WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.980 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:15.140 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. Good 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.600 day. I'm Jim Fossone. I'm the Officer of the 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:20.699 Deck today here on Veterans Radio and thanks 00:00:20.699 --> 00:00:23.460 for joining us. We've got some interesting stories 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:25.640 for you. We always want to remind you, you can 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:28.739 find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:32.420 site or at the web, veteransradio .org, where 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:35.259 we're on the web 24 -7. You can find a lot of 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:38.299 our podcasts there as well. We post new ones 00:00:38.299 --> 00:00:42.479 every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.219 new interview, something you didn't know before 00:00:45.219 --> 00:00:49.460 by going to veteransradio .org. 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We just want to remind you that Veterans 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:39.340 Radio podcasts are available on all your favorite 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:43.359 streaming platforms including RSS .com, Apple 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:48.849 Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube podcasts, iHeartRadio, 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:52.329 and Reeves Across America radio. So wherever 00:01:52.329 --> 00:01:55.870 you are, you can find us, whether it's on your 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:58.269 mobile phone or your computer or your laptop 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:02.030 or your tablet, but listen in to Veterans Radio 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:04.750 podcast. We post something new every week and 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:10.270 you're going to find it informative. We want 00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:13.509 to welcome to Veterans Radio today a documentary 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:17.810 filmmaker Mark Selim. Mark, welcome to Veterans 00:02:17.810 --> 00:02:21.729 Radio. Well, thank you very much. Well, you have 00:02:21.729 --> 00:02:24.789 an interesting documentary that you've just finished 00:02:24.789 --> 00:02:27.590 and it's Making its rounds a little bit. We'll 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:30.389 talk to it. It's called a salute to our World 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:34.289 War Two Generation. Let us not forget and I had 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:36.569 the opportunity to view it and I thought I got 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:41.030 to talk to Mark first off film documentary and 00:02:41.030 --> 00:02:42.710 what we do on Veterans Radio is kind of the same 00:02:42.710 --> 00:02:44.969 thing. You're telling a story. How did you get 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:48.849 attracted to this particular story and which 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:52.849 you've put out through Bending River Films? Sure. 00:02:53.210 --> 00:02:56.289 The initial concept came probably about eight 00:02:56.289 --> 00:02:59.759 years ago. My mom happened to be in a respite 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.539 center recovering from a foot surgery and we 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.479 were in the common space and there was a gentleman 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.099 there who happened to serve in World War II. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.319 He served under Patton and he and I got into 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.180 a conversation and the next thing you know two 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:16.879 hours later my mom already back in her room. 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:21.379 I was just enticed immensely and thought my goodness 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:24.379 there's got to be something I can do to not just 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:27.560 share a story about the war, but share the stories 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.740 of our veterans. And it wasn't a year later that 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:33.759 I was at an event in downtown Plymouth. They 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:36.580 have a Memorial Day event every year, which is 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:39.560 fabulous. And they had six or two veterans get 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:42.659 up that day and speak for about five minutes 00:03:42.659 --> 00:03:46.039 each about their encounters and experiences at 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.259 World War II. And I said to myself at that time, 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.930 I have got to do something. to pay tribute to 00:03:52.930 --> 00:03:56.030 these men and women. So it was at that point, 00:03:56.389 --> 00:04:01.009 in fact, that was Memorial Day of 2019 when I 00:04:01.009 --> 00:04:03.310 made a commitment in my mind to start working 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:05.949 on that film. And we did so later that year. 00:04:06.590 --> 00:04:08.770 Well, let me explain to the audience that Mark 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:13.870 comes at this with a lot of digital media experience. 00:04:14.550 --> 00:04:18.139 He has a... undergrad and master's degree from 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:20.860 Eastern Michigan University and for a long time 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:24.699 has been in the digital marketing space through 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:28.860 a company called Highway Media. But that's sort 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:33.430 of a different focus than being the... Coming 00:04:33.430 --> 00:04:36.970 up with this concept yourself and being the motivating 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:40.029 guy who's got her? Find the people to interview 00:04:40.029 --> 00:04:42.750 put the stories together make make the thing 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:47.230 go from a to Z in a coherent fashion Had you 00:04:47.230 --> 00:04:50.790 ever done this before? Yeah, we had just finished 00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:54.129 actually in 2019 the end of that year a film 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:57.290 called Plymouth Michigan a rich history And that 00:04:57.290 --> 00:04:59.829 was my first experience in doing a full feature 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:02.649 It was originally not intended to be a feature, 00:05:03.209 --> 00:05:07.329 but it inevitably became a feature film and had 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:10.350 great success. So we had to go through that process 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:13.589 of, you know, determining how do we build a full 00:05:13.589 --> 00:05:16.850 length story. We interviewed 19 people for that 00:05:16.850 --> 00:05:20.930 film and had to do a plethora of research to 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:25.089 find assets such as photograph headlines and 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:27.730 old films that represented the history of climate. