This Week on History Happy Hour: During WWII, the legendary First Division, “The Big Red One,” fought in North Africa, Sicily, landed on Omaha Beach and drove across Europe and into Germany. It served 443 days in combat, with more than 20,000 casualties.

Chris and Rick will explore the rich history of the division with Gregory Fontenot, author of the new book, No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II. The story of how the men of this division learned how to adapt, improvise and innovate on the job as they took on the Nazis on two continents.

Gregory Fontenot is a retired Colonel of the US Army. He is currently a consultant on for the Army and a working historian. He was the lead author of On Point: The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is also the author of The 1st Infantry Division and the US Army Transformed: Road to Victory in Desert Storm, 1970–1991, winner of the 2017 Army Historical Foundation award for Unit History, as well as Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge.