WAR, THE: EPISODE 3: A DEADLY CALLING (TV) {LETTERBOX}
Summary
Part three of seven. One in this series of documentaries which uses archival footage and photos, present-day interviews with veterans, and celebrity readings of soldiers' letters and related material to tell how citizens in four American towns -- Luverne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and Waterbury, Connecticut -- experienced World War II.
As the program opens, Life magazine causes a furor by publishing a photo in its Sept. 20, 1943 edition of three dead American soldiers on a New Guinea beach in the South Pacific, meant to raise readers' awareness of troopers' sacrifices. Burt Wilson of Sacramento then tells how the war affected every aspect of his life as a young boy in the '40s. Paul Fussell of Pasadena notes that every family had its own war-related tragedy. John Hope Franklin of Oklahoma details how he volunteered to work in army offices, citing his doctorate from Harvard, but was refused because he was black. Hurt by the blatant discrimination, Franklin vowed that his country "didn't deserve" him, and went on to become a celebrated historian.
Next, newsreel footage explains how the National Housing Authority developed guest quarters in Mobile for the families of white soldiers, then made lesser, segregated quarters for families of black soldiers. Tensions continued to rise in Mobile, reaching a climax when twelve blacks were allowed to become welders. Clyde Odum of Mobile details how white dock workers subsequently started a riot and attacked all nearby blacks. Similar racial incidents began occurring across the country as the NAACP demanded equality.
Katharine Phillips of Mobile recalls how she thought her brother Sidney was taking part in the Battle of Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands. In reality, he was part of the assault on Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain. Next, the narrative contrasts the bloody, casualty-heavy battle to gain control of Tarawa from the Japanese with a patriotic newsreel making the U.S. victory seem like an easy one. Maurice Bell of Mobile recalls watching the battle unfold, and being horrified by its bloodshed.
In Waterbury, Olga Ciarlo remembers how her mother waited each day for the mail, hoping for a letter from her son, Corado, nicknamed "Babe." Daniel Inouye of Hawaii talks about his anger at being considered an enemy by his government, despite having been born in America. Asaka Tokuno of Sacramento states that many men of Japanese ancestry later served in a segregated unit due to their fierce loyalty to America. Robert Kashiwagi of Sacramento remembers being recruited to join the segregated unit after being housed in an internment camp, and why he raged against the bias to which he was subjected. Tim Tokuno of Sacramento tells why he joined the volunteer troop, despite the fact that the men had been earmarked to fight on the front lines.
In Waterbury, Tom Ciarlo recalls how the town's industry thrived during war time. Leo Goldberg of Brooklyn talks about the "happy" atmosphere he experienced after moving to Waterbury, by which time all factories had turned toward defense efforts. Anne De Vico of Waterbury tells why she joined many of the town's women in continually writing letters to soldiers.
In 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower helped American forces push northward in Italy, toward Rome. Ward Chamberlin of Norwalk, Connecticut, recalls being part of that movement while a member of the American Field Service. The labored attempts of the Allies to get past the commanding hills dominated by the historic abbey Monte Cassino -- manned by the Germans -- to get on the road to Rome is described by Chamberlin. When the Allies bombed the monastery, its ruins quickly became a German stronghold. As the Americans' progress stalled, a different tactic was employed as Allied ships landed at Anzio, thirty miles south of Rome. Babe Ciarlo was among those on the mission, which became stalled and led to a four-month standoff when the troops' leader, Major General John P. Lucas, spent too much time fortifying the beachfront, allowing days for the Germans to set up in the Alban hills and commence bombing.
In Luverne, major salvage operations began for metal to be used in the war effort. Jim Sherman of Luverne recalls the massive "recycling" undertaking. In Mobile, John Gray tells how he joined an all-black unit of soldiers, for whom each physical characteristic -- eyes, hair, complexion, etc. -- were listed on entry forms as "negro." Later, after the formation in the U.S. Air Corps of an all-black unit known as "The Tuskegee Airmen," Gray joined a segregated unit of the Air Force, where he encountered yet more prejudice after being stationed in Samoa. In Luverne, Quentin Aanenson tells of learning to fly his dream plane -- a B-47 Thunderbolt -- upon being sent to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jackie Greer of Louisiana recalls meeting Aanenson at a dance and becoming romantically involved with him for the next three months.
Back at Anzio, Allied forces remained under constant German bombardment. Chamberlin details the hardships which soldiers there suffered. Tom Ciarlo tells how Babe wrote letters to the family from Anzio, but never mentioned the horrific conditions. Finally, Allies forced the German gunfire to a minimum. Once finally taking the nearby town of Cisterna, the Allies opted not to trap the retreating German army, an act which Chamberlin still fails to understand. Meanwhile, a French and Polish assault on Monte Cassino finally put that locale in Allied hands. On June 4, 1944, the Allies arrived in Rome, with Babe scheduled to be among them. Olga reads the letter that she wrote to Babe for his twenty-first birthday, then cries when recalling the telegram subsequently received by the family telling of his death on May 27 during the siege of Cisterna.
Aanenson and Greer both recall saying their goodbyes in Louisiana as he prepared to fly to Europe, with the long-delayed Allied invasion of France about to be launched. Includes three program-sponsored commercials.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: September 25, 2007 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:53:27
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 101214
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; World War II; History - American
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 2007
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Anheuser-Busch beer
- TV - Commercials - Bank of America banking
- TV - Commercials - General Motors products
CREDITS
- Ken Burns … Executive Producer, Producer, Director
- Pam Tubridy Baucom … Coordinating Producer
- Sarah Botstein … Producer
- Delfeayo Marsalis … Producer
- Karen Kenton … Producer
- Lynn Novick … Producer, Director
- Peter Miller … Co-Producer
- David McMahon … Co-Producer
- Meghan Horvath … Associate Producer
- Taylor Krauss … Associate Producer
- Dayton Duncan … Consulting Producer
- Vivian Connolly … Animation Producer
- Ben Spivak … Animation Producer
- Geoffrey C. Ward … Writer
- Wynton Marsalis … Music by
- Keith David … Narrator
- Tom Hanks … Voice
- Adam Arkin … Voice
- Bobby Cannavale … Voice
- Kevin Conway … Voice
- Quentin Aanenson
- Maurice Bell
- Ward Chamberlin
- Corado "Babe" Ciarlo
- Olga Ciarlo
- Tom Ciarlo
- Anne De Vico
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- John Hope Franklin
- Paul Fussell
- Leo Goldberg
- John Gray
- Jackie Greer
- Daniel Inouye
- Robert Kashiwagi
- John P. Lucas
- Clyde Odum
- Katharine Phillips
- Sidney Phillips
- Jim Sherman
- Asaka Tokuno
- Tim Tokuno
- Burt Wilson