Hitler's Last Stand (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Forest of Death - full transcript

NARRATOR: December 1944.

(gunfire)

U.S. Rangers
capture a Nazi stronghold

on the German border.

(explosion)

But a series of counterattacks
and artillery tree bursts...

(explosions)

leave just a handful of men to
defend their critical capture.

In their extreme vulnerability,

the Rangers must consider
an unthinkable plan

to ward off the next attack.



MAN: It's that desperate.

They have to call
the artillery strike

on their own position

and hope to survive.

(explosions)

NARRATOR: On June 6, 1944,

Allied forces finally
land troops in Normandy

to open the Western Front.

(music)

(yelling in German)

But Nazi fanatics and diehards

continue to fight
ruthlessly for survival.

(gunfire)

D-Day was a battle.



The Allies still need
to win the war.

(music)

December 7, 1944.

Bergstein, Germany.

Members of the American
2nd Ranger Battalion

go behind enemy lines

to reconnoiter
the German stronghold

of Hill 400.

As second in command,

Lieutenant Len Lomell
scouts for Dog Company.

The Rangers
are not here to fight.

They creep through the darkness

to identify the German bunkers
and machine gun nests

they will need to capture

when they launch their assault
on Hill 400 in the morning.

After the rapid collapse
of Nazi forces in France

over the summer,

the fight moves
towards the German border.

PETER LIEB: In autumn 1944,

the entire situation
for the German soldier changes.

It's the first time now
in this war

that he's fighting
on home ground.

This is something that gives him
a new motivation to continue.

NARRATOR: Adolf Hitler orders
defenses to be strengthened

along Germany's borderlands,

which run through

the Hurtgen Forest.

The Allies call the 390-mile
series of fortifications

the Siegfried Line.

(explosions)

By December 1944,

German forces
have bogged down the Allies

in the Hurtgen Forest

for nearly three months.

And Allied armies

have pushed the Western Front

up to the German border...

and to the base of Hill 400.

MAN: Hill 400, to some extent,

is the key
to the Hurtgen Forest.

NARRATOR: The hill
is a natural fortress--

rocky, tree-covered,

and 45 degrees
on its steepest slope.

To these natural defenses,

German troops have added
bunkers and machine gun nests.

Holding the hill
permits its occupier

to observe troop movements
for miles around,

including the Cologne Plain.

JOHN C. McMANUS:
If you get Hill 400,

you immediately can put
artillery observers

atop that hill.

At that stage,

then you can call down
U.S. artillery

upon any German movement
in the area.

Hill 400 emerges as this,
like, solid-gold real estate

that both sides understand
they have to have.

NARRATOR: The Rangers now have
orders to seize the hill.

Lomell's scout
is the first step.

PATRICK K. O'DONNELL:
He went up Hill 400

and scouted out
the different positions

and was able to bring back
that crucial intelligence,

which helps shape the attack
on December 7th.

NARRATOR:
Lomell and the other scouts

slip into the town of Bergstein
at the base of the hill.

Just before 6 AM,

Lomell's men of 2nd Ranger
Battalion's Dog Company

prepare to jump off.

SOLDIER: We've got an MG
on the left side.

And there's one on the right.

NARRATOR: Most have arrived

just in time
to move into the line.

The men have had
little or no sleep.

SOLDIER: There's one right
at the end of the road.

(explosions)

(gunfire)

SOLDIER: Suppressing fire!

NARRATOR: At 0600 hours,

the Rangers charge
from their positions.

They must fight their way
through Bergstein

to their first objective.

O'DONNELL:
As they move from the cellars,

they're receiving incoming
artillery fire from the Germans,

and men are being shredded
by these artillery shells.

They're also being sniped at.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: American forces hold
just a sliver of the village.

They are surrounded
on three sides.

O'DONNELL: And they can easily
be cut off by the Germans

and annihilated.

The Germans wanted it back
at all costs.

NARRATOR: They only need
to advance a few hundred yards,

but combat
in built-up areas like towns

is a challenge.

