
But one had been sunk by the Ward. |
00:35:17 |
A second was depth-charged outside |
00:35:20 |
Of the three that remained, |
00:35:25 |
Between waves of attacking planes, |
00:35:32 |
Moments later, |
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by a destroyer making for the open sea |
00:35:40 |
Sub and crew hit bottom. |
00:35:46 |
Overhead, |
00:35:49 |
But now smoke and anti-aircraft fire |
00:35:54 |
The "sleeping giant" had awakened. |
00:36:00 |
Ripped by a bomb that set off |
00:36:03 |
battleship Arizona blazed toward |
00:36:08 |
Survivors staggered into waters aflame |
00:36:13 |
Japan's brilliant, relentless attack |
00:36:18 |
Americans and crippled most |
00:36:33 |
For the midget subs, though, |
00:36:37 |
Two still roamed Hawaiian waters. |
00:36:41 |
Number Four, which may have fired |
00:36:44 |
radioed news of Japan's victory to |
00:36:48 |
Then she disappeared, |
00:36:54 |
The subs may not have seen |
00:36:58 |
But Japan needed heroes, |
00:37:01 |
so the propaganda machine |
00:37:05 |
as the nine young gods of Pearl Harbor |
00:37:10 |
This wartime Japanese feature |
00:37:12 |
told their story |
00:37:16 |
In truth, quarters were cramped, |
00:37:21 |
The midget subs helped create |
00:37:24 |
but didn't affect the war's outcome. |
00:37:29 |
And what of the last midget sub |
00:37:32 |
Commanded by ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, |
00:37:35 |
it suffered a fate worse than sinking. |
00:37:38 |
On December 8, |
00:37:39 |
as President Franklin D. Roosevelt |
00:37:43 |
Sakamaki's sub washed up |
00:37:46 |
undone by a faulty gyroscope. |
00:37:50 |
The submarine wouldn't function right. |
00:37:52 |
So he drifted all the way around |
00:37:55 |
and then went ashore on the morning |
00:38:01 |
where he and his crewman assigned to |
00:38:05 |
It didn't work. |
00:38:08 |
The crewman then drowned, |
00:38:09 |
but Sakamaki washed ashore |
00:38:11 |
and became the first prisoner of war |
00:38:14 |
in the Pacific: P.O.W. Number One. |
00:38:19 |
Sakamaki spent the war in prison. |
00:38:23 |
His sub toured the U.S., |
00:38:26 |
a souvenir of dark days. |
00:38:34 |
At war's end, |
00:38:39 |
Japan let slip a new weapon of terror. |
00:38:49 |
For decades, |
00:38:53 |
enforced a silence on both sides. |
00:38:59 |
But the men who fought those battles |
00:39:08 |
Nineteen forty-four. |
00:39:10 |
Japan, its back to the wall, |
00:39:13 |
fanatic effort to stave off defeat. |
00:39:17 |
In an act incomprehensible to Americans |
00:39:21 |
the empire orders thousands |
00:39:27 |
Before an attack, |
00:39:31 |
a warrior's welcome |
00:39:38 |
They were kamikazes named for a typhoon |
00:39:45 |
Some were veteran pilots, |
00:39:47 |
many were idealistic students eager |
00:40:04 |
Kamikazes inflicted awful punishment |
00:40:09 |
More than three thousand fliers dove |
00:40:13 |
They sank fifty-seven ships and |
00:40:19 |
Their attacks killed at |
00:40:22 |
and wounded more than six thousand. |
00:40:24 |
The kamikazes were the deadliest weapon |
00:40:30 |
so frighteningly effective that their |
00:40:34 |
from the American public. |
00:40:50 |
On April 16th, 1945, kamikazes knocked |
00:40:57 |
The Laffey was rebuilt; |
00:40:59 |
she now is a museum ship in Charleston |
00:41:03 |
Today, she's receiving visitors her |
00:41:08 |
from World War II. |
00:41:14 |
The sight of their ship raises a tide |
00:41:22 |
