Hell Is For Heroes

Click HERE to follow the new podcast by The National WWII Museum: Making Masters of the Air.

Masters of the Air is an Apple Original series from executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, streaming January 26 on Apple TV+.

The series follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.

Masters of the Air is based on the best-selling book by Donald Miller, and features a stellar cast led by Academy Award nominee Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa.

The Making Masters of the Air podcast by The National WWII Museum is co-hosted by Playtone’s Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller, author of the book, Masters of the Air.

Listen to the premiere episode featuring an interview with Executive Producer Tom Hanks on Friday, January 26.

Masters of the Air is an Apple Original series from executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Streaming on January 26 on Apple TV+ 

After 15 years as a historian at The National WWII Museum, Seth Paridon has accepted a position as Deputy Director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby.

"Stalag 17" is known for its attention to detail, but in this minisode we expand on aspects of the barracks in which the film did not highlight. Tune in as we discuss life at Stalag 17-B from the eyes of a prisoner at war.

Adapted from a play by fellow prisoners of the camp, "Stalag 17" is dubbed as one of the most realistic portrayals of the American POW experience in Europe. Follow along as we delve into the details—set decorations, acts of deception, morale, and more—in this 1953 film.

The controversy of the flag raisers was more complex than an identity crisis, but did it matter to the US Marines who were fighting on Iwo Jima? Hear a firsthand account from Colonel Dave Severance of E Company, 28th Marines speak about the moment the second flag was raised.

The flag raisers on Iwo Jima helped the Seventh War Bond Drive raise $26 billion dollars for the United States in 1945. Our panelists break down "Flags of Our Fathers" and whether the film accurately portrays the drama behind the most popular photograph of World War II.

"You nearly starve to death on a troop ship. We were really happy to get off that thing, even if it meant we were going to be killed,” said late US Marine, Dr. Sidney “Sid” Phillips. The fighting on Guadalcanal was just one purgatory of the first offensive in the Pacific.

In a film produced for the Home Front, "Guadalcanal Diary" was made to boost morale while capturing the hallmark of US Marine Corps history. Families back home got a glimpse of the Pacific theater, but were they being told the truth?

Operation Barbarossa launched Nazi Germany’s plot to conquer the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front in 1941. Death was certain for millions of soldiers and civilians.

Director Sam Peckinpah paints a slow motion picture of the Eastern Front during World War II, where German Wehrmacht no longer know why they are fighting. Tune in as we discuss if Sergeant Steiner and his men accurately represent history in "Cross of Iron."