Beginning on Friday, September 21st, be sure to watch OETA’s Oklahoma News Report as we begin a 14-part series - Oklahoma World War II Stories. This is one of the most ambitious efforts ever for OETA News - an effort worthy of its inspiration, Ken Burns’ documentary, The War.
Although he admits he got started about ten years too late, America’s pre-eminent documentary filmmaker decided he needed to tell the story of World War II, much as he had done in his ground-breaking documentary, The Civil War. OETA, The Oklahoman, the Oklahoma History Center, the 45th Infantry Division Museum, and our other partners recognized the importance of the project and launched a statewide story collection project, inviting participation from members of the public. We also decided that OETA should produce a series of first-hand accounts for distribution over-the-air and on-line.
Our “War Team” started spreading the word about our story collection project. We made phone calls, sent e-mails, networked with friends, and used on-air and on-line promotion to collect the names of veterans and volunteers willing to tell their stories. Photojournalist Charles “Boots” Kennedye and I hit the road on August 3rd, taping interviews with veterans in High Definition. We’ve also been furiously gathering video, music and still photos to bring the stories to life.
We completed our first round of fifteen interviews on August 24th and began logging tape, researching and writing. Charles is currently in the editing phase - working his magic in our new state-of-the-art High Definition edit suite. I’ll tell you more about our travels, the people we’ve met and the production process later. But right now, I’ve go to get back to viewing videotape.
Be sure to mark your calendar for September 21st, when the first of our Oklahoma World War II stories airs statewide at 6:30 p.m. on the Oklahoma News Report.
Until next time, Dick Pryor
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