Summary: Four Vermont soldiers talk about life in German prison camps after their capture at the Battle of the Bulge, and the life-changing effects of this experience.
Very nice piece, especially from these soldiers. We are losing more and more of the WWII vets and these personal stories are being lost. Thanks for keeping these alive forever.
I just finished a doc (now on PRX) about the Vietnam War era POW/MIA bracelets, so this piece was a great interest.
These 4 men have amazing stories and they detail the hell they endured with emotion, clarity and a uniquely human voice. It is one thing to hear someone talk about starvation in a detached manner, quite another to hear someone describe his efforts to stay alive by picking peels off a manure pile.
"Prisoners of War" is well edited and the production values are top shelf. The stories are compelling and important to hear and they don't lose steam as we conclude with them discussing their self-doubt even after living this horror.
As a PD I would have liked to have a 5-minute news hole at the beginning and there is plenty of audio for the creation of a powerful billboard.
I wonder if this would be just as profound with the insertion of narration. The narrator could take us outside the wall of the prison to the scenes happening around the world and within the war zones thus providing context and more perspective. Narration and sound might benefit an already excellent production.
Comments for Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American Soldiers
Produced by Produced by Erica Heilman and Gregory Sharrow for the Vermont Folklife Center.Engineered by Scott Halvorsen Gillette.
Other pieces by Vermont Folklife Center Media
Rating Summary
3 comments
David Berner
Posted on October 07, 2010 at 11:37 AM | Permalink
Beautifully Told
Very nice piece, especially from these soldiers. We are losing more and more of the WWII vets and these personal stories are being lost. Thanks for keeping these alive forever.
I just finished a doc (now on PRX) about the Vietnam War era POW/MIA bracelets, so this piece was a great interest.
David Berner
Tongo Rad
Posted on October 18, 2009 at 08:37 AM | Permalink
Great radio
Extremely moving and profound piece. Well done.
Bill Anderson
Posted on May 23, 2007 at 12:25 PM | Permalink
Review of Prisoners of War: A Story of Four American Soldiers
These 4 men have amazing stories and they detail the hell they endured with emotion, clarity and a uniquely human voice. It is one thing to hear someone talk about starvation in a detached manner, quite another to hear someone describe his efforts to stay alive by picking peels off a manure pile.
"Prisoners of War" is well edited and the production values are top shelf. The stories are compelling and important to hear and they don't lose steam as we conclude with them discussing their self-doubt even after living this horror.
As a PD I would have liked to have a 5-minute news hole at the beginning and there is plenty of audio for the creation of a powerful billboard.
I wonder if this would be just as profound with the insertion of narration. The narrator could take us outside the wall of the prison to the scenes happening around the world and within the war zones thus providing context and more perspective. Narration and sound might benefit an already excellent production.