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.160 So I did have the initial experience of producing 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:35.720 the film of that nature, but it's still not a 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.279 time. So it was still a new adventure for me, 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:40.920 and this one was much bigger than the Plymouth 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:46.579 film. Well, this thing really has got great individual 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:53.839 stories by World War II veterans, by women who 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.879 supported the effort. I'll get you to walk through 00:05:55.879 --> 00:06:00.350 all of that. But a really unique hook on this 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:04.430 that I want you to explain is you got involved 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:09.810 with a high school teacher and That kind of runs 00:06:09.810 --> 00:06:12.149 from the beginning to the end of the film Tell 00:06:12.149 --> 00:06:14.709 us what that approach was and how you settle 00:06:14.709 --> 00:06:18.709 out. This is the way to make it something different 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:23.490 than the If there is such a thing ordinary documentary 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.000 You know, the one thing I wanted to make sure 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.000 that happened in this film to start was to make 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.740 sure that this story was not about the war itself, 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:39.279 but it was about the impact of the war on the 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.560 lives of our veterans before, during, and after 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.139 their service. So that's one of the big separating 00:06:45.139 --> 00:06:48.040 factors for the film. But beyond that, we wanted 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:50.939 to make sure that it shared stories in unique 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:53.259 ways as well, not just from their perspective. 00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:56.750 but also from the perspective of family members. 00:06:56.870 --> 00:06:59.889 We interviewed nine or 10 of their children. 00:07:00.730 --> 00:07:03.009 And one additional thing that came to our minds 00:07:03.009 --> 00:07:06.610 was, how do we get this film in the hands, in 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:10.509 the eyes of our youth? Because as that stunt 00:07:10.509 --> 00:07:13.810 title says, let us not forget, we do not want 00:07:13.810 --> 00:07:17.670 the youth of our country to ever forget what 00:07:17.670 --> 00:07:21.410 this generation did for us. So we were trying 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:25.019 to come up with a method to to really get them 00:07:25.019 --> 00:07:27.699 involved. I mean, it was just early last year 00:07:27.699 --> 00:07:32.860 in 2025 when we decided to reach out to the Plymouth 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:35.300 County Community Discourse System, which would 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:38.019 do a lot of video content for them, and say, 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:40.779 hey, listen, we want to get a high school class 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:44.420 involved. In fact, they've got to give Keith 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:46.420 Field some credit for this, right? A lot of credit 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:50.050 for this. It was his idea to try to follow this 00:07:50.050 --> 00:07:52.089 class through that semester. That's what we did. 00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:55.509 In the school semester of 25, we followed this 00:07:55.509 --> 00:07:58.810 class. And we assigned them a project. We told 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:00.930 them, we want you to follow these real -world 00:08:00.930 --> 00:08:03.870 students. And then we took them on a field trip 00:08:03.870 --> 00:08:08.149 and showed them what it was like to be at the 00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.790 Drake Lakes National Cemetery, what the museums 00:08:10.790 --> 00:08:13.529 were like. And then the culmination of this all 00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:17.100 came to the memorial day parade of this last 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.300 year where we marched in the parade with the 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:22.860 veteran they were following on a poster board 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:26.879 in their hands. It was really interesting that 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:31.959 approach or vehicle for the film because we often 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:34.620 say here on Veterans Radio, we're telling veteran 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:36.500 stories, we're telling history that they don't 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:39.620 teach anymore. They never taught in our schools. 