The Warrior Tradition, tells the astonishing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and largely-untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. Why would Indian men and women put their lives on the line for the very government that took their homelands? The film relates the stories of Native American warriors from their own points of view – stories of service and pain, of courage and fear. This WNED PBS production premiered in November 2019.
Veterans
In Their Words: Songwriting with Soldiers On-Demand
Learn how creative experiences can help heal military soldiers with post-traumatic stress. The recovery process for active duty US soldiers and veterans can seem out of reach, at times leading to attempted suicide and death. Follow how one group of volunteers and professional songwriters work with soldiers to offer an immersive retreat for them to write songs about their military experience and even a chance at healing.
NPR Veterans’ Coverage On-Demand
NPR Coverage Veterans stories and issues coverage is chronicling the lives of America’s troops, where they live. Listen to Stories.
Also Learn More & Listen On-Demand to Featured Stories of StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative
StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative On-Demand
How did you come to serve in the military? What is your proudest moment? During your service, can you recall times when you were afraid? What are your strongest memories from your time in the military? What lessons did you learn from this time in your life?
The Military Voices Initiative provides a platform for veterans, service members, and military families to share their stories. In doing so we honor their voices, amplify their experiences, and let them know that we—as a nation—are listening.
For more than a decade, 2.4 million men and women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan while millions of families have stood behind them at home. The military community knows well the challenges of multiple deployments, combat-injuries, and long-awaited homecomings. Yet few civilians truly understand the complex realities of our troops’ service and sacrifice.
Learn More & Listen On-Demand to Featured Stories
They Were Our Fathers On-Demand
Over 20,000 American children lost their fathers during the Vietnam War. Their stories serve as powerful testimonies about the true cost of war.
They Were Our Fathers shares their stories, as told by members of Sons and Daughters in Touch—a group formed in 1990 to locate, unite and support Gold Star children who lost their fathers in service during the Vietnam War. They gather in the nation’s capital on Father’s Day to honor their fathers, reflect on their common grief and support one another, like no one else can. Produced by WSRE.
This program is part of WXXI’s Veterans Connections initiative that is designed to help bridge military and veteran needs with community support and awareness. Through special TV, radio and online programming, documentary films, group discussions, news features, and web features. Veterans Connections works to create a community platform to raise awareness and connect veterans with valuable resources.
On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam On-Demand
This film captures a complex aspect of the Vietnam War: the legacy of Latino veterans and their families during the conflict. Watch On-Demand
Through rare archival footage and candid interviews, On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam, conveys the rich heritage of military service, a deeply rooted part of Latino cultural identity in the U.S., and looks at the contributions made by Latino veterans and their families during the Vietnam era. The film also explores the controversy and changing attitudes amid the growing Chicano anti-war movement and within a community reeling over disproportionate losses and divided over participation in the war.
Examine the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on working-class youth and their communities. Framing the documentary are memoirs of two siblings, Everett and Delia Alvarez, who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one as a POW and the other protesting at home.
On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam is part of WXXI’s Veterans Connections initiative that is designed to help bridge military and veteran needs with community support and awareness. Through special TV, radio and online programming, documentary films, group discussions, news features, and web features. Veterans Connections works to create a community platform to raise awareness and connect veterans with valuable resources.
Veterans Coming Home: Health On-Demand
Watch On-Demand VETERANS COMING HOME Health which highlights the challenges veterans – those with physical and/or mental wounds – face in transitioning from military to civilian life. Stories include a program training veterans and dogs to work together to combat the effects of PTSD, TBI & Military Sexual Abuse, and the recovery of a veteran from after he was physically injured to today as a Taekwondo Grandmaster. From Local USA.
The People’s Protectors: On-Demand
Native American veterans reflect on their experiences in the military during the Vietnam War. Years later these veterans reflect on the agony of war and how their communities helped them carry their warrior legacy proudly. Even as they struggled with their relationship to the United States government from past oppression; the Dakota, Lakota, and Ojibwe warriors still felt compelled to honor their duty to their people as Akichita | Ogichidaag| Warriors, as protectors of the people. Funding provided by Vision Maker Media and The Mark and Mary Davis Foundation.
Watch On-Demand: