Vietnam Memorial Rose. (Photo by oneofthebrave)
Every Memorial Day weekend, WETA broadcasts a star-studded concert from the West Lawn of the Capitol. In the hours leading up to the concert, PBS viewers will have an opportunity to get even closer to the true spirit of the day.
On May 29, the five-part documentary series Honored to Serve will shine a spotlight not only on veterans of the battlefield, but on the people supporting them. Two segments from the series will also be shown at the G.I. Film Festival, which starts May 21 and runs until May 29.
In the offices at WETA, a new Ken Burns project typically sets off a search for programming that leads audiences up to that new release in the months before it premieres, according to vice president and TV station manager Kevin Harris. Honored to Serve is designed to set the tone for The Vietnam War, a multi-episode nonfiction project from the prolific documentarian, set to air on PBS next year.
One episode focuses on military artists and the real men who inspired the fictional George Clooney movie Monuments Men. Another centers on the practice of constructing war memorials for fallen soldiers, exploring the techniques used to preserve memories of wartime. Arlington National Cemetery is prominently featured in an installment about memorial rituals. And many of the area’s prominent—and less known— memorials and monuments make appearances throughout the specials.
Harris says the main goal of the specials was to emphasize a part of the military narrative that’s frequently overlooked. He points out that for every soldier at war, there was a family supporting him or her on the home front. For all of the doctors who served during active combat, there are many more who ease the difficulties of transitioning back into everyday life.
These stories may be overlooked, Harris thinks, because fewer Americans have direct connections to the military than in the days of the mandatory draft.
“More and more, people are removed, not as directly related,” Harris says. “What we want to do is bring it back in. We want to humanize the people who serve.”
To do that, Harris and his team scoured the region for under-the-radar stories and surprising facts. They spent time at the Museum Resource Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, where they discovered the inspiration for an episode about the mementos left behind at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall. Those mementos eventually get picked up and transported to the Museum Resource Center, but by whom? For what purpose, and how?
Just as no one would associate Wall Street with the local New York City scene, Harris hopes the documentary series will encourage viewers to see beyond the globally recognized symbols of the nation’s capital. “It’s not just the wall. It’s about the people behind it,” he says.
That includes an interconnected web of community members who contribute vital portions of the military experience, even as they’re simply moving through everyday life — canine experts who train dogs to help injured veterans, family members who provide a helping hand or a loving embrace.
Though the program airs at a time of heightened political rhetoric and a persistent debate about the American military’s role in international disputes, Harris said he made a conscious decision to keep controversial issues out of the series. Some might linger in the subtext, but he wanted to steer clear of alienating viewers with polarizing ideology. The Vietnam Memorial episode, for instance, focuses not on whether the soldiers should have been there in the first place, but rather on what happened to them once they were there and now that they’re gone.
“I leave the political stuff to PBS NewsHour,” Harris says with a laugh.
Harris hopes the timing of the five-part series and the subsequent concert puts viewers in a thoughtful mindset heading into Memorial Day. The holiday for many has become more about barbecues and long weekends, but Harris is confident the documentary will open people’s eyes and remind them of their duties to respect, if nothing else.
“That’s one thing I think PBS does very well,” Harris says. “We may not be able to do Game of Thrones. But if you follow that afternoon, you’ll get the context.”
Honored to Serveairs on WETA from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m. on May 29. The 2016 National Memorial Day Concert, hosted by Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna, airs that night from 8 to 9 p.m. The G.I. Film Festival runs from May 21 until May 29 at various locations.
