War Documentary hosted by James Wallace and Nat Fuller, published by PBS in 1991 - English narration
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Produced by an independent film production company four World War II documentaries, "Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific," "Pistol Packin' Mama: Missions of a B-17," "Fighting 17: The Jolly Rogers," and "17th Airborne: The Bulge to the Rhine," have received 11 prestigious film awards, including two Telly Awards, two Columbus International Film Festival Awards, and two New York International Film Festival citations.
In 1989 Kenwood Productions began producing WWII documentaries as part of a series of films titled The American Hero. The original objective of the company was to produce a series of 13 films (The American Hero Series) documenting, through the use of interviews and archival materials, the combat experience America's World War II soldiers. Ultimately only four films were finished and the interview portions of two additional films were shot, but due to a lack of ongoing funding the remainder of the identified stories were not completed.
While disappointed that circumstances prevented the completion of the series, the opportunity to work in each film with five veterans who served and fought together was the experience of a lifetime. From five crew members of a B-17 from the 8th Air Force, to five Navy fighter pilots of the Jolly Rogers squadron, to five members of the 17th Airborne, to five battle-tested Marines of the 1st Marine division, they were to a man remarkable individuals who openly shared their personal stories of combat and service.
In recent years with Ken Burns' series "The War" and the Tom Hanks/Stephen Spielberg series "The Pacific" more attention has been brought to what has been called the Greatest Generation. When series was being produced in the late 1980's and early 1990's, there was little public awareness of the WWII vet and their stories. Now that their stories are coming to light production team is proud to have played a small part in capturing some of these stories for posterity.
4) Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific
The men of HBO's The Pacific describe the ferocious battle for Peleliu,"an island on fire." Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific, recipient of 1993 Telly Award and 1992 Columbus International Film Festival Citation as Best Documentary and featuring Eugene (E.B.) Sledge,author of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, tells the true story of the men of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (K-3-5) and the ferocious Battle of Peleliu, "an island on fire", during World War II in the Pacific Theater.
In conditions that tested the sanity of each man, 9,000 Marines attacked 10,000 battle-hardened Japanese soldiers dug into hundreds of fortified and reinforced coral and limestone caves. 28 days of unrelenting battle with no quarter asked or given. The Marines' goal . . . to kill the enemy before they killed you. The tale of Peleliu as told against a backdrop of archival film footage and photographs by Eugene B. Sledge (author of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa and featured in Ken Burns' film The War on PBS), Bill Leyden, R.V. Burgin, and Jay de l'Eau (all characterized in the HBO mini-series, The Pacific, March 2010, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Executive Producers) is as harrowing as any in the history of modern warfare. A battle of total annihilation fought in inhuman conditions. It must never be forgotten.
Director: Howard Dallin ; 1991 Kenwood Productions, Inc., The American Hero Series
