Memorial Day Specials On TV And Radio

 West Virginia Public Broadcasting honors the sacrifice of those who died while serving the country’s armed forces with special programs on television and radio. From the musical tributes on the National Memorial Day Concert airing live from the nation’s Capitol, to television and radio documentaries that recall important moments in history and first-person perspectives of conflict, these programs offer an opportunity for reflection and remembrance on this Memorial Day.

National Memorial Day Concert 2015    Sunday, May 24 at 8 p.m.

Honoring our American heroes for over 25 years, the National Memorial Day Concert pays tribute to the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise co-host the 26th annual broadcast of this night of remembrance that airs live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before an audience of hundreds of thousands, millions at home and to our troops around the world via American Forces Network. The National Memorial Day Concert will showcase courageous American heroes who have been disabled for life; shine a spotlight on Gold Star Children who 

Credit Courtesy of Dostie Family.

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  have lost a parent to war; and commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The all-star line-up includes distinguished American leader General Colin L. Powell USA (Ret.); seven-time Grammy Award-winner and international superstar Gloria Estefan; acclaimed film and television actress Stefanie Scott; “The Voice” season five winner Tessanne Chin; the world’s most prolific classical cross-over artist Katherine Jenkins; and renowned tenor Russell Watson in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly.

Tradition of Service: The West Virginia Veteran’s Legacy Project    Sunday, May 24 at 8 p.m. on WVPB.2 (check local listings) West Virginia military veterans, from World War II to the conflict in Afghanistan, recall their time spent serving their country.

We Served Too: The Story of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots    Sunday, May 24 at 9 p.m. on WVPB.2 (check local listings) A look at how the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots broke through barriers during World War II, then were erased from the history books. Watch a trailer of the film.

Four-Four-Two, F Company At War    Sunday, May 24 at 10 p.m. on WVPB.2 (check local listings) A profile of one World War II infantry regiment in the U.S. Army made up of Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Memory Of A Forgotten War    Sunday, May 24 at 10:30 p.m. on WVPB.2 (check local listings) Deeply personal accounts of the Korean War are provided by four Korean American survivors.

Credit Rakkasan Delta Website/transom.org

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  On the Radio:

We’ve Never Been The Same: A War Story    Monday, May 25 at 2 p.m. 

Over the course of five years, Adam Piore gathered the stories of the surviving members of Delta Company, a Vietnam-era paratrooper unit; Jay Allison joined him for the last two years when it turned from a book into a radio story.  At Fort Campbell before deployment, Delta was a ragtag bunch, the “leftovers” as one of their fellow soldiers put it, but on the night of March 18th, 1968, they became heroes. Their leader won the Congressional Medal of Honor and two others won the nation’s second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for their valor that night when the company endured a long and devastating battle—not as long or as devastating, however, as the years that followed, after the men of Delta Company came home separately to live alone with the memories. Read the producer’s notes and view an extensive slideshow of Delta Company.