The Longest Day
In 1944, the U.S. Army and Allied forces plan a huge invasion landing in Normandy, France. Despite bad weather, General Eisenhower gives the okay and the Allies land at Normandy. General Norma Cota (Robert Mitchum) travels with his men onto Omaha Beach. With much effort, and lost life, they get off the beach, traveling deep into French territory. The German military, due to arrogance, ignorance and a sleeping Adolf Hitler, delay their response to the Allied landing, with crippling results.
Cease Fire!
A sometimes uncomfortable marriage between fact and fiction, this film is part documentary and part drama, mixing actual war footage with reenactments in which real veterans of the Korean War portray members of a platoon sent out on a reconnaissance mission near the end of the conflict. Though peace is imminent, violence unexpectedly erupts. A day that begins with the calm and mundane is transformed into a heated battle that typifies the cruel and unpredictable nature of war.
Air Cadet
Three Air Force cadet graduates are sent to a top flight school in Arizona, where they come under the command of tough Maj. Jack Page (Stephen McNally). Jack, who has grown increasingly hard with the pressure of frequently sending young pilots to their deaths, confides in a psychiatrist, who also counsels Jack's estranged wife, Janet (Gail Russell), separately. When one cadet, pilot Russ Coulter (Richard Long), learns that his dead brother Buzz served under Jack, he suspects foul play.
Eagle Squadron
Eager to participate in the war, Americans Chuck Brewer (Robert Stack) and Johnny Coe (Leif Erickson) join the British Royal Air Force and are assigned to an American unit, Eagle Squadron, under the command of Paddy Carson (John Loder). The men make their first mission, and Chuck and Johnny are shot down. After being rescued, Carson warns Chuck not to be a hotshot -- and soon competes with him for the attention of transport leader Anne Partridge (Diana Barrymore) during the height of the Blitz.
Go For Broke!
During World War II, Lt. Michael Grayson (Van Johnson) is a newly commissioned American Army officer who looks forward to being assigned to the 36th Texas Division. Instead, he is put in charge of Japanese-American soldiers, who form the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Grayson is bigoted and uneasy about the assignment, but when the unit goes into combat in Italy, he admires their courage and determination. The 442nd eventually becomes the most decorated unit in the U.S. Army.