The walls provide shelter
to both sides.

It is also easy
to get disoriented.

O'DONNELL: Urban combat is some
of the most difficult combat

that any soldier can encounter.

It's not a situation

where you're firing at somebody
a hundred yards away.

You're firing at them
at point-blank range,

and in many cases,
it's hand-to-hand.

SOLDIER: Move, move, move!

(explosions)

(soldier yelling)

NARRATOR: Men from Fox Company
join Dog Company

as the American Rangers

continue to fight
to the edge of town.

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

(music)

(explosion)

SOLDIER: Ahh! Ahhh!

SOLDIER: Medic! Medic!

Medic!

SOLDIER: Ahhh!

NARRATOR: The battle
for Bergstein will rage

even after the attack
on the hill begins...

the Germans relentless

in their attempts
to drive out U.S. forces

and the Americans
equally determined to hang on.

(gunfire)

(explosion)

Lomell and the two companies

finally close in
on their first objective.

O'DONNELL: They converge
in front of the hill

in front of the field,

and it's been described
as a sunken road

where there's
a little bit of cover

from the defenders
on top of Hill 400,

as well as the machine guns

that are arrayed
at the base of the hill.

NARRATOR: Lomell has fought
with many of these men

for a long time.

Six months earlier, on D-Day,

Lomell, along with
Staff Sergeant Jack Kuhn,

destroyed five of the Germans'
main artillery guns

at Utah and Omaha beaches.

O'DONNELL:
Len was shot in the side

as he was scaling the cliff.

But despite this wound,
this gaping wound,

kept climbing

and completed the mission.

He fought through the maze
of fortifications on the top

and found the guns
on top of Pointe du Hoc

and disabled them
with thermite grenades.

NARRATOR: This action had
a profound impact on D-Day,

saving countless lives.

Lomell would earn citations

from the American, British,
and French governments.

Lomell now eyes
their next objective.

The U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion
must take Hill 400

and hold it for 24 hours,
until relieved.

By 0700, 120 men
from Dog and Fox Companies

have made it
to the base of the hill.

Between them and the tree line
is a field 100 yards wide.

The Rangers know

once they begin,
they cannot stop.

O'DONNELL: Cross an open field

under machine-gun fire
from MG-42s--

what was called
'Hitler's bone saw'

because it rattled off
over 1,200 rounds per minute.

The entire field itself

was mined with
Bouncing Betty mines,

and these are mines that would
shoot up into the air

and then detonate around
the area of your groin

and sever legs
and body parts.

The odds were definitely
stacked against the Rangers

on December 7th.

NARRATOR:
German artillery and mortars

begin targeting
the Rangers' position.

(music)

The first shells fall
75 yards behind the Americans.

The German gunners fine-tune.

(firing)

(explosion)

The shells start
to drop closer.

Meanwhile,
U.S. artillery responds

and shells German positions
in the tree line.

SOLDIER: Fire!

(explosions)

O'DONNELL: Basically what's
known as a rolling barrage

or a creeping barrage.

This is American artillery

that is creeping
in front of the Rangers.

(indistinct conversation)

(explosions)

NARRATOR: As the German shells
drop closer

to Dog and Fox Companies
from behind,

the Rangers are pinned between
the two artillery barrages.

(explosion)

(rockets firing)

Among the artillery weapons
aimed at the Rangers

is the Nebelwerfer 41.

The German rocket launcher

fires 5.9-inch shells.

Each salvo fires six rockets

one second apart.

Concussive force alone

can kill,

even if the high-explosive

fragments miss.

(explosion)

As the rockets close in
on the American Rangers,

an unexpected order is given.

O'DONNELL: These are very
battle-hardened troops,

but somehow
in the mix of this,

there was an unseasoned,
untrained officer

that ordered a scout to go out
and reconnoiter the field.

NARRATOR: Fox Company's
Sergeant Herman Stein

is one of several Ranger NCOs

to question the order given
to one of the enlisted men.

O'DONNELL:
And they universally said,

'Don't go out there. Don't go.'

