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Meet Veterans And Hear Their Stories In ‘Veterans Coming Home’ Series

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ĻӰԺ and public media stations across the country will mark Veterans Day, Nov. 11, with a number of stories and programs focused on veterans, including memories of war and stories from home as they return to civilian life.

Learn more about the national 

On ĻӰԺ Radio

  • Nov. 7: Wartime vs. ER trauma -- Dr. Stephen Burgher served in the U.S. Navy and earned his medical degree. Today, he is an emergency trauma physician in Dallas. about the differences between emergency medicine at home and on the battlefield.
  • Nov. 10: A judge in veterans court -- Doualy Xaykaothao talks with a Tarrant County judge who specifically for veterans.
  • Nov. 11: Inside a veterans court -- Texas’ first veterans court opened in 2009. Now there are three in North Texas. Lauren Silverman who may be struggling with post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, physical disability, and drug and alcohol addiction.
  • Nov. 11: A radio special -- On Tuesday at 8 p.m., ĻӰԺ 90.1 FM will air Coming Home: Stories of Veterans Returning from War
More than two million veterans have come home so far from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  For returning veterans, reintegrating into society can be a challenge.   How do you find your place, when you’ve changed and the people you love don’t recognize you? When that old life is gone and you have to start a new one from scratch.  In this hour State of the Re:Union explores reintegration and asks the question: how do you come back home from war?

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On ĻӰԺ-TV, Channel 13

  • Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. -- Navy Seals: Their Untold Story
Despite the widespread attention paid to the Navy SEALs since they killed Osama bin Laden, the story of how these clandestine warriors evolved in response to changing threats — from WWII to the War on Terror — and how their extraordinary abilities shaped U.S. and world history, has remained untold. Few people know the unheralded tales of the first frogmen who dared to face almost certain death with little training, scant equipment and untested tactics.

Here’s a preview:

  • Nov. 11 at 11 p.m. -- Craft In America: Service 
The Peabody Award-winning series explores America’s creative spirit through the language and traditions of the handmade. Beginning with the origins of the Army Arts & Crafts Program and the G.I. Bill, Service documents craft in the military and the power of the handmade to inspire, motivate and heal.

On ĻӰԺ-TV World, Digital Channel 13.2

  • Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. -- Service: When Women Come Marching Home
  • Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. -- Street Vets
  • Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. -- America Reframed: Reserved To Fight

Online

KLRN-TV, the PBS station in San Antonio, is exploring the issues facing veterans as they return to civilian life:

Over the past five years, San Antonio has seen a sharp increase in the military community’s needs for services due to the drawdown of forces.   This number is expected to grow significantly --- between 2014 and 2017, an estimated 40,000 veterans and their families will settle in San Antonio, straining existing resources. Many leave the military with a sense that they are alone--that much of their struggles happen outside the purview of the civilian population.  They feel isolated and disconnected. 

Visit the

Visit the

 

Credit Mike Flippo / Shutterstock
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Shutterstock

From PBS: Vietnam Veterans Recount Their War Experiences

PBS has launched Stories of Service, a multiplatform series focusing on veterans and their stories.

The collection on the PBS website includes new and archival programs from national PBS broadcasts and productions from member stations, PBS Digital Studios and .

From StoryCorps

StoryCorps, the oral history project, will feature special military segments starting Nov. 7 on NPR’s Morning Edition and Weekend Edition Saturday.

Listen to stories from StoryCorps’

Three new animated shorts

Joseph Robertson was an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II, and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. The stark black and white images in this short haunt the viewer -- just as Robertson is haunted still by his memories of that battle. "Germans in the Woods" is an animated short featuring audio from StoryCorps.

Veterans Day Parades In North Texas

  • The starts at 11 a.m. Tuesday in downtown Dallas. The theme: "Honoring Our Wounded Veterans." 
  • The Tarrant County Veterans Council's happens at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 in downtown Fort Worth. The theme: "Honoring Our Flag: 200th Anniversary Of Our National Anthem."

Credit Orhan Cam / Shutterstock
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Shutterstock
The Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, DC.

History of Veterans Day

:

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” -- officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…" The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Vietnam War resources

From PBS:

From American Experience:

From PBS:

From PBS:

From American Experience:

“Last Days In Vietnam” airs April 28

On April 28 at 8 p.m., PBS and ĻӰԺ-TV will air “Last Days In Vietnam,” a documentary.

About “Last Days”

From PBS:

“Last Days in Vietnam” chronicles the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon. With the clock ticking and the city under fire, American officers on the ground faced a moral dilemma: follow official policy and evacuate U.S. citizens and their dependents only, or ignore orders and save the men, women, and children they had come to value and love in their years in Vietnam. At the risk of their careers and possible court-martial, a handful of individuals took matters into their own hands. Engaging in unsanctioned and often makeshift operations, they waged a desperate effort to evacuate as many South Vietnamese as possible.

Eric Aasen is ĻӰԺ’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to ĻӰԺ radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.