On this episode of Our American Stories, when Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, they needed a way to get from ship to shore quickly, directly, and under fire. That job fell to a simple but revolutionary landing craft known as the Higgins boat, a vessel that could run up on the beach and drop its front ramp in seconds. Eisenhower himself called it a key reason victory was even possible.

Nancy Rust and Carol Stubbs, authors of Higgins and the Boats That Landed Victory in World War II, share the story of Andrew Higgins and how an invention born in the bayous of Louisiana helped change the course of World War II.

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