They said it several times,

and they tried to
stop the man from going.

NARRATOR: Stein and the others

knew the order meant
certain death for whoever went.

Can the weight
of their experience

force the officer to back down?

SOLDIER: No. Don't go!

NARRATOR: December 1944.

The American
2nd Ranger Battalion

prepares to attack
a key position.

They must take Hill 400,

which overlooks
the town of Bergstein,

just inside the German border.

As they wait to jump off,

a newly assigned officer

orders a man
to scout the field out front.

The non-commissioned officers
argue it is too dangerous.

O'DONNELL: The officer then
looked at the man and said,

'This is a direct order.

Go out into the field.'

And he actually did,

and as he went into the field,

he was shot in the gut.

NARRATOR: What might have
triggered a court martial

in another unit

is a hallmark
of the 2nd Ranger psyche.

O'DONNELL: In 1942,

the United States didn't have

special operation forces
or commandos.

The Rangers were a new thing.

They were all volunteers,

and they had a very tough
weed-out process.

These men had to march and climb
and shoot and fight.

Very few people

were able to make it
through the actual training.

NARRATOR: It molded men who
could think outside the box,

question orders,
and take initiative

if they thought it was
in the best interest

of the mission.

That mindset

would prompt Fox Company
Sergeant William McHugh

to action.

McHugh realizes

that the German mortars
are closing in

and would strike them
before their jump-off time.

O'DONNELL:
Sergeant McHugh shouts,

'Let's get the bastards!'

And then he raises
his tommy gun over his head,

and they charge
across the field.

(men yelling)

(gunfire)

And it's been described
as like a tsunami--

a band of screaming,
shooting Rangers

descending on these
German machine gun nests,

crossing this open field.

NARRATOR: McHugh spurs
Dog and Fox Company

to charge straight towards
the German guns.

(gunfire)

Because they jumped off early,

some of the incoming artillery
they dodge is American.

O'DONNELL: There's a real danger

of being hit
by their own friendly fire

from this artillery,

but the fact that they leave
only a few minutes early

saves many of their lives.

Men were being hit
by the artillery,

by the German bullets,

and then even by mines
as they were crossing the field.

But they didn't have
a chance to look back

or even help anybody.

They were just moving forward.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR:
Standing in the Rangers' way

is a regiment of the 272nd
Volksgrenadier division,

commanded by
Captain Adolf Thomae.

(music)

The Volksgrenadier divisions
are formed

after the assassination attempt
on Adolf Hitler

by senior officers
in July 1944.

LIEB: The idea behind
the Volksgrenadier divisions--

you can already see this
in the name 'Volks,'

which means people,

kind of grass-root formation

inspired with Nazi ideology,

with a belief of one community
serving for a common cause.

NARRATOR: As Germany grapples
with manpower shortages,

older men and teenaged boys are
conscripted from civilian life

to form a replacement army
loyal to Hitler.

Members of the Luftwaffe
and Kriegsmarine

report for combat service.

Injured soldiers also return
to the lines faster.

Heinrich Himmler mobilizes
49 new Volksgrenadier divisions

in about eight weeks.

Himmler ensures
that they are well-armed,

but hurries them into battle.

While overall results
have been mixed,

the 272nd has fought well
in the Hurtgen Forest.

At Thomae's disposal

are 36 pieces
of direct artillery support.

(gunfire)

Just that morning,

his troops had planned
to retake Bergstein.

LIEB: But the U.S. Rangers
were the first ones to attack,

and this puts Thomae
very quickly

into a defensive position.

(explosion)

NARRATOR:
The Rangers' premature attack

gives them a slight advantage
over the Volksgrenadier.

O'DONNELL: The artillery
is actually coming in

right as they're crossing,

and it keeps the Germans'
machine gunners' heads down.

NARRATOR: The Rangers
who make it across the field

capture the German
outer positions.

(gunfire)

O'DONNELL:
The Germans that are overrun

are either bayonetted,
in many cases,

or they're fleeing
for their lives

up the top of Hill 400.