00:08:40.920 --> 00:08:45.519 for the high school kids to delve into a particular 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.220 veteran or related subject. They're not really 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:51.059 studying the war as much as they're studying 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:54.419 about, God, these kids were the same age as my 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:58.159 older brother, maybe, who go off and how it shapes 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.419 them. So it was really interesting to see how 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:07.100 you were. teaching history and working with the 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:10.679 class to do that. So kudos on that. You mentioned 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:12.639 Keith Fahmy. Let's bring him in a little bit 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:17.340 on this. So Bending River Films is a collaboration 00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:21.720 between yourself and Keith Fahmy, who's a recognized 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.320 documentary filmmaker here in the Metro Detroit 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:28.279 area. How did you guys come together? Well, strangely 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:32.340 enough, early 2024, they had a lot of people 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:34.159 that said, hey, you should reach out to Keith. 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.659 Maybe he can help you finish this film. You know, 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:39.399 we were struggling to find the funds to finish 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.179 the film. And I said, you know what, if I can't 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:43.919 do this on my own, I'm not going to worry about 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.580 it. And it just so happens that Keith reached 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:50.240 out to me and we sat down and I broke the ice 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.019 a little bit. And I said, so, you know, what 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:53.700 is it you're looking for? And he said, well, 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:56.379 he says, you know, I'm starting to get up there 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:59.289 and age and I'd like to have and it's kind of 00:09:59.289 --> 00:10:01.029 lonely working on my own. He goes, and I've heard 00:10:01.029 --> 00:10:03.789 your name a lot, you know, in the Metro Detroit 00:10:03.789 --> 00:10:06.490 area. And I just thought, hey, maybe we can connect 00:10:06.490 --> 00:10:09.690 and talk about working together. So I said, well, 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:12.549 maybe we can. And we spent the next six to eight 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:15.909 months meeting for breakfast quite often, talking 00:10:15.909 --> 00:10:19.230 about ideas. And it just seemed to be the right 00:10:19.230 --> 00:10:24.409 fit. So. By late 2024, you know, we formed Benning 00:10:24.409 --> 00:10:26.590 River Films and decided that we were going to 00:10:26.590 --> 00:10:29.370 make this a kind of a partnership for the films. 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:31.789 Highway Media still is around, but Benning River 00:10:31.789 --> 00:10:35.850 Films now is our collaborative effort as a partnership. 00:10:36.330 --> 00:10:40.509 And our goal is to make anywhere between four 00:10:40.509 --> 00:10:44.049 to six films on average per year and potentially 00:10:44.049 --> 00:10:47.259 also some. some series for PBS. These are all 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:51.820 going to be PBS documentaries. They fit really 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:55.740 nicely into that format. Let's go back and talk 00:10:55.740 --> 00:10:58.820 about the people you interviewed. You can do 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:01.559 it by individuals or segments, because as I said 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:03.740 earlier, you've got some veterans, you've got 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:06.659 some women, Rosie the River types, you've got 00:11:06.659 --> 00:11:10.299 some family members, kids of veterans. So talk 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:13.159 to us how you found them and then put them all 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:18.019 together. Well, I started the I found them pretty 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:20.860 quick at least the first few When I was at that 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:22.799 Memorial Day event, so even though it was in 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.820 my mind I quickly introduced myself to the MC 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:29.620 of that event Krista McKinley and she was an 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:33.919 absolute valuable invaluable asset to us in helping 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.440 us connect with Probably eight to ten veterans 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.220 of the 24 that we interviewed And from that, 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.299 you know, it helped us to start to create, you 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:48.179 know, some some leeway into saying, hey, here's 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.159 something we've got. So we produced a trailer 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:53.940 and now we started to showcase this to organizations. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:57.200 We were getting letters of support from state 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.200 representatives and mayors and and organizations 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:03.980 all over Michigan. So having all that was a real 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.429 big benefit. And then we started to realize that 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:11.149 we wanted to hit each and every branch. So besides 00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:14.309 the four major branches, we also wanted to make 00:12:14.309 --> 00:12:17.190 sure that we tackled the branch of the Tuskegee 00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:19.269 Airmen. And that was maybe the most difficult 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:21.990 to find, because even though we had two of them 00:12:21.990 --> 00:12:26.730 alive and well, to an extent, five years ago, 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:29.830 they weren't so willing right at that time to 00:12:29.830 --> 00:12:33.700 speak. It took a few years, but we finally got 00:12:33.700 --> 00:12:36.519 Lieutenant Colonel Harry Stewart to participate. