Real history. Original film.
Short, true stories from America's wars, built from original US government film and real recordings. Classroom-safe, fully sourced, and free to use with students.
Next premiere Operation Torch · Thu Nov 5, 2026
Featured Short · Out now
In March 1942, ordered out of the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur promised: "I shall return." On October 20, 1944, after four hours of naval gunfire, American troops landed on Leyte. That afternoon MacArthur came ashore and spoke from the beach. Days later, October 23-26, Japan's navy struck back at Leyte Gulf.
Anniversary lineup · Fall 2026
Six new Shorts, each premiering just before its anniversary. None is released yet; links go live on premiere day. Planned dates may shift.
More than 100,000 Allied troops land in North Africa, and President Roosevelt speaks to the French in their own language, in his own recorded voice.
WWIISources: NHHC; US Army CMH Pub 72-11; FDR Library. Film: NARA 208-UN-26, 208-UN-31, 111-ADC-10129.Everyone knew the guns would stop at 11 a.m. Why were Americans still dying at 10:58? The Armistice, in US Army Signal Corps film.
WWISources: US Army CMH Pub 77-8; National Archives; US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Film: NARA 111-H-1233.1,074 women earned their wings as WASP pilots. The first class reported in Houston; veteran status came only on Nov 23, 1977.
WWIISources: Public Law 111-40; Public Law 95-202; TWU WASP Archive. Film: NARA 111-ANSM-16.Why did Marines have to wade hundreds of yards to the beach under fire? With film from the Oscar-winning With the Marines at Tarawa.
WWIISources: Alexander, Across the Reef (USMC, 1993); National Park Service. Film: NARA 127-MH-3527, 428-NPC-1176.Surrounded at 20 below: how the 1st Marine Division fought its way out of the Chosin Reservoir, in Army Signal Corps film.
KoreaSources: Montross & Canzona, U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, vol. III (USMC, 1957). Film: NARA 111-ADC-10271, 111-ADC-8579.A Navy camera crew aboard USS Argonne kept filming during the attack. Plus FDR's "date which will live in infamy" address, in his own voice.
WWIISources: National Park Service; National Archives; NHHC. Film: NARA 428-NPC-21950, 428-NPC-1733.Primary-source spotlight
Historians ask five questions of every source. Here they are for the two primary sources in the Leyte Short, straight from our free teacher guide.
Dispatches in order
The guns of the Western Front fall silent at the eleventh hour.
The attack that brought the United States into the Second World War.
Allied landings in North Africa; the first class of women pilots reports for training in Houston.
76 hours on Betio, in the Gilbert Islands.
Among the largest naval battles ever fought.
The Marines' fight out of the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean winter.
Teachers & homeschool
Every video is made to be classroom-safe: no graphic imagery, honest captions on every shot, and sources listed in full. Free printable guides go with the Shorts.
About the channel
Every script is written for the channel and fact-checked against official histories such as the US Army Center of Military History and the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Footage is genuine period film, mostly US government work from the National Archives. We caption what the frames really show and never pass off other film as the event.
Narration is an AI-generated voice, and we say so. Real voices, like MacArthur's 1944 recording, are the genuine recordings. We never imitate a real person's voice.
All Hands Archive is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the US Navy, the Department of Defense, the National Archives, or All Hands magazine.
All hands on deck!
Six anniversary Shorts between Nov 5 and Dec 4, 2026, ending with Pearl Harbor's 85th.
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Teachers, homeschool families, historians and veterans' families: we'd love to hear from you, including corrections.
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