NARRATOR:
The U.S. Rangers press on.

Speed and surprise
add to their arsenal.

(explosions)

(gunfire)

Both Allied
and German artillery

continue to fall
on the base of the hill.

The Rangers have no choice

but to continue
to the next line

of German defenses.

NARRATOR: Fighting is heavy
as two companies

of the American
2nd Ranger Battalion

charge up Hill 400,

a stronghold
on Germany's border.

(gunfire)

Rangers try to clear German
bunkers and machine gun nests

as they move uphill.

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

O'DONNELL:
This is close-quarters combat.

This is personal.

In some cases,

it's directly
hand-to-hand fighting,

with bayonets and knives,

pistols.

That's the level of intensity

that these
men had to go through

just to get up that hill.

(music)

(yelling in German)

NARRATOR:
Lieutenant Len Lomell,

second in command
of Dog Company,

is amongst the first Rangers
to reach the summit.

(gunfire)

Others quickly catch up.

(gunfire)

Their ascent has taken
less than an hour.

(gunfire and yelling)

(gunfire and yelling)

Members of Fox Company
use grenades and gunfire

to force the surrender
of the German hilltop bunker.

(yelling and gunfire)

(music)

By 0830, the Rangers
have claimed Hill 400.

To that point in the war,

it is one of the deepest
incursions into Germany

by U.S.
or other Western allies.

O'DONNELL: These men were all
running on adrenaline.

Their nerves were taut
from the charge itself,

the artillery
that was falling,

the close-in combat.

SOLDIER: Get these bodies
outta here right now.

O'DONNELL: They get
to the top of the hill--

that was
an exhilarating feeling.

That's what they told me.

NARRATOR:
The capture of Hill 400

is a remarkable achievement.

O'DONNELL:
But it was just the beginning.

NARRATOR: Lieutenant Lomell
orders the Rangers to dig in.

On the exposed hillside,

security is elusive.

O'DONNELL: The only
real refuge that they had

was the command bunker,

an observation bunker
on the top of Hill 400.

NARRATOR:
Some Rangers take shelter

in positions
captured from the Germans,

but that is not
always possible.

O'DONNELL: The German foxholes

that were facing
the American lines,

they weren't facing the sides
or flanks of the hill

where the Germans
were going to be coming from.

NARRATOR: New foxholes

prove difficult to dig
in the rocky soil.

O'DONNELL:
The ground is frozen solid.

They're barely able
to claw through it,

and some of the men
actually use their fingernails,

and they're bloody
as they claw through the dirt

the best they can

to dig this shallow hole
with their trench knives

and their bayonets.

Anything that they can to just
get a little semblance of cover.

NARRATOR: Foxholes are
a critical perimeter defense

against the inevitable
German counterattack.

LIEB: German doctrine
very much cherishes

the idea of offensive action.

So even if you lose a position,

you are supposed to
attack, counterattack

as quickly as possible.

NARRATOR: German high command
considers Hill 400

to be of vital importance
for a top-secret reason.

Seventeen German divisions,
totaling over 200,000 men,

amass in the nearby
Ardennes Forest.

Hitler has been planning
a surprise offensive

in a bid to turn
the tide of war.

Their leaders
go to great effort

to conceal the build-up
from Allied reconnaissance.

LIEB: If the Americans
sit on Hill 400,

they can spot
German assembly areas

in the rear.

NARRATOR: Captain Adolf Thomae
receives a battalion

of the 6th
Fallschirmjaeger regiment,

an elite group of paratroopers,

as reinforcements.

Generalfeldmarschall
Walter Model

offers Thomae's men
an added incentive.

LIEB: Field Marshal Model
promises the German unit

re-seizing Hill 400

an Iron Cross for each
individual soldier

and a seven-day leave.

NARRATOR: Having pre-ranged

all the positions on the hill
with his guns,

Thomae begins
to shell the Rangers.

