The War: Editor's Picks
Amazing radio to accompany the PBS film coming in September.
Read more about the PBS 7-part series The War -- directed by Ken Burns -- coming out this Septempter 23rd.
Table of Contents
 |
| Image from National Archives |
- Ken Burns: The War
Joyride Media, 59:00
- Burns and co-producer Lynn Novick discuss what inspired their latest project, and how the soundtrack music helped to underscore the narrative of the film.
- The Silent Generation: From Saipan to Tokyo
Helen Borten, 58:56
- The final year of World War II in the Pacific, told by men who came back -- and until now had kept silent about the harrowing ordeal that changed their lives.
- "The stories are unforgettable and necessary for us to hear and to remember. It is an important historic document that could and should be aired as long as there is war." - Roberts | full review
- Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American Soldiers
Vermont Folklife Center Media, 58:41
- The story of four World War Two veterans, all of whom were captured in the first days of the Battle of the Bulge and imprisoned for the remainder of the war.
- "These 4 men have amazing stories and they detail the hell they endured with emotion, clarity and a uniquely human voice." - Anderson | full review
- War and Forgiveness
Soundprint / WNYC / Radio Netherlands, 59:00
- Two emotional long-form features about victims and perpetrators of wartime atrocities.
- "Such fine journalism touches the heart and prods the mind." - Lewis | full review
- The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History
Long Haul Productions, 25:12
- The story of the worst homefront disaster of World War II -- an ammunition explosion that killed more than 300 men -- and what happened to the 50 African-American men who refused to go back to work loading ammunition after the explosion.
- "I've been impressed with all the work I have heard from Long Haul Productions, and this documentary is a great example of the company's talents at blending intimate interviews with perfect music." - Trefny | full review
- From WWII to Iraq War: U.S Veterans on War and Peace
Miae Kim, 27:55
- An Eighty-three year-old World War II veteran, two Vietnam War veterans, and a Gulf War veteran tell us about the gut-wrenching experience of war.
- The WASPs: Women Pilots of WWII
Joe Richman/Radio Diaries, 22:00
- In the early 1940s, the US Airforce faced a dilemma. Thousands of new airplanes were coming off assembly lines and needed to be delivered to military bases nationwide, yet most of America's pilots were overseas fighting the war. To solve the problem, the government launched an experimental program to train women pilots.
- "So beautifully produced it's nearly cinematic in effect." - Lewis | full review
- Soldiering On
Chris Chambers / Radio Netherlands, 29:30
- Warfare is used by nations as a way to control and determine events. Leaders and demagogues have used it since the birth of civilisation to enhance their powers and destroy others. But what of the soldiers who must fight those wars?
- "I can't underscore how effective this is. They are not building parallels between battles, but of emotions of battles, of the state of mind of the soldier, of having five bullet holes in your parachute canopy, but none in you. Of seeing rows of beautiful French homes dropped to piles of rubble and licked with flames." - Anderson | full review
 |
| Image by Jonathan Almero. |
- Battleship Missouri Memorial
Heidi Chang, 05:05
- To commemorate the 62nd Anniversary of the End of World War II, veterans are returning for a special ceremony on Sept. 2 at the Battleship Missouri Memorial.
- They Wanted Us to Leave: Refugee Migrations after WWII
Sarah Elzas, 06:03
- Refugees are seen as a problem of the developing word. But the system that is today the object of debate was born out of European displacements after World War I and World War II.
- Rugged and Beautiful
Emily Sapienza / Salt Institute, 7:01
- Tools in hand, steel toed boots on their feet, Mildred Santamaa and Dorothy Stone built cargo ships during WWII. But don't confuse them with Rosie the Riveter. These ladies are far tougher.
- "Great story." - Shaw | full review
- Music Sparks Memories
Amanda Wilde / KUOW, 11:44
- Radio was the lifeline to the rest of the country and the world during WWII. Music was the greatest morale builder of both the troops overseas and Americans back home. It tied the nation together, and in turn, was woven into the very fabric of American culture.
- "Draws the listener in." - Sommer | full review
- "Virtual" Internment for Japanese Americans
Elizabeth Wynne Johnson / Northwest News Network, 06:27
- 65 years ago, the federal government issued the proclamation that triggered the internment of Japanese Americans. The order targeted only the coastal portions of the West. Japanese people who lived inland were allowed to stay. But even though they weren't sent away to remote desert camps, their lives were forever changed.
- A WWII Vet Remembers His German Friend
Andrew Witmer, 03:39
- Ed Goshorn was only 18 years old when he left his home in Memphis, Tennessee in early 1940, renounced his U.S. citizenship, and joined the British air service. The U.S. had not yet entered WWII, and Ed was eager to join the fray. Through a strange twist of fate, Ed became close friends with a young German pilot who had earlier tried to kill him.
- Things Are Not What They Seem
Sarah Elzas, 04:22
- How a group of Broadway set designers put their skills to work in service of the US armed forces.
- "As usual Sarah has produced a wonderful human interest piece." - Britton | full review
- Burial At Sea
Adam Allington, 02:50
- Bill Bricker was a captain in the Marine Corps during WWII and was wounded during the campaign for Okinawa. Memorial Day always invokes a particular memory that colors his observation of the holiday.
© 2007, The Public Radio Exchange
