WXXI Honors Veteran's Day

The Marine Corps War Memorial

WXXI presents three documentaries honoring our veterans.

The evening begins on Friday, November 12 with Independent Lens "Lioness" at 7 p.m., followed by The Last Reunion: A Gathering of Heroes at 8:30 p.m. and Reserved to Fight at 9 p.m. on WXXI World (cable 524/DT21.2).

Independent Lens "Lioness"

They went to Iraq as cooks, clerks and mechanics. Instead they found themselves fighting in some of the war's bloodiest battles. On April 6, 2004, a U.S. Marine combat unit made its way through Ramadi’s narrow streets on a hunt for Iraqi insurgents. As the soldiers turned a corner they were ambushed, sparking a series of firefights that spread across the city and ignited a week of bloody combat. Specialist Morgan and Sergeant Ruthig, both squad automatic gunners, survived this battle, while others soldiers were not as lucky. But subsequent press reports neglected to mention one thing: that both Morgan and Ruthig are women.

The Last Reunion: A Gathering of Heroes

In May 2004, the United States sang the praises of the 16 million who served in the armed forces and millions more who toiled in the factories during World War II by dedicating a long-awaited memorial in Washington D.C. A Gathering of Heroes is the story of a reunion of a group of 60 Hoosier World War II veterans – most of who had never met. They came together during the unusually hot summer of 2005 for a 15-hour cross-country bus trek to the nation’s capital to see the memorial…their memorial.

The Last Reunion: A Gathering of Heroes highlights the history and last reunion of America's top Fighter Group during World War II. The pilots of the 352nd Fighter Group represent the truest meaning of the phrase "unsung heroes." The documentary recounts the stories of these ordinary men who became extraordinary heroes, as they gather one last time.

Reserved to Fight

In May 2003, Fox Company of Marine Reserve Unit 2/23 returned home from front-line combat in Iraq. Reserved To Fight follows four Marines of Fox Company for four years through their postwar minefield of social and psychological reintegration into civilian life. The return to their communities proves as formidable a battle as the more literal firefights of previous months. Living among loved ones who don't yet understand them and how they have changed, contending with a media focused on the politics rather than the human experience of war, and suffering from a psychological disorder that is difficult to acknowledge, these young veterans grapple to find purpose and healing.