(firing)

LIEB: When the Germans
attack Hill 400,

the infantry attacks along
the slopes towards the hill,

and the German artillery

is putting fire
onto the U.S. soldiers

sitting on top
of the mountain.

So there is a danger

that German shells will also
kill German infantrymen.

(firing)

NARRATOR: The artillery
proves persistent.

O'DONNELL:
This is every minute,

this is every hour

it's coming in.

And there's no place
to run or hide,

and it's random death
from above.

NARRATOR: Along with
standard artillery rounds,

part of Thomae's strategy
is to create tree bursts.

(firing)

O'DONNELL: The Hurtgen Forest
had conifer trees

that were over
a hundred feet high

in some places,

and the Germans designed
their artillery barrages

to strike above the canopy

so that not only
would deadly shrapnel

rain down on the Americans,

but also splinters
that were razor sharp

that could
slice through the body.

(explosion)

NARRATOR:
Standard Allied training

was to drop to the ground in
the face of incoming artillery.

During a tree burst,

such a move would prove fatal.

Soldiers had to overcome
their instincts

and stay upright

to let their helmets
protect them.

O'DONNELL:
If there was a tree nearby,

they'd actually hug the tree

because it would
prevent the shrapnel,

and splinters from the wood
wouldn't be able to hit them.

(music)

NARRATOR: As the Germans
start to counterattack,

Lieutenant Len Lomell
and his fellow Rangers

are dangerously exposed.

(firing)

(explosions)

NARRATOR: Captain Adolf Thomae

rallies more than
100 German troops

against the American
2nd Ranger Battalion,

who have just captured
Hill 400.

(gunfire)

The German Volksgrenadier
and the Fallschirmjaeger

attack in small groups.

The result is brutal
close-in fighting.

(grunting)

The Volksgrenadiers possess
an extremely effective weapon

for this kind of battle.

The MP-44.

The world's first
assault rifle.

Equipped with
a 30-round magazine,

the gun can switch from
single-shot to rapid fire,

with the flick of a lever.

(gunfire)

The MP-44 has an effective
range of 164 yards

in the full-automatic position

and 437 yards
in the single-shot mode.

Armed with both MP-44s
and its precursor, the MP-40,

some German forces
approach a location

defended by
Dog Company Sergeant Ed Secor.

LIEB: When the Germans
counterattack,

they are not
running into open fire,

they're trying to infiltrate
the enemy positions

and try to circumvent
the strong points.

NARRATOR: Secor and a private
had secured good coverage.

O'DONNELL: Sergeant Secor
was positioned

under an overhanging boulder
in a shallow foxhole.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: But a German bullet

renders Secor's weapon
inoperable.

In response,
the usually mild-mannered Secor

charges out to recover guns from
dead German soldiers nearby.

(gunfire)

O'DONNELL:
He immediately grabbed

two MP-40 machine pistols,

and then with both hands,

fired into the mass
of oncoming Germans.

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: When they are empty,

he then pulls out his pistol
and continues to fire.

(music)

Sergeant Secor's daring actions

thwart the German
counterattack.

(speaking German)

Captain Thomae
and his men retreat

to regroup and try again.

(speaking German)

(music)

During the German attack,

Lieutenant Len Lommel's hand
is injured by shrapnel.

Despite his own wound,

he must devise a defensive
strategy for the Rangers--

now down to about
40 able-bodied men.

He has Herm Stein
from Fox Company

bring his men
closer to Dog Company.

He also needs more information.

O'DONNELL: Len Lomell really
understood reconnaissance,

so he sent out two-man scouts

to sort of
probe portions of the hill

to find out where the enemy was.

(whistles)

NARRATOR: So many of the Ranger
radios have been damaged,

communication is difficult.

O'DONNELL: It was hand signals,

or a runner would
run up to a position

and say what is going on.

NARRATOR: In response,

Lomell then has
the Rangers concentrate

in front of the German build-up

so they can meet the attack
with full force.

When Captain Thomae leads
his troops back up the hill,

Lomell, Stein,
and their fellow Rangers

are ready for them.

