Be sure to watch Tom Brokaw’s special on NBC tomoorrow (Sunday) night at 8pm. The clips I’ve seen look very moving — Jon Stewart interviewed Brokaw this week — and the report, “To War and Back,” actually features a National Guard unit from here in the Capital Region — Glens Falls, which is only about 20 minutes north of Saratoga. A couple of the scenes were filmed right here in Saratoga Springs.
Special on local soldiers airs Sun.:
Brokaw interviewed soldiers at the Saratoga Diner on South Broadway and visited other sites in the city such as Congress Park. After filming at the diner, he interviewed more soldiers at The Bullpen bar on Caroline Street.
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Brokaw said talking with veterans is more meaningful to him than interviews with world leaders.
‘People always ask me what are the most memorable interviews I’ve ever done,’ he said. ‘They expect me to say Gorbachev or Dr. King or the presidents. Actually, these are the interviews that linger with me — all over the world, ordinary people who do exceptional things and then don’t expect to get any attention.
‘That’s the real story of humanity. When you’re with these young men who have been in Iraq, they joined the National Guard thinking it would maybe help them get to college and then finding themselves in harm’s way and serving their country. That’s the real fabric of the country. That’s what you tend to remember.’
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‘I always believe that the best of American life is found in places like this,’ Brokaw said. ‘That’s what holds us together. It’s not at the extremes. It’s really in the heartland, and the heartland is everywhere.
‘The people who went to World War II and came home didn’t stop giving back to their country, and these kids won’t, either.’
Though I disagree with our country’s reasons for going to war and the politicians who sent our soldiers to Iraq, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the men and women who put their lives on the line to serve our country. I think this documentary will be an important look behind the scenes of the war, so to speak, and will hopefully help all Americans connect with the sodiers in a way that we can’t necessarily do on a daily basis. I can’t fathom what it must be like to be so young and fighting this war. I’m sure this documentary will give us all a taste of what it’s like and what we’re asking them to sacrifice.
1 response so far ↓
1 thomas // Dec 17, 2005 at 5:04 pm
Gabe,
Nathan Brown will be among those depicted, from what I understand. His mother, Kathy, showed a lot of strength in expressing her opinion, after her loss – and in the days prior to Election ’04 when I spoke to her(link to piece by clicking “thomas” below, if yr. interested)
I am interested to see how it plays out on TV, now, 1,000 days after the war.