The U.S. Naval Institute took a major plunge in 2007 when it started producing 90-second vignettes for television, featuring interviews with combat veterans under the title, Americans at War. Since June, an estimated 50 million households have viewed the segments on PBS.
The body of work is now 40 stories, including those of common Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Soldiers, and Airmen, Army and Navy nurses, former Senator Bob Kerry and Senator Daniel Inouye—both of whom lost limbs and earned the Medal of Honor—former Senator Bob Dole, former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James Holloway, and the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush. Internet surfers are even finding them on YouTube.
Our batting average has been remarkable; we've been able to use nearly all the interviews conducted. Much of the credit for that goes to executive producer Tim Cowling and director/producer Yehuda Goldman, who perform magic in the edit room. It's a bit of a crapshoot when you're dealing with such a variety of personalities and some people who have never before been on TV—or even been interviewed. We've had a few curveballs tossed our way, but almost every piece, no matter how different from the others, has worked.
One interview in particular gave us producers pause, to put it mildly. We had scheduled a session with Virginia's junior Senator James Webb in the Russell Senate Office Building and had informed his office that we wanted him to talk about his combat experiences. But apparently that message never reached him.
When the decorated Vietnam War veteran and former Secretary of the Navy arrived, he asked what our intentions were and promptly refused to talk about anything he did in the war. "I've never talked about it before, and I don't intend to now," he told us.
Briefly dumbfounded, we eventually persuaded him to at least sit and chat in front of the camera. "Okay," he said, "we'll have a conversation, and if you can use it, fine. If not, that's fine, too." The result was one of the most powerful pieces we've done.
Senator Webb's retelling of events in
the Naval Institute's Americans at War Series
The scene he paints of a column of troops trudging through rice paddies into the dawn culminates with his definition of what it means to be a Marine: "It just hit me," he said. "I've just become part of history here. And when I return, I want to be able to stand in front of the people who were at Tarawa, or Iwo Jima, or the Chosin Reservoir, and I want to be able to say I met their standards. That's a very big part of being a Marine."
Few people today appreciate what sacrifice and service to their country is all about. Americans at War vividly drives that home. We're beginning to feel the impact the series is having on viewers, on those who agreed to be interviewed, and on organizations that present awards for exceptional programming.
We just received word that the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Coast Guard Academy will use Americans at War in history classes this spring and summer. After a few people old enough to remember World War II saw several of the segments a few weeks ago, they said every student in the country should see these stories.
The series has garnered two awards so far: the International Ava (Audio/Visual) Platinum Award presented by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, and the International Television Association's (Washington, D.C., Chapter) Platinum Peer Award. And we're aiming high for a Peabody Award, too.
The Americans at War experience has sometimes been difficult and eye-opening and often moving for the veterans. A case in point is retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Bobbi Hovis, who recalls her experiences as the first nurse to volunteer for service in Vietnam. She has been hearing from people across the country, but she says a recent occurrence was "one of the most emotional moments of my life."
She was having lunch at a local Annapolis restaurant, when she noticed her server staring at her Americans at War lapel pin (each interviewee has one). The woman took her order and walked away. In less than a minute she returned, knelt down, and hugged Bobbi, saying, "I saw you on TV, Commander Hovis. Thank you for your service."