The Greatest Generation

Several Tuskegee Airmen at Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. Photo by Toni Frissell, Library of Congress.

On Memorial Day, it seems fitting to repost a piece about a job I did for AMC when Tom Brokaw hosted the AMC’s War Heroes Weekend Marathon.  We filmed his interview on the aircraft carrier, Intrepid. He interviewed me as much as I did him.  Included is a poignant clip about the African American servicemen of WWII.

Tom Brokaw and AMC Celebrate America’s Servicemen and Women

(originally posted July 30, 2012)

In May I wrote about filming on the aircraft carrier Intrepid, and now I’m pleased to present some of the vignettes for AMC’s War Heroes Weekend hosted by Tom Brokaw, which aired all throughout Memorial Day weekend.  On the Hanger Deck, I interviewed him about the Greatest Generation that he so often writes about, and he introduced the movies to be shown that holiday weekend.
You can take the man out of the chair, but you can’t take the journalist out of the man, as I learned first hand during my time with Mr. Brokaw.  While on a break, I chatted with him for a bit as the crew prepared the second camera setup.  Suddenly, I found myself telling him about growing up in Virginia (a state he loves), going to college in New Mexico (his daughter did her residency at UNM), and getting a degree in Political Science.  What the??  Two minutes ago, I was the one asking all the questions, and now the tables were turned.  I am always admiring of people who have a natural curiosity about the world around them because it shines through everything they do, and Tom Brokaw exemplifies this.

We knocked out 15 vignettes of varying lengths during a delightful day that wrapped right on schedule thanks to the talented efforts of DP Bill Winters and the lighting magic of Smokey Nelson.  Thanks, guys.

• aircraft carrier
• AMC
• Black Lives Matter
• Greatest Generation
• Intrepid
• Memorial Day
• Tom Brokaw