Culture
A Guide to Veteran’s Day Programming on WOUB-HD
By: Emily Votaw
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Veteran’s Day takes place on Sunday, November 11, and is observed across the nation as a federal holiday on Monday, November 12. WOUB-HD has a diverse array of programming planned to honor veterans through the holiday. Check out this link for information on more programming, and encore presentations of programming.
Battle of Chosin: American Experience – Thursday, November 8 at 8 p.m. EDT
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir took place November 27 through December 13, 1950 in present day Changjin County, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea. The battle is considered to be one of the pivotal moments of the Korean War, taking place about a month after the People’s Republic of China had entered the conflict and sent the People’s Volunteer Army 9th Army to the northeastern portion of North Korea. On November 27, the Chinese force took the US X Corps, commanded by Major General Edward Almond, entirely by surprise on the Taebaek Mountains, and a 17-day conflict followed. The setting for the battle was brutal: the temperature dipped around 20 degrees below zero
About 30,000 UN troops under the command of Major General Oliver P. Smith were encircled by Chinese forces directed by Song Shilun throughout the two weeks-plus conflict. Shilun was under command from Mao Zedong to completely destroy UN forces. The UN forces managed to break through the encirclement and make it to the port of Hungnam, in the meantime inflicting major casualties on Chinese forces. The battle marked the withdrawal of UN forces from northeastern Korea.
This two-part documentary program revisits the bloody altercation through the eyes of participants. The harrowing battle, which took place five months into the Korean War, had a major impact on how the United States would conduct their foreign policy throughout the Cold War and beyond.
American St. Nick – Sunday, November 11 at 11 p.m.
World War II devastated the world, an impact that could be seen as a microcosm in the small town of Wiltz, Luxembourg, which by 1944 had been occupied by Nazi forces for four brutal years. Nazi leadership eviscerated the town’s heritage, renaming streets; banning the native language; taking away all religious freedoms, even outlawing Saint Nicholas Day, which traditionally was celebrated by festive gift giving on December 5.
At the very height of World War II, with the end of the conflict only months down the road, the incredibly weary 28th Infantry Division of the American Army took occupation of the devastated town, and on December 5, put down their guns and helped the town’s weary people celebrate. 22-year-old corporal Richard Brookins from Rochester, NY played the patrt of St. Nick, soldiers made hot chocolate from their rations, company cooks made sweet treats for the children of the town, and for one day, the small community felt whole again after years of being war torn by a fascist regime.
American St. Nick is heartwarming documentary that examines that very moment in time, which illustrated the goodness of the human spirit for one day amidst one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time.
We’ll Meet Again: Saved in Vietnam – Tuesday, November 13 at 8 p.m.
Journalist Ann Curry joins two Vietnam veterans as they search for the heroes who saved them in their time of need, forever changing their lives, on the first episode of the second season of Curry’s television series that examines some of history’s most dramatic events and attempts to reunite those separated by the currents of human conflict and time. In particular, Curry speaks with an Army officer looking for the helicopter pilot who rescued him and another solider who is forever grateful to the surgeon who saved his leg from amputation.