Taking an otherwise nondescript hill on the embattled island of Okinawa proved to be one of the most incredible battles of WWII. The young weary marines of Charlie Company strained against the searing Pacific sun to see the top of Sugar Loaf Hill.

The paratroopers of Fighting Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment fought and died from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Their sheer determination against the enemy was matched only by their devotion to one another.

In December of 1944, the seemingly defeated Germans secretly mustered 600,000 battle-hardened troops, including whole SS Panzer Divisions, into an all out offensive to capture Antwerp, the heart of the Allied supply chain.

Charlie Company of the 1st Cavalry Division wanders into an NVA stronghold. A blistering attack leaves supplies low, casualties mounting and the enemy circle tightening. Team Alpha hearing the distress calls, volunteers to try the difficult rescue.

Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, helped lead the charge into Iraq's most dangerous city in 2004. Battling in the bloodiest, most sustained house-to-house urban combat American soldiers had seen since Vietnam would prove costly for the men.

Hitler said, "The coming battle would be the most decisive of the war." But, little did he know, that battle would be determined by a small group of National Guardsmen on top a hill fighting like hell to deny what Hitler wanted most-victory.

When Col. MacFarland arrived in Iraq's deadliest city, the odds could not have been worse. Al-Qaeda has arrogantly declared Ramadi, capital of a new caliphate. The boys of MacFarland's Ready First Combat Team would fight to give America a clear victory.

Everything went wrong in America's first test of whether the Japanese-held islands of the Pacific, the key steppingstones to the doorstep of Japan, could be captured by across-the-beach infantry assaults.