Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American Soldiers
From: Vermont Folklife Center Media
Length: 00:57:08
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Piece Description
Prisoners of War tells the story of four World War Two veterans -Harrison Burney (84), William Busier (86), Cliff Austin (79), and Robert Norton (80) - all of whom were captured in the first days of the Battle of the Bulge and imprisoned for the remainder of the war. The hour-long program runs without narration, building its story by intercutting excerpts from extended field recordings with each of the men. It begins with the men remembering the chaos and confusion of the battle itself and moves quickly to each man's capture, interrogation, forced march, and transport by rail car to slave labor camps in Germany and Germany-controlled territory. The program focuses in detail on the fabric of daily life in these camps, particularly starvation, disease and the brutality of the German guards. It follows the men through their liberation, debriefing, repartriation, and reintegration into American society. And it chronicles their stuggle with the life-long aftereffects of trauma and the shame they felt for having surrendered.
3 Comments
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Great radioExtremely moving and profound piece. Well done. |
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Review of Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American SoldiersThese 4 men have amazing stories and they detail the hell they endured with emotion, clarity and a uniquely human voice. It is one thing to hear someone talk about starvation in a detached manner, quite another to hear someone describe his efforts to stay alive by picking peels off a manure pile. "Prisoners of War" is well edited and the production values are top shelf. The stories are compelling and important to hear and they don't lose steam as we conclude with them discussing their self-doubt even after living this horror. As a PD I would have liked to have a 5-minute news hole at the beginning and there is plenty of audio for the creation of a powerful billboard. I wonder if this would be just as profound with the insertion of narration. The narrator could take us outside the wall of the prison to the scenes happening around the world and within the war zones thus providing context and more perspective. Narration and sound might benefit an already excellent production. |
Broadcast History
I have air dates for around half of the stations. The following stations aired this piece:
KQED
88.5 FM & 89.3 FM San Francisco, CA
WUFT
89.1 FM Gainesville, FL
WMEH
90.9 FM Bangor, ME
KUOW
94.9 FM Seattle, WA
WCAI and WNAN
90.1 FM Cape Cod, 91.1 FM Martha's Vineyard
Vermont Public Radio
107.9 FM Burlington, 89.5 FM Windsor, 88.7 FM Rutland, 88.5 FM St. Johnsbury, 94.3 FM Bennington
Licensed by South Dakota Public Radio
10/3/06 Air date: 11/10/06, Noon to 1 p.m.CT
Frequency: statewide in South Dakota
Licensed by KGOU
9/21/06 Air date: 9/24/06, 12:00pm
Frequency: 106.3fm/105.7fm
Licensed by KAWC
11/2/05 Air date: 11/11/05, 12PM
Frequency: 88.9
Licensed by KWIT
5/25/05 Air date: 5/30/05, 1500
Frequency: 90.3 FM, 90.7 FM
Licensed by Public Interactive
5/25/05 Air date: 5/25/05, web only
Licensed by KRPS
5/24/05 No carriage reporting has been submitted.
Licensed by WYSO
5/23/05 Air date: 5/28/05, 11:00
Frequency: 91.3
Licensed by KUHB
Licensed by Red River Radio Network
5/18/05 Air date: 5/30/05, 18:00 CST
Frequency: 88.9/89.9/90.7/90.9
Transcript
Transcript is listed in the attachments on the PRX main page for this program.
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Suggested host intro:
Prisoners of War tells the story of four American soldiers captured in one of World War II?s bloodiest battles, the Battle of the Bulge.
The four men share stories about their capture and their daily struggle to survive in German prison camps. And they talk about how this distant chapter in their lives continues to haunt them today.
Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American Soldiers, was produced by Erica Heilman and Gregory Sharrow for Vermont Folklife Center Media.
Additional Files
- Cliff Austin (powca002a.jpg)
- Bill Busier, 2004 (powbb002.jpg)
- Program Transcript (radioprogramtranscriptsprisonersofwar.pdf)
- Harrison Burney, 2004 (powhb003.jpg)
- Robert Norton, 2004 (powrn002.jpg)
- Bill Busier, 1942 (powbb001.gif)
- Cliff Austin, 1942 (powca001.jpg)
- Harrison Burney, 1942 (powhb001.jpg)
- Robert Norton, 1942 (powrn001.jpg)
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David Berner
Posted on October 07, 2010 at 11:37 AM | Permalink
Beautifully Told
Very nice piece, especially from these soldiers. We are losing more and more of the WWII vets and these personal stories are being lost. Thanks for keeping these alive forever.
I just finished a doc (now on PRX) about the Vietnam War era POW/MIA bracelets, so this piece was a great interest.
David Berner