(explosion)

(music)

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

The Germans, however,

do not attack
on a single front.

They probe the Ranger line
for weaknesses.

Lomell counters by constantly
shifting his men.

O'DONNELL: This is a situation
of very scarce resources--

the resource being
the GI or a Ranger.

So they had to be very smart
in how they defended the hill,

and that's what they did.

They moved his men around
according to the threat.

NARRATOR:
Lomell's mobile tactics

lead the Germans to believe

that the Rangers occupy
the hill in great numbers.

Had the Germans realized,

they could have
easily overwhelmed

the American forces.

But as the Rangers repel

the second
German counterattack,

they suffer further casualties.

Just after 1600 hours,

Lomell sends a message
to his superiors in Bergstein

that he's down to 25 men,

who remain surrounded

by German troops.

O'DONNELL: It is like

king of the castle.

They're holding a perimeter

on the top of the hill.

NARRATOR: The Rangers bring
the wounded they can reach

to the observation bunker
at the crest of Hill 400.

O'DONNELL: And that becomes
the field hospital.

They don't have
any real medical equipment

or anything like that.

They just have some bandages.

If they're lucky, they might
even have a morphine syrette,

but that's scarce, too.

There's very little in terms
of medical supplies.

NARRATOR: But many others
lay out of reach

and remain exposed
to incoming shrapnel.

In daylight,

there was no way
for the Rangers

to evacuate their casualties.

O'DONNELL: If they had to
bring a wounded man down,

they had to fight their way
down the hill.

SOLDIER: Help me!

NARRATOR: The injured
and dying Rangers call out.

SOLDIER: Help me!

SOLDIER: Help me!

NARRATOR: Finally,

Lomell can't take
their cries any longer.

O'DONNELL: Len felt completely
helpless on that front,

and then he felt helpless

by the men that were
dying in the bunker.

And there was a real question

whether or not they were going
to be able to hold out.

I mean, the whole hill

was about to be overrun
at any moment.

LOMELL: Gather round.

(music)

I suggest that we leave.

NARRATOR: Lomell proposes
the unthinkable.

That the Rangers
abandon Hill 400.

(music)

NARRATOR: After a series
of German counterattacks

to retake Hill 400...

(explosions)

Lieutenant Len Lomell
proposes a shocking plan

to the remaining members of
the two U.S. Ranger companies.

Desperate to help
his injured men,

he suggests handing Hill 400
back to the Germans.

O'DONNELL:
There was a real question

whether or not they had
enough men to hold that hill,

because of
the constant artillery

and the counterattacks,

and it was at this point

that he was, you know,
proposing a solution

to save his men.

NARRATOR: Lomell explains,
based on his experience,

the Germans would care
for the American wounded

if they surrendered the hill.

McMANUS:
His willingness to do so

was an insight into
how bad the battle was becoming

and how slim a chance
some of these guys had

of surviving their wounds.

It's an indicator into what kind
of crisis you're dealing with

at Hill 400.

NARRATOR: Lomell believes
it will be the fastest way

to get Ranger
casualties treatment

and save the lives
of the dying.

In World War II,

American and German soldiers

generally treat each other's
wounded and prisoners

according to
the Geneva Convention.

German soldiers captured by
American and Western allies

had a death rate
of less than one percent...

while four percent
of U.S. soldiers

died in German captivity.

Relatively low numbers
by wartime standards.

But...

McMANUS:
That would only be the case

after the intensitive combat
had ebbed.

NARRATOR: If the hill fell
in heavy combat,

the wounded would likely
be overrun as well.

O'DONNELL: Lomell was
at an inflection point

in the battle.

The men or the mission.

And he floated the idea,

do we move off the hill
and leave the wounded

so that the German medics
can tend to them?

LOMELL: What do you think?

(gunfire in distance)

O'DONNELL: The Ranger
response is unanimous.

It's a no.

No. Absolutely not, no.

SOLDIER: I say we stay, too.

NARRATOR:
They are outnumbered,

and the wounded vulnerable,

but to abandon the hill

would mean their sacrifices
have been in vain.

