American Veteran does so much more than reveal the breadth of the veteran experience.
The four-part broadcast and streaming series, which premieres on Tuesday, October 26, delivers multiple perspectives from multiple directors, creating intimate portraits of the glories and traumas experienced by service members and exploring the ways that service has transformed them.
“A multitude of veterans’ voices are front and center in the film, men and women from every branch of service, reaching back through our history and up to today,” says Co-Executive Producer Judith Vecchione, who worked on GBH’s landmark Vietnam: A Television History as well as Eyes on the Prize and also executive produced Blood Sugar Rising for GBH.
“So many Americans have no contact with veterans,” adds Co-Executive Producer Elizabeth Deane, who executive produced The Kennedys and the ten-part series Rock & Roll, and also worked on Vietnam: A Television History. “We wanted to pull back the curtain on something that is little understood by many civilians,” she said, adding, “the veterans tell their stories better than we ever could.”
Produced by Insignia Films, who interviewed more than 50 veterans, the team hopes the project bridges that divide.
The series is accompanied by a 10-part digital series American Veteran: Keep it Close, which showcases the meaningful objects veterans kept close to remind them why they serve — from a grandfather’s special stone to a puppy raised on the battlefront. The digital series drops on YouTube every other week through early January. A companion nine-part podcast “American Veteran: Unforgettable Stories” premieres October 19, offering deep dives into the emotional stories of a range of veterans, from the first Black American woman held as a prisoner of war to a special ops sniper coming to grips with what he was asked to do.
Every voice in the films, the podcast and the digital series is a veteran’s. The television series is hosted by four of them: TV host and former Marine Drew Carey; Iraq War Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth; award-winning actor, Native American activist and Vietnam War veteran Wes Studi; and actor, motivational speaker and Iraq War Army veteran J.R. Martinez.
Leah Williams, who directed two of the episodes of American Veteran, said she and the team worked hard to present a balance between the difficulties of military service and the positive transformations many veterans experience.
“There are as many perspectives as there are veterans — eighteen million of them,” said Williams. “I wanted to honor each veterans’ experience and I also wanted to take a step back and look at the story the collection of experiences tells.”
See a trailer for American Veteran here and digital series American Veteran: Keep it Close here.
American Veteran premieres on October 26 at 9pm on GBH 2.
