Smallscreen News

Tom Brokaw will host AMC’s Memorial Day War Heroes Weekend, details

By April MacIntyre May 23, 2011, 15:30 GMT

Tom Brokaw will host AMC’s Memorial Day War Heroes Weekend, celebrating and remembering America’s bravest servicemen and women.

Tom Brokaw will host AMC’s Memorial Day War Heroes Weekend, celebrating and remembering America’s bravest servicemen and women.

AMC announces that an AMC original short documentary series entitled A Path to Honor, produced by Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker James Moll (The Last Days, Price for Peace); sit-down interviews with Brokaw and war veterans; video messages from soldiers overseas; and some of the most iconic and transcendent war films of our time will air on Memorial Day weekend.

Throughout War Heroes weekend, which airs Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 30, Brokaw will introduce the evening’s primetime film and documentary shorts, paying tribute to the bravery and honor of America’s fighting men and women.

“I am proud to play a small part in this Memorial Day weekend by reminding AMC’s audience of the sacrifices of our fellow citizens who put on the uniform of our country and go into harm’s way to help secure our freedoms.  And from my earliest memories I’ve been aware of the impact of war movies on our lives. The big screen has given us so many enduring images of the courage and sacrifice, tragedy and triumph of men and women at war.  AMC’s weekend lineup will help remind all what this Memorial Day is all about,” said Brokaw.

FROM AMC

Brokaw will introduce each night’s primetime film at 8pm ET/PT, including Academy Award®-winning Patton (1970) on Friday, May 27; the network television premiere of the digitally-restored version of Apocalypse Now: Redux (1979) on Saturday, May 28; Pearl Harbor (2001) on Sunday, May 29; and Midway (1976), a limited commercial break telecast in celebration of the films’ 35th Anniversary, on Monday, May 30.  Additional films airing throughout Memorial Day Weekend include The Longest Day (1962), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Macarthur (1977), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), Halls of Montezuma (1950), Fixed Bayonets (1951), and Twelve O'Clock High (1949), among others.

Interspersed throughout each of the primetime movies will be episodes from AMC’s original short documentary series, A Path to Honor, as well as Brokaw’s sit-down interviews with five veterans:

A Path to Honor

A gripping four-part series of original documentary shorts, A Path to Honor depicts seminal moments in the lives of men and women who commit to serving our country in the Armed Forces. Introduced by Brokaw, each five-minute episode will capture the breadth and scope of the experience of life in the military through the eyes of those who serve either in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard. The four shorts will cover stages of service, from enlistment and deployment to active duty and homecoming. A Path to Honor was produced by Allentown Productions, Inc.

Brokaw Interviews with Military Veterans

Filmed aboard the former USS Intrepid in New York City, Brokaw sits down with five veterans from various arms of the military. Each 60- to 90-second vignette will cover topics that include tours of duty, from Iraq to Vietnam, military life, relationships with soldiers, the rehabilitation process, and life after active duty.

In addition, AMC will air special 15- to 30-second spots of military men and women overseas throughout the entire War Heroes Weekend. In these special videos, servicemen and women will send messages to their families, friends and fellow soldiers back home.

This year marks AMC’s third annual War Heroes on-air programming event. Previous Memorial Day Weekend specials were hosted by Senator John McCain (2009) and General David Petraeus (2010).