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World War II: Stories from the front lines

8pm NAZI MEGA WEAPONS - History - Explore how the Nazis built some of the biggest, deadliest pieces of military technology.https://youtu.be/OerZy5o73rI 

Blitzkrieg -  In the first years of WWII, Germany crushes its enemies in a series of offensives coined "Blitzkrieg" or "Lightning War." Stuka bombers blast a path though enemy lines, then Panzer divisions cut through defenses. Together they are unstoppable.  9pm WORLD WAR II: Price of Empire - The history of the Second World War. https://youtu.be/cnQLr2z8cQ8Turning Point - Japan has escalated a War in the East, but has roused the might of the United States. Japan’s escalation of the War in the East is devastatingly effective – Malaya and Singapore fall and the myth of European superiority, on which centuries of Empire have been constructed, comes crashing down. But despite Japan’s success it is possible to see, from the start, the inevitability of her defeat – she has roused the might of the United States and the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea foretell the inevitable outcome. 10pm HEROES ON DECK: World War II on Lake Michigan - History 

Hereos on Deck - Pilots
Credit WTTW
Hereos on Deck - Pilots

 The documentary HEROES ON DECK: WORLD WAR II ON LAKE MICHIGAN sheds light on a little-known training operation conducted by the U.S. Navy on Lake Michigan during World War II.https://youtu.be/obQp5fNnPzYBetween 1942 and 1945, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy trained nearly 15,000 pilots, including 41st President George H.W. Bush, to land and take off from two makeshift aircraft carriers —the Seaandbee and Greater Buffalo – in the safety of landlocked Lake Michigan.

The Seeandbee before being converted to the USS Wolverine
The Seeandbee before being converted to the USS Wolverine

 There were many crashes including some fatal accidents. As a result, more than 100 classic WWII fighters and dive bombers sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan. With the approval of the U.S. Navy, many of the planes have been recovered, raised and restored over the course of the past 30 years.Featuring a combination of interviews, de-classified film and stills, underwater recovery footage, computer generated recreations, and hi-definition underwater photography, HEROES ON DECK brings to life this vital chapter in American history.  

Copyright 2018 WLRN 91.3 FM

Mia Laurenzo is a 30-year veteran of public television in Miami. She began her career learning every aspect of video production. Currently she is a writer, producer, on-air host and promotions coordinator for TV, radio and the web. Her experiences include producing for a series, special events and historical documentaries. As a native Floridian, she is a perfect fit for South Florida's Storyteller Station, WLRN. She has produced award winning, nationally distributed documentaries like Journey to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade where one year she followed a high school band and a clown as they prepared for the big day and the next year, she had the privilege of being a clown herself. Previously, she produced Weird Florida: On the Road Again, a sequel to the highly successful show Weird Florida: Roads Less Traveled, where the cast and crew travel over 1,500 miles searching the Sunshine State’s weirdest and wackiest places. On a more serious note and what she considers to be her most important work, she produced Out of Darkness, Into Light, a documentary on child sexual abuse,which delved into the lives of three adult survivors, a show in which she was awarded her first of two Emmys.