The American Soldier traces the evolution of America’s fighting men and women over the 250-year history of the nation. From the early settlers and the Revolutionary War against Britain, soldiers have played a key role in the seminal events that have shaped America. The two-hour special uses a blend of expert interviews, high end dramatizations and high-impact archive to tell the story of how the young independent nation plunges into the existential crisis of the Civil War in the 1860s, before coming of age in the World Wars of the 20th Century, and then finally emerges stronger from the complex conflicts of the Cold War and beyond. The American Soldier explores how the destiny of the United States and the story of the American Soldier are forever intertwined.