Veterans Commemoration Month: Documentaries

Army Aviators say they fly "ABOVE THE BEST", this film shows the lengths these aviator heroes will go to, to protect the soldiers on the ground, and each other during intense combat in the most dangerous places on Earth.

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A former combat army Ranger launches a new mission at COMFORT FARMS--a unique therapy farm meant to help those at high risk for suicide.

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Follow General George Armstrong Custer from his memorable, wild charge at Gettysburg to his lonely, untimely death on the windswept Plains of the West. On June 26, 1876, Custer, a reputation for fearless and often reckless courage ordered his soldiers to drive back a large army of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. By day's end, Custer and nearly a third of his army were dead.

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A moving tribute to the history of disabled veterans, Debt of Honor takes an unflinching look at the reality of warfare and disability, featuring interviews with some of the country's most prominent disabled veterans. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

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Overshadowed by the wars that came before and after it, the Korean War has received little of the attention it rightly deserves, yet its legacy endures: armies still face each other across the demilitarized zone—and nuclear saber-rattling, this time coming from North Korea, is still a factor. In this ABC News program, correspondent Phil Ittner embeds himself with a group of veterans making a pilgrimage to Korea for the first time since they saw action there more than 50 years ago.

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During World War II, a hand-picked group of American GI's undertook a bizarre mission: create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used inflatable rubber tanks, sound trucks, and dazzling performance art to bluff the enemy again and again, often right along the front lines. Many of the men picked to carry out these dangerous deception missions were artists. Some went on to become famous, including fashion designer Bill Blass. In their spare time, they painted and sketched their way across Europe, creating a unique and moving visual record of their war. Their secret mission was kept hushed up for nearly 50 years after the war's end.

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War is about one thing only: it’s about killing. You either learn to kill somebody else or you get killed or wounded yourself.” This film examines how soldiers grapple simultaneously with their duty and their own humanity as it tracks the perilous psychological journeys of four decorated combat veterans of World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Iraq War.

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Investigating the consequences of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan. With exclusive access to a militant wing of the Taliban, and the story of Iran's growing influence across the country.

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Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, a small contingent of US Troops were sent on a secret mission to overthrow the Taliban. What happens next is equal parts war origin story & cautionary tale, illuminating the impact of 15 years of constant combat. This untold story features unprecedented access to the Green Berets who played pivotal roles in these covert missions. Reflecting on their experiences and on the brothers-in-arms they lost, these elite soldiers offer a riveting celebration of valor and a sobering, cautionary tale.

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In a special developing report, FRONTLINE examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the investigative team behind The Lost Year in Iraq, The Torture Question, Endgame and Bush's War traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence -- exploring how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong and what happens next.

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Each year the equipment available to defense forces multiples, improves, and provides soldiers with the technology to stay alive. This video explores advances in army uniforms, artillery, machinery, and systems that keep armed forces at the forefront of defense. The smallest improvements available in equipment have a huge impact in the field, providing lifesaving innovations, comfort solutions, and a safer working environment for those personnel that take on some of the toughest jobs in the world. The video also looks at technological developments in submarines, tanks, and airborne surveillance.

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Bob Woodruff traces the stories of veterans, surgeons, researchers, rehab experts, and families, from battlefield to military hospitals, from hi-tech research centers to rehab facilities, to homes and workplaces— where this new generation of wounded warriors have a chance to live another life, after combat and after critical injury.

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This documentary explores a combat deployment through the eyes of an Army chaplain, as he and his men fight their way through a hellish tour in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan and then as they struggle to reintegrate home.

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In the 1960's an anti-war movement emerged that altered the course of history. This movement didn't take place on college campuses, but in barracks and on aircraft carriers. It flourished in army stockades, navy brigs and in the dingy towns that surround military bases. It penetrated elite military colleges like West Point. And it spread throughout the battlefields of Vietnam. It was a movement no one expected, least of all those in it. Hundreds went to prison and thousands into exile. And by 1971 it had, in the words of one colonel, infested the entire armed services. Yet today few people know about the GI movement against the war in Vietnam. SIR! NO SIR! brings to life the history of the GI movement through the stories of those who were part of it, and reveals the explosion of defiance that the movement gave birth to with never-before-seen archival material. The film explores the profound impact that movement had on the military and the war itself along with the story of how and why the GI Movement has been erased from the public memory.

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The proud history and traditions of the soldiers who stood against our nations enemies to defended our freedoms, from 1775 to 1899.

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The advancement and reform of our nations Army, from 1900 to today.

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This documentary chronicles the life and vision of the remarkable Tony Vaccaro, and explores how photography defines the way the public perceives armed conflict, and revealing the sheer difficulty of survival while taking photos in a war zone. Through interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers and Vaccaro himself, this intimate film examines issues raised by witnessing and recording conflict, following him as he retraces his journey across Europe as a soldier, sharing the stories behind some of his most powerful pictures along the way.

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A powerful, 70-minute documentary featuring nine U.S. veterans transitioning from active duty to the unexpected challenges of civilian life. Our film is told through the voices of dynamic young men and women from diverse economic and racial backgrounds and varied branches of military service. Join these brave and honest veterans as they share their surprising journeys into military service, the intense and at times harrowing experiences of active duty followed by the highs and lows of forging their own independent identities in a large liberal university. At a time when thousands of U.S. service members are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, The War After is a timely and personal view of the American service experience, unlike any other military documentary.

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Winner of an Emmy and an Independent Spirit Award, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM is an intimate look at the young men who fight our wars and the families and town they come from. Returning to her hometown, Director Heather Courtney gains extraordinary access following these young men as they grow and change from teenagers stuck in their town, to National Guard soldiers looking for roadside bombs in Afghanistan, to 23-year-old veterans dealing with the silent war wounds of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and PTSD.

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In this film High Ground by Michael Brown, eleven veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, the longest in American history, are invited to overcome the damage to their bodies, minds, and spirits, and climb the 20,000-foot Himalayan giant Mount Lobuche. As the film follows their training and climb, it also explores the illusion of health and the struggle to have less-perceptible conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder treated seriously. After the film, Dr. Heather Berlin, a cognitive neuroscientist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, speaks with veteran Jason Hansman about traumatic brain injury.

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