LOMELL: Well, all right.

We'll stay.

NARRATOR: At 1652,

Lomell sends an urgent call
to his superiors in Bergstein,

the town below the hill,

for reinforcements.

(gunfire)

Another German counterattack

tries to break
the remaining Rangers.

(gunfire)

The Americans hold them off

in hand-to-hand fighting
with fixed bayonets.

O'DONNELL:
The forest is so black.

You're not able to see somebody

unless they're
right on top of you,

and it's close-in and intimate

because you are face-to-face
with the enemy.

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

NARRATOR:
A platoon of reinforcements

from the 2nd Rangers
Easy Company

finally arrives
from the village below.

LOMELL: It's good to see you.

SOLDIER:
Good to see you, sir.

NARRATOR: And help
Dog and Fox companies

fight off the next
German counterattack.

(gunfire)

LOMELL: Move!

(gunfire)

(yelling)

(music)

SOLDIER: You all right?

NARRATOR: Lomell sustains
another injury,

this time in his upper thigh...

and is now one of
the many Ranger casualties

who needs medical care.

(gunfire)

(music)

They hope that some
can be evacuated

under the cover of dark.

Rangers from Charlie and Dog
Company's mortar battalion

climb the hill with litters
for the wounded.

The stretcher bearers
work silently.

German troops continue
to occupy the slopes.

O'DONNELL: And just picture

the dead weight of a wounded man
on a stretcher,

and you've got to somehow
haul this person down.

It's a broken hill with
tree roots all over the place,

and it's so easy to trip

or get caught by the enemy.

It's extremely perilous.

NARRATOR: Though wounded,

Lomell oversees the evacuation
of the Ranger casualties.

At 2140 hours,

he is amongst
the last of the injured

to leave Hill 400.

O'DONNELL: Lomell was
losing a lot of blood.

His finger was dangling
from his tendon.

He did not want
to leave his men,

but his wounds basically
forced him off the hill.

NARRATOR: Sergeant Herm Stein

is now in charge
of Fox Company.

The night is broken by periodic
shells and sniper fire.

(firing)

If the few dozen Rangers
survive until morning...

they know that
another German counterattack

will surely come.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR:
The 2nd Ranger Battalion

has kept Hill 400
out of German hands

for much of December 7, 1944.

And by 1700 hours
on December 8th,

they've withstood
two more counterattacks

coming from three sides
of the hill.

McMANUS: Hill 400,

you can't think of it as,

oh, here's the Americans
controlling the whole hill.

It's more like,
here's a handful of guys

in little clumps
here and there on that hill

who control the ground
they stand on, kind of,

controlling the entry points,
the exit points,

controlling an area
30 yards away.

That's problematic.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: Another heavy
artillery bombardment begins--

a sign that the next
counterattack is imminent.

(firing)

Sergeant Herm Stein
of Fox Company

endures the bombardment...

(explosions)

with an assortment of weapons
at the ready.

The Rangers
who remain on the hill

keep the weapons
of the killed and wounded

and collect
those abandoned by the Germans

to prevent
running out of ammunition.

It's risky.

O'DONNELL: There's a real danger

with using
captured German weapons

because they make
a distinct sound,

and if you're
an American combatant

hearing a German weapon,

you could potentially think
it's a German firing that weapon

and fire upon your own men.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR:
As the artillery eases,

150 German troops

under the command
of Captain Adolf Thomae

charge the hill.

(gunfire)

The fifth counterattack
is the strongest yet.

German troops advance
to within 30 yards

of the observation bunker
on the top of the hill.

(gunfire)

The Ranger numbers
continue to dwindle.

(firing)

They resort
to desperate measures

to hold their position.

They call in artillery support,

virtually onto the hilltop.

O'DONNELL:
It's that desperate.

They have to call
the artillery strike

on their own position

and hope to survive.

SOLDIER: Blow!

(firing)

NARRATOR: It's a system

the Rangers have
a lot of confidence in.

