War and Remembrance

It's early 1942 and Pug Henry is still in command of the USS Northampton. Pamela Tudsbury and her father find themselves in Singapore. The local administration, both civil and military, believes the island outpost to be impregnable but a journalist friend convinces them otherwise. Nathalie Henry and her uncle Aaron decided to stay in Italy. They have been hoping to get exit visas allowing them to travel to Switzerland but these have consistently been delayed. What they do not know is that Aaron's onetime student, now a German diplomat in Italy, has been instructed to find a way to place Italian Jews into Nazi hands. Nathalie's friend and onetime fiancé Leslie Slote is now assigned to the US Legation in Bern and he comes into information on the German atrocities taking place in Eastern Europe. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, visits Auschwitz and is given a demonstration of its capabilities.

The Henrys have a family reunion of sorts when Pug and Byron join Warren and Janice to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They are joined by Pamela Tudsbury and her father who managed to leave Singapore before it fell to the Japanese. Byron applies for a transfer to the Atlantic submarine force after he learns that his wife Natalie and her uncle Aaron Jastrow were not evacuated from Italy with other Americans. Pug and Warren soon depart on their respective ships headed for the Battle of Midway. Pug has a relatively minor contribution compared to son Warren who flies several successful sorties. Natalie and her uncle have a plan to escape the clutches of the Germans. Rhoda Henry travels to Los Angeles to see daughter Madeline and son Byron who have just arrived. She also sees Pamela Tudsbury who has something to tell her.

Natalie Henry, baby Louis and her uncle, Aaron Jastrow, put into effect their plan to escape from Italy. Their hope of traveling from the Italian coast directly to Lisbon are dashed however and they soon find themselves going to Elba, then Corsica and finally to Marseilles where they are taken in by a local Jewish family who have been regularly assisting refugees. There, Natalie re-discovers her Jewish heritage. Byron has been posted temporarily to Gibraltar to work with the British and he has been making regular courier runs to the American Consulate in Marseilles. Rhoda Henry returns to Washington but stops in Chicago having decided to end her relationships with Palmer Kirby. She is soon pursued however by Colonel Harrison "Hack" Peters. General Halder tells Adolf Hitler that he has no chance of winning the war on the Eastern Front.

Pug Henry returns to Washington where President Roosevelt asks him to take an assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. There, the U.S. Ambassador is none too pleased with the lack of acknowledgment from the Russians on the benefits of lend-lease but Pug is impressed with the work they are doing. All efforts to get Natalie, Louis and Aaron out of Lourdes fail and they learn that all of the internees are being transferred to Baden Baden in Germany. At Pearl Harbor, Byron reports for duty as Executive Officer on a new submarine, the Moray, commanded by his old friend "Lady" Aster. What he doesn't realize is that his friend is having an affair with his widowed sister-in-law, Janice.

It's 1944 and the Allies are preparing for D-day. Pug Henry is now a Rear Admiral and he again meets Pamela Tudsbury at her fiancé's residence, but their meeting is brief as he must return to the Pacific fleet. They do decide they have a future together however. Some members of Hitler's High Command plot to assassinate him, but their first attempt is unsuccessful. Leslie Slote has joined the Army and parachutes behind enemy lines for the D-Day invasions. His job is to organize resistance fighters. After getting a last minute reprieve, Nathalie decides to accept Berel Jastrow's offer of taking little Louis out of the camp. Before they can get him out, they find themselves in the SS interrogation center where the camp commander finds a way to make Nathalie more compliant.

Adam reels from new information about his mother’s death. Eugene tries to get justice for his family. Carlo’s trial comes to an end, but Michael and Adam’s secrets are dangerously unraveling.

In the so-called paradise ghetto of Theresienstadt, the Nazis prepare for a visit by neutral observers by cleaning up the village, distributing new clothes to the inhabitants and setting any number of happy scenes. The visit goes so well that the Nazis decide to make a film for which Aaron Jastrow must write script. Those plotting to overthrow Hitler make one last attempt on July 20, 1944 resulting in the execution of Count von Stauffenberg and the other plotters. Field Marshall Rommel is seriously hurt in a car accident but he too must pay the price for his participation in the plot. Still in the Pacific, Pug Henry prepares for the battle of Leyte Gulf while Byron becomes the commanding officer of his submarine. Nathalie and Aaron are transferred to Auschwitz.

Nathalie and Aaron spend four days traveling to Auschwitz; on arrival, one of them is sent directly to the gas chambers. In the Philippines Sea, Byron Henry, in command of a submarine, gets ready for his first action as Captain. Hitler plans for one, all out attack against the Allied Forces in the Ardennes forest. The battle is launched in mid-December but by January 1945, Allied air power has ensured the Nazis will not succeed. With the Red Army advancing from the East, Himmler orders that all traces of the death camps be eliminated. In Yalta, the Allied leaders meet for the last time to divide the recovered territories.

In April 1945, FDR dies and several days later Hitler, along with several of his cronies, commits suicide. Pug Henry and Pamela Tudsbury are finally married. President Harry Truman asks him to become his Naval aide, forcing him to delay his honeymoon. On May 8, 1945 the Germans surrender and the war comes to an end in Europe. Pug learns that Nathalie is hospitalized and Byron arranges a transfer to Europe. There he begins his search for Louis. The U.S. drop atomic bombs on Japan bringing World War II to an end.