Rear Admiral F. Julian Becton, |
00:41:24 |
who died in 1995, |
00:41:30 |
He commanded the Laffey during |
00:41:31 |
the invasions of Normandy |
00:41:34 |
Steaming toward Okinawa, |
00:41:39 |
The kamikazes were |
00:41:41 |
that the Japanese developed |
00:41:44 |
And it was a desperate effort |
00:41:47 |
but they were terribly they had a |
00:41:56 |
Ensign James Townley would win |
00:41:59 |
for his valor aboard the Laffey. |
00:42:03 |
My opinion of the kamikazes were that |
00:42:08 |
Then we learned more about them. |
00:42:10 |
We found out that, yes, they were the |
00:42:15 |
or whatever they chose to call them. |
00:42:18 |
We called them "One-Way Charlies". |
00:42:20 |
And we were really scared |
00:42:24 |
because no matter what you did, |
00:42:25 |
unless you could shoot them out |
00:42:29 |
Gunner's Mate Second Class |
00:42:32 |
would earn a Bronze Star |
00:42:35 |
Everybody has their own way of thinking |
00:42:37 |
and their own way of thinking, |
00:42:39 |
And their ways didn't suit us. |
00:42:42 |
There was-I certainly didn't feel |
00:42:48 |
45 years later. |
00:42:50 |
At that point, |
00:42:57 |
In Japan, another group of |
00:43:02 |
These men were once the elite of the |
00:43:09 |
They should be long dead, |
00:43:10 |
but they survived some |
00:43:14 |
others because seniority |
00:43:17 |
to await American's invasion |
00:43:21 |
Now largely forgotten, they once |
00:43:27 |
Their weapon was the okha, which meant |
00:43:32 |
But Americans gave it the code |
00:43:38 |
The weapons were another type |
00:43:40 |
a baka bomb captured on Okinawa. |
00:43:43 |
It's a two-and-a-half-ton flying bomb, |
00:43:45 |
dropped from a mother plane |
00:43:50 |
Three rocket propulsion units are |
00:43:53 |
giving a maximum level speed |
00:44:03 |
The baka's punch is an |
00:44:07 |
It's the first |
00:44:09 |
for the Kamikaze Flying Corps. |
00:44:20 |
Reserve Lieutenant Hachiro Hosokawa |
00:44:32 |
There is a Japanese word, |
00:44:37 |
meaning to die in vain. |
00:44:40 |
It is a wasteful death without honor. |
00:44:43 |
When I became a pilot, this situation |
00:44:47 |
that fighting in |
00:44:52 |
We were chosen as elite pilots. |
00:44:54 |
Each of us received a headband |
00:44:59 |
We thought it was a |
00:45:02 |
of the Human torpedo Unit, |
00:45:04 |
the elite Okha Corps, |
00:45:07 |
and that we would die gloriously. |
00:45:20 |
These were the Thunder Gods. |
00:45:22 |
All had volunteered; |
00:45:28 |
Each year, they gather to pray |
00:45:35 |
Commander Kunihiro Iwaki |
00:45:46 |
The war situation was going so badly |
00:45:51 |
that we realized that any semblance |
00:45:56 |
could not possibly succeed. |
00:45:59 |
And we had to do the unthinkable |
00:46:04 |
in terms of the military acts |
00:46:06 |
in last ditch attempt to primarily get |
00:46:12 |
Given that situation, |
00:46:15 |
the men realized they had to become |
00:46:20 |
in that last, final struggle. |
00:46:25 |
Lieutenant Morimasa Yunokawa commander |
00:46:33 |
The thought of my death crossed my mind |
00:46:38 |
I was then thinking of only to serve. |
00:46:41 |
No matter how you try to understand |
00:46:45 |
now in this peace time, |
00:46:52 |
A kamikaze could send |
00:46:56 |
but each flier only had one chance |
00:47:00 |
Pilots were supposed to aim |
00:47:04 |
but destroyers and |
00:47:09 |
Aboard the Laffey, |
00:47:10 |
nervous sailors repeated tales |