McMANUS: By December 1944,

U.S. artillery is among
the best in the world,

very sophisticated
forward observation,

communications equipment,

accuracy.

It certainly is better and
available in more quantity

than German artillery.

(firing)

NARRATOR: American artillery
rings the Rangers' positions.

While dangerous
for the Rangers,

it achieves
the desired objective.

Many Germans are killed.

Those that are not
are forced to retreat.

(soldiers yelling)

(gunfire)

But the battle still exacts
its toll from the Rangers.

Even with the reinforcements
from Easy Company,

the Rangers are now down
to 22 able-bodied men.

O'DONNELL: Lieutenant Kinnard

went directly to
the commanding officer at corps

to beg for reinforcements.

They're now...
it's way past 24 hours.

Corps comes back and says,

you must hold that hill
at all costs.

and he goes back
and reports back

that the reinforcements
weren't going to arrive.

NARRATOR: Even worse,

they start to run
critically low on ammunition.

(gunfire)

(gunfire)

As a second night falls,

the remaining Rangers
dig in again.

O'DONNELL:
What happens to most people

is that you don't think
about death or life.

You just think you're
going to die anyways,

so it doesn't matter.

And I think that's what
a lot of those Rangers felt.

(gunfire)

(music)

NARRATOR:
Then out of the darkness,

a relief force finally arrives.

A battalion from
the U.S. 13th Infantry,

8th Division, ascends.

Originally tasked to hold
Hill 400 for 24 hours,

the Rangers have survived 40.

O'DONNELL: It was all about
the collective sacrifice

that they had made

and all the men that had died
prior to that point in time,

that they said no,
absolutely not.

We will not give an inch.

We will hold this hill.

NARRATOR: At 2230 hours,

Sergeant Herm Stein
is one of the last Rangers

to walk off Hill 400.

In taking and holding
the position,

the 2nd Rangers
suffer 23 men killed

and 106 wounded.

Four are missing in action.

450 German troops are killed

and 64 taken prisoner.

German Captain Adolf Thomae

would receive
the Knight's Cross

for his defense of Bergstein

and repeated attempts
to reclaim the hill.

Herm Stein from
Rangers' Fox Company

is later awarded

the Distinguished
Service Cross,

for extraordinary heroism
on December 7th,

and serves out
the rest of the war.

Len Lomell
also survives the war

and was presented
with the Silver Star

for his heroic leadership
on Hill 400.

O'DONNELL: I think in some ways

it represents
like the gold standard

of who we are as Americans.

These are individuals that are
willing to sacrifice their lives

for something
larger than themselves.

It's pretty extraordinary.

NARRATOR: While Hill 400

is one of the deepest
penetrations into Germany

by American or British forces
to that point in the war,

the Allies fail to capitalize.

Depleted troops

cannot advance further

and do not discover

the massive German build-up

in the Ardennes Forest.

McMANUS: Maybe the best term

is that they are now

combat ineffective.

When you suffer
33,000 casualties

in the space of five weeks or so

and almost all them concentrated
in the rifle companies

among the forward-leaning
combat troops...

this is definitely
going to have an effect.

So, in most of those companies
you are talking about anything

from about a 50 to 100 percent
casualty rate,

and especially
among the officers.

LIEB: The Germans are able to
slow down significantly

the Allied advance
in the Hurtgen Forest.

However, at the same time,

the Germans also suffer
drastically in these battles,

and these are casualties

the Germans actually
cannot afford.

NARRATOR:
Only eight days later,

on December 16, 1944,

Germany launches its last
major offensive of the war,

which would come to be known
by the Allies as...

the Battle of the Bulge.

LIEB: The Germans want to drive
a wedge between the Allies,

between the Americans
and the British.

(explosions)

NARRATOR: Hitler's army

would take them
completely by surprise

and effectively
end the fighting

in the Hurtgen Forest.

The Battle of the Bulge
would prove to be

one of the largest
and bloodiest battles

fought by the U.S.
during World War II.

The setbacks suffered

mean the war in Europe
will last another six months.