WVIZ PROGRAMMING
Ohio War Stories | Applause | Cleveland City Club Forum | Feagler & Friends
Ideas | Warplane | Other Specials

This series of programs was created by Ohio PBS stations to enable Ohioans to engage in the larger historical narrative of World War II through the lens of local history.

Ohio War Stories, a series of television presentations and story collection efforts, is supported, in part, by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Cincinnati Reflections: The War Years — Life at Home
Sunday, Sept. 2 at 10:30 PM
Sunday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 & 10:30 PM
Produced by WCET, Cincinnati

This program takes an in-depth look at all aspects of daily life in Cincinnati during the war years. Host Nick Clooney, on location at Cincinnati Museum Center's "Cincinnati Goes to War" exhibit, guides viewers through reminiscences of neighbors and friends who recall those tumultuous years in the Queen City; watching from home as many of its sons and daughters went off to the distant theaters of war.

Inside the Idea Center with Ken Burns
Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 10:30 PM
Sunday, Sept. 16 at 10:30 PM
Thursday, Sept. 20 at 9:30 PM
Produced by WVIZ/PBS ideastream, Cleveland

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is the featured artist in this special episode of Inside the Idea Center. Recorded on April 10th, 2007, Burns shared his insights about the art of filmmaking and The War, his newest film, which honors and celebrates the bravery, endurance and sacrifice of the generation of Americans who lived through World War II. Ken Burns talked about the vast research and remarkable discoveries made while making his landmark film. He spoke before a live studio audience which included history and film students from local universities, along with military veterans. Burns answered questions from the studio audience and from students and residents who joined in via video conference distance learning technology at schools and libraries across Northeast Ohio.
Watch Inside the Idea Center with Ken Burns (streaming WMV)>

Jeep: Steel Soldier
Sunday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 PM & 10:30 PM
Produced by WGTE, Toledo

Developed for the field during World War II, the Jeep was called the wartime "limousine of Presidents and Privates" and was the vehicle of choice for transport and attack. Follow the story of the Jeep's design; see the assembly lines at the Jeep's home and birthplace – Toledo, Ohio; and hear firsthand accounts from the Jeep plant autoworkers, remarkable female test-drivers and soldiers in the field.

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Applause

Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 PM

As men marched off to battlefields in Europe and the South Pacific, they left a considerable hole in America's workforce. Many of those jobs -- for the first time -- were filled by women. Producer David C. Barnett focuses on the stories of two local women and how their lives changed. Lyndhurst's Jean Heisler was among the first class of WAVES inducted into Naval service and Anna Bielert was part of an all-female crew that helped build B-29 bombers in Brook Park. This program will also feature a compilation of stories told by local WWII veterans and excerpts of Ken Burns April 2007 appearance on "Inside the Idea Center" where he talked about the making of his latest landmark series.
Watch the WAVES segment (streaming WMV)>

Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 PM

A feature on Northeast Ohio's Tuskegee Airmen, an elite crew of African American fighter pilots. Art Saunders, Thomas Austin and Edward Lunda tell Dee Perry stories of fighting for their lives -- and their dignity -- on both the war front and the home front. Also, local independent producer Adam White shows a clip from his national documentary (airing on WVIZ and other PBS stations nationwide) "Red Tail Reborn" about the Tuskegee Airmen.

Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 PM

A feature on local Japanese Americans who were forced to live in west coast internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. David C. Barnett spoke with Roy Ebihara and John & Betty Ochi who were relocated to Cleveland during the mid-1940s, after enduring the shame of having their patriotism challenged. This program will also tell the story of a local man who was an airplane mechanic during WWII and then became a popular war bird "nose artist" – painting graphics on the side of bombers and fighters during the war. Plus, a tour of Crile Army Hospital and a look at some of the more interesting WW2 memorabilia.

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Cleveland City Club Forum

Monday, Sept. 17 at 10:00 PM
Sunday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 PM

In his City Club of Cleveland appearance on April 10, 2007, the documentary filmmaker shares his insights about the making of The War.
Listen to Ken Burns' City Club speech>

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Feagler & Friends

Friday, Sept. 21 at 8:30 PM

An interview with Dr. James Banks, director of the Crile Archives & Center for Military History Education, located on the Western Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. Today's Tri-C campus was originally the site of the Crile Army Hospital, which tended to servicemen returning from WWII. The Crile collection features documents and artifacts covering the history of the hospital and military history in general.

