Band of Brothers/The Pacific

On June 4, 1944--just two days before the Allied invasion of Normandy--Lts. Richard Winters and Lewis Nixon reflect back on the events and training that led them to D-Day with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment E (a.k.a. Easy Company).

D-Day. Due to German flak, the tense men of Easy Company are dropped indiscriminately throughout the Normandy countryside, forcing Lt. Winters (Damian Lewis) to team up with a private from another company until he can find his mates.

On D-Day plus two, the scattered men of Easy Company regroup with the help of Pvt. Albert Blithe (Marc Warren). Lt. Welsh (Rick Warden) then delivers their orders: they must take the town of Carentan.

Back in England, Easy Company's D-Day veterans heal their bodies and minds while getting acquainted with green replacement members. However, their respite ends quickly when they are sent into Holland as part of Operation Market-Garden.

In this episode directed by Tom Hanks, Lt. Winters (Damian Lewis) leads a contingent on a risky mission over a Dutch dike. Meanwhile, Easy is left in the hands of Lt. 'Moose' Heyliger, who undertakes a rescue mission in the besieged town of Arnhem.

In the dead of winter, the men of Easy Company fend off frostbite and hunger--in addition to the enemy--while holding the line in a forest outside of Bastogne. Meanwhile, exhausted medic Eugene Roe finds friendship with a Belgian nurse.

After the draining winter at Bastogne, Easy Company faces an enormous challenge: they must take the town of Foy from the enemy despite the incompetence of their new commander, Lt. Dike.

Easy Company is ordered to send a patrol to take enemy prisoners in the Alsatian town of Haguenau. Lt. Hank Jones (Colin Hanks), fresh from West Point and eager for combat experience, volunteers to lead them.

Arriving in Germany to very little resistance, the men discover an abandoned Nazi concentration camp still filled with emaciated prisoners.

In the conclusion of this HBO miniseries, Major Winters leads Easy Company into the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden--once the home of the Third Reich's officers--and receives orders to take the abandoned 'Eagle's Nest,' Hitler's mountaintop fortress.

In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Marine Sgt. John Basilone prepares to ship out, while budding journalist Robert Leckie enlists as a Marine. Eugene Sledge, unable to enlist due to a heart murmur, says farewell to his best friend.

Basilone and the 7th Marines arrive on Guadalcanal to reinforce Leckie and the rest of the 1st Marine Division as they defend the crucial airstrip. Basilone plays a key role in repelling a nighttime Japanese attack, but suffers a frightful loss.

Debilitated after Guadalcanal, Leckie, Basilone and their comrades land in Melbourne, where they are greeted by adoring crowds. Meanwhile, Basilone is awarded the Medal of Honor and is asked to return home to help sell U.S. war bonds.

Sledge trains for combat at Camp Elliott. The 1st Marine Division lands at Cape Gloucester on the Japanese-held island of New Britain. Later, while stationed on the island of Pavuvu, Leckie begins displaying the physical and mental effects of combat.

Basilone's celebrity grows as he goes cross-country on the war bonds tour. On Pavuvu, Sledge is briefly reunited with Phillips and Leckie. Sledge then gets his first taste of combat as 1st Marine Division meet fierce Japanese resistance on Peleliu.

Despite the suffocating heat and a lack of clean water, Sledge, Leckie and other Marines confront the highly-fortified enemy as they attempt to capture the Peleliu airfield. Sledge witnesses the shocking truth about what is sometimes required to survive.

The Marines continue the battle of Peleliu against an enemy determined to fight to the last man. Devastated by the loss of a revered leader, and witnessing unimaginable barbarity on both sides, Sledge veers to the very edge of moral collapse.

An increasingly frustrated Basilone convinces the Marines to allow him to train troops headed for combat. Transferred to Camp Pendleton, he enjoys a whirlwind romance with an initially reluctant female Marine.

After battling on Okinawa for over a month, Sledge and the rest of the 1st Marine Division are ordered to relieve an Army division that has been in combat against the most strongly defended Japanese position on the island.

(Miniseries Finale). After the Japanese surrender, Leckie and Sledge return home and attempt to adjust to life after war. Meanwhile, Lena visits Basilone's home and has an emotional meeting with his family.