00:47:14 |
and sinking immediately. |
00:47:18 |
The crew would always debate |
00:47:21 |
That was always the big talk. |
00:47:22 |
Is it safer to be below, |
00:47:27 |
or in the bridge, or wherever. |
00:47:28 |
They all had their own theories |
00:47:32 |
Of course, there was no safe place. |
00:48:04 |
In April 1945, |
00:48:11 |
As the Battle of Okinawa began, |
00:48:13 |
destroyers patrolled fifty miles |
00:48:17 |
tempting kamikazes taking off |
00:48:24 |
Suicide attackers had sunk several |
00:48:29 |
now it was the Laffey's turn |
00:48:33 |
On April 16th, the ship began its |
00:48:39 |
The mood aboard was tense. |
00:48:42 |
At 8:27 a.m., |
00:48:52 |
Well, the first ones were just they |
00:48:57 |
maybe, oh eight, ten thousand yards. |
00:49:01 |
And then all of a sudden, |
00:49:03 |
it's like some sort of a signal, |
00:49:06 |
And first they just came in one |
00:49:09 |
and you just couldn't take them |
00:49:16 |
So that's when we started getting hit. |
00:49:21 |
For eighty minutes, |
00:49:22 |
the Laffey's crew fought off |
00:49:26 |
on a single ship. |
00:49:32 |
Our closest call was a plane coming in |
00:49:38 |
and it was, when I first saw it, |
00:49:41 |
was low on the water, |
00:49:45 |
I figured it was about |
00:49:48 |
Unless our gunners got it. |
00:49:49 |
And our Mount 52, |
00:49:51 |
which was just forward of the bridge, |
00:49:54 |
I noticed that the bursts |
00:49:59 |
So I just moved it, |
00:50:05 |
hit him right in the nose, |
00:50:07 |
And that one is the one that would |
00:50:10 |
And it just literally disintegrated, |
00:50:13 |
and everybody heaved |
00:50:16 |
And just after that, |
00:50:17 |
then there came one in out of the sky |
00:50:20 |
and one came in low on the water |
00:50:25 |
and we were at it all over again. |
00:50:46 |
On the morning of April 16th, |
00:50:48 |
we had a suicide plane hit us |
00:50:52 |
It hit with enough impact |
00:50:56 |
was blown up, canted upward at |
00:51:03 |
The motor of that plane skidded along |
00:51:08 |
and wound up at the hatchway |
00:51:13 |
And when he hit over there, I was |
00:51:19 |
When I regained consciousness, |
00:51:28 |
Ripped from stem to stern |
00:51:30 |
by the attacks of Jap suicide pilots |
00:51:33 |
the destroyer U.S.S. Laffey comes home |
00:51:36 |
the Laffey was struck by everything |
00:51:38 |
In the savage attempt |
00:51:40 |
22 suicide pilots roared over her. |
00:51:43 |
Seven bomb-loaded planes crashed |
00:51:46 |
the final score was: |
00:51:47 |
nine enemy planes shot down |
00:51:50 |
but 32 of her brave men were dead |
00:51:58 |
In the worlds of her skipper, |
00:52:00 |
she was truly |
00:52:08 |
Flying conventional aircraft, |
00:52:14 |
but the okha Corps never really got |
00:52:19 |
The bombers that carried |
00:52:22 |
and American fighter pilots shot down |
00:52:25 |
before they could release |
00:52:29 |
By war's end, Hosokawa was |
00:52:35 |
He found the transition |
00:52:44 |
All of a sudden, the war was over, |
00:52:46 |
and I had the feeling of someone |
00:52:50 |
And suddenly the typhoon is gone, |
00:52:57 |
No one, nothing is left but myself, |
00:53:02 |
It's a very strange feeling that |
00:53:05 |
why the typhoon spared me. |
00:53:13 |
They were doing |
00:53:16 |
just as we were doing |
00:53:19 |
It had to be. |
00:53:21 |
How else could you put your life |
00:53:23 |
on the line for something |