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Ideas

Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 PM

A special 30-minute Ideas features an in-depth interview with Ken Burns from the Sound of Ideas call-in radio program of April 10. Additionally, the program will include a feature on women in WWII, focusing on the stories of Lyndhurst's Jean Heisler, who was among the first class of WAVES inducted into Naval service, and Anna Bielert, who was part of an all-female crew that helped build B-29 bombers in Brook Park. Also included is a feature on Northeast Ohio's Tuskegee Airmen, an elite crew of African American fighter pilots who tell stories of fighting for their lives and their dignity on both the war front and the home front.
Watch the WAVES segment (streaming WMV)>

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Warplane

In the 100 years since the Wright brothers first took to the air, the airplane has evolved from a tentative eye in the sky into the ultimate weapons delivery system. Its role in warfare has changed dramatically through the ages; as it has taken on new functions, the very way we wage war has had to change along with it. Warplane explores the evolution of the warplane - not plane by plane, but by role and by telling the stories of the creative minds who, out of necessity, creativity and hard work, have taken warfare into the skies. The series is broken down into four programs with a combination of thematic and chronological approaches. Stacy Keach narrates.

Warplane: Airplane to Air Force

Sunday, Sept. 2 at 4:00 PM

After their first successful powered flight, the Wright Brothers turned to the U.S. Army, well aware of the potential military value of their airplane. In 1903, with no looming threat of war, the government rejected their $100,000 asking price, but within five years, the entire western world would embrace the idea of powered flight. World War I ushered in the airplane's first military roles as armies used planes for aerial reconnaissance, and then for artillery spotting. With aviation still in its infancy, aerial combat took longer to develop, but the evolution of fighter tactics was inevitable as planes became more sky-worthy. The results transformed combat from fly-by pot-shots to fast, furious duels. By the end of the war, the airplane had been defined as an "eye in the sky" — a role that remains as vital over the deserts of the Middle East today as it was over the trenches of France in 1914. Every country recognized the potential of the warplane, and the growing necessity to take control of the skies.

Warplane: Air Force to Air Power

Sunday, Sept. 2 at 5:00 PM

World War II was an era of rapid innovation and terrible destruction from above. From the invention of radar to the birth of the fighter ace, and from Hitler's blitzkriegs to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this was the period when national air forces came of age, when individual planes coalesced into unstoppable squadrons, and when wartime tactics were dictated from the sky down. Evolving from their roles as spotters, reconnaissance planes transformed into bombers. Germany rained shells down on London; the Allies executed precision bombing raids by day and frightful carpet bombing missions by night. Pathfinders led bomber squadrons to their targets and fighters protected other planes as they flew. By the time America dropped the atomic bomb - once and for all illustrating the effectiveness of destruction from above - each airplane had its own role, and together, they had made the world a much smaller place to wage war.

Warplane: Jet Age

Sunday, Sept. 9 at 4:00 PM

Missed opportunities, a vital arms race and the secrets hidden among the spoils of war come vividly to life in the third program of Warplane. In the latter days of World War II, Britain and Germany feverishly advanced early dreams of a jet airplane, a defining piece of mid- 20th-century technology that would revolutionize existing airplane roles and create an entirely new generation of mission-specific machines. With the world in the grip of the Cold War, combat planes became faster and more agile, spy planes cruised over enemy territory at dizzying heights and dazzling speeds, and jet-powered helicopters entered military service. Designers, test pilots and combat crews took huge risks as they pushed the technological envelope, and within 58 years of Orville Wright's historic flight at Kitty Hawk, man had broken through the boundaries of both sound and space.

Warplane: Age of Stealth

Sunday, Sept. 9 at 5:00 PM

Over the trenches of World War I, the "eye in the sky" had been indispensable. Since that time, developers have worked endlessly to make planes harder to spot and shoot down. Speed worked at first, then the ability to fly high, but each advance was eventually met by a counter-advance that all but neutralized it. Until, that is, the birth of the computer. With the computer age came avionics - systems to control planes that humans could never fly. These systems, combined with new materials, designs and paints, as well as the unwavering commitment and singular vision of men like Skunk Works' Ben Rich, gave rise to the most recent revolution in military aviation - stealth planes that are all but invisible to enemy eyes. Like the jet engine before it, stealth technology has transformed warfare, and together with ever-advanced precision ordnance and purely autonomous planes, has positioned the world's most advanced air forces for a future where in-cockpit pilots may no longer be necessary.

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Other Specials

Dayton Codebreakers

Thursday, Sept. 6 at 10:00 PM

Throughout 1942, German U-boats were sinking hundreds of American ships in the Atlantic Ocean, effectively cutting the supply line to embattled ally England. In desperation, the United States Navy turned to the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, to design and build code-breaking machines. The high-priority and highly classified project involved hundreds of civilians, Naval officers and one engineer of German descent whose insight and technical ability helped break the complex Enigma code. Dayton Codebreakers uncovers Joseph Desch's role in helping end World War II, through interviews with eminent historians, scientists and honored war veterans. Although Desch remained faithful to his pledge of secrecy until his death in 1987, he left behind mysterious papers and clues for his daughter to unravel.

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