This Week on History Happy Hour: There are few names in the annals of military history that evoke such emotion, as the small Belgian town of Bastogne. The 101st Airborne are the best-known defenders of Bastogne, but they only constituted one third of the eventual force that saved the city from total annihilation.

Chris and Rick discuss the heroic defense of the city with historian Martin King, lead author of The Eagles of Bastogne.

Martin King is an award-winning British Military historian and author who’s had the honor of reintroducing many US, British and German veterans to the WWII battlefields where they fought. He has lectured at many British and US colleges, universities and military bases throughout the world. Among his numerous books are Searching for Augusta, The Forgotten Angel of Bastogne and The Tigers of Bastogne: Voices of the 10th Armored Division in Bastogne. He lives in Belgium.

This Week on History Happy Hour: In January 1945, as the Battle of the Bulge was coming to an end, the 29th Division readied itself to be at the point of the fourth Allied offensive in eight months. There, along the banks of the Roer River, is where volume five of Joe Balkoski’s epic series on the 29th gets under way.

Joe will join us on his sixth History Happy Hour to talk about that book, The Last Roll Call, and the many decades he has spent telling the story of the 29th.

Joe Balkoski is a renowned American military historian who has authored eight books on American involvement in the ETO during World War II. This includes a five-volume series on the history of the 29th Infantry Division in World War II and a two-volume set on American participation in the D-Day invasion. He has appeared as a D-Day expert on MSNBC, and his work has been praised by Joe Scarborough, the New York Post, World War II Magazine, and others.

This Week on History Happy Hour: Tyler Perry’s new WWII movie Six Triple Eight is out on Netflix. It tells the story about the only predominantly all-black US Women's Army unit sent overseas during World War II. Their mission: raise soldiers morale by improving the disastrously backed up mail.

The movie was based on an article written by HHH Alum Kevin Hymel, and we welcome Kevin back to the show to hear about what that experience of working on the movie has been like – as well as what the movie gets right and wrong.

Kevin Hymel has served as a historian at the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He was also the Research Director for WWII History and Military Heritage magazines. Kevin leads the “In Patton’s Footsteps” tour for Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours, and has appeared in numerous documentaries. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from LaSalle University and Master’s Degree from Villanova University, both in History.