In the spring of 1943, the USS George Washington steamed out to sea carrying America's most precious cargo: its youth. Out of farm fields and cities, dockyards and capitals a formidable fighting force was born and forged. They left their nation bordered by oceans to fight a disciplined, entrenched and combat-experienced army. They leapt from the sky to face the German on the isle of Sicily, the mountains of Italy and plains of Anzio, the fields of Holland and the frozen forests of the Belgian Bulge. This is their story.