American Experience Presents

• My Boys

  Edie Meeks had two brothers, one who was serving in Vietnam and the other who was protesting the war. She loved them both but decided that if something happened to her brother in combat, she wanted him to have the best care. She volunteered for the Army Nurses Corps, one of 100,000 women who served in Vietnam during the war, working 12 hours a day, six days a week, fighting to save lives and haunted by those who died.For more powerful memories from veterans, visit the PBS series, American Veteran, where you can also watch the television series and digital short films. Learn more about American Experience Follow the show on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads

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• No, I’m Not Good

  As a teenager watching the 9/11 attacks, Clifton Hicks remembers that it was “our Pearl Harbor moment.” He joined the army as an M1 Abrams tank specialist and deployed to Germany, Kuwait, and finally to Iraq. There, his experiences in combat convinced him that what he was doing wasn’t glamorous or honorable.  He earned the enmity of many of his colleagues by speaking out against the war.  Then he made the risky decision to try and get out of the army as a conscientious objector. For more powerful memories from veterans, visitthe PBS series, American Veteran, where you can also watch the television series and digital short films. Learn more about American Experience Follow the show on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads

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• It Was Just Too Exciting

  Edward Field grew up feeling out of place in Long Island, New York, a gay, Jewish “interloper.” When he joined the Army Air Corps in 1942, he felt he’d “escaped from a world I didn’t like to one I did.” Field became a navigator and flew twenty-seven missions over Germany. One mission ended in a crash landing in the North Sea and an astonishing act of altruism.For more powerful memories from veterans, visit the PBS series, American Veteran, where you can also watch the television series and digital short films. Learn more about American Experience Follow the show on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads

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• That Day

  When she joined the Army, Shoshana Johnson figured that she’d “save some money, lose some weight, and come back home.”  It didn’t work out as planned: in her first month in Iraq, working as a cook in a maintenance unit, her convoy took a wrong turn and she was wounded and captured, becoming the first Black American woman to be held as a POW.  But her captivity was only the beginning.For more powerful memories from veterans, visit the PBS series, American Veteran, where you can also watch the television series and digital short films. Learn more about American Experience Follow the show on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads

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• She Never Knew

  When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Frank DeVita wanted revenge.  He enlisted in the Coast Guard, his quickest way into service. His mom figured he’d “patrol a beach on Coney Island.” Instead, on D-Day, he ended up on a landing craft transporting soldiers to the slaughterhouse that was Omaha Beach and ferrying back shocking numbers of dead and wounded. It was a story that he bottled up for seventy years.For more powerful memories from veterans, visit the PBS series, American Veteran, where you can also watch the television series and digital short films. Learn more about American Experience Follow the show on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads----------------------------In Memoriam: Frank DeVita (1926-2022) This episode features the story of WWII veteran Frank DeVita, who passed away on March 12, 2022 at the age of 96. We remain deeply grateful for his service at D-Day and for his courage in sharing his experiences with future generations.

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