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.820 And then the last piece of the puzzle was our 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:41.899 Montfort Port Marines, which I had never heard 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:44.679 of that division, but we flew down once we heard 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.759 about it and made some connections. We flew down 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:51.700 to Camp Lejeune in Jackson, North Carolina, and 00:12:51.700 --> 00:12:55.210 we filmed an event. for these gentlemen. They 00:12:55.210 --> 00:12:58.210 were basically the first black Marines in this 00:12:58.210 --> 00:13:02.350 nation's history before they integrated. And 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:03.990 then we did three interviews while we were down 00:13:03.990 --> 00:13:06.409 there for a couple of days. That's one of the 00:13:06.409 --> 00:13:08.490 things that I think is interesting because in 00:13:08.490 --> 00:13:13.370 this, what, hour and a half documentary film, 00:13:13.470 --> 00:13:16.450 you're able to touch on different things like 00:13:16.450 --> 00:13:21.870 the waves for point Marines, Tuskegee Airmen. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:26.860 each of the branches of service, POWs. You touch 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:29.679 on all of this in a way that hopefully inspires 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.539 the person watching to go, I want to go learn 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:35.279 some more about that. Was that a little bit of 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:40.759 the intention? Without a doubt. And, you know, 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.139 I think anytime I watch a documentary, and I'm 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:47.840 always looking for great documentary films, I 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.440 want to be, I want three things to happen to 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.179 me when I watch a film. I first want to be inspired. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.259 I hope that the film is inspirational and makes 00:13:57.259 --> 00:14:01.620 me feel a certain way, whether it's joyous or 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:05.940 even somber. I secondly want it to be very informative 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:08.220 and I want to be able to learn from what I've 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:10.620 watched. And then lastly, I want it to be able 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:14.500 to initiate something within me in a response. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.179 Now, whether that response is to go out and learn 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:20.460 more, or to share it with others, or to become 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.980 more active in a particular community, then I 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:27.139 think that's important. And based on that theory, 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:29.100 and I've had that mindset for many, many years, 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:34.019 even doing marketing videos, I basically transfer 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:37.340 that to the documentary world. And that was certainly 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:40.419 a purpose. And I'm glad that you recognize that. 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.039 Yeah, no, and some other things you touched on 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:48.240 that I thought, OK, that's what I want to see. 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:51.559 One of the things you touched on was the Great 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:55.259 Lakes National Cemetery, because I don't think 00:14:55.259 --> 00:15:01.600 most folks understand how respectful, if you've 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.940 served, you have a place you can be buried where 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:07.600 you're going to feel the respect of your service. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.850 And another was the Michigan Heroes Museum. Most 00:15:12.850 --> 00:15:17.029 states, Michigan included, have really active 00:15:17.029 --> 00:15:21.389 military museums and organizations that try to 00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:23.730 keep this history alive, but they have a hard 00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:26.409 time getting the word out. So you touched on 00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:28.769 those two things again that, wow, that's kind 00:15:28.769 --> 00:15:33.049 of outside the normal bandwidth. Were there areas 00:15:33.049 --> 00:15:35.450 that you wanted to get to but just couldn't because 00:15:35.450 --> 00:15:39.610 of limitations? Well, when you ask that question, 00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:42.029 you say, were there areas we couldn't get to? 00:15:43.269 --> 00:15:46.629 Well, that you said, I'd like to include this, 00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:49.850 but I can't find somebody or I'd like to include 00:15:49.850 --> 00:15:53.269 this, but I've run out of time or those sorts 00:15:53.269 --> 00:15:56.590 of things. You know, I think documentaries never 00:15:56.590 --> 00:15:59.730 end the way they start. I will say that for both 00:15:59.730 --> 00:16:02.610 my Plymouth film and this feature. And Keith 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.570 has told me that's happened basically with all 00:16:04.570 --> 00:16:07.350 the films he's produced. You know, you have a 00:16:07.350 --> 00:16:10.679 vision in your mind. but it evolves, it becomes 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.860 its own little entity, an organism, right? So 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:17.740 you find that it develops these different branches 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:20.480 and you might find that one of those branches 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.399 really take you in a direction that you really 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.279 find to be much more beneficial than the other 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:28.779 ones you were going down originally. So when 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:31.720 it came to, let's say those two places, they 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.600 just happened to stem from that whole educational 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:37.830 component. where as we were building that story 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:40.669 with the with the students, we realized that 00:16:40.669 --> 00:16:43.669 my goodness, why don't we take them somewhere? 00:16:43.789 --> 00:16:45.730 You know, they were they were happy to be in 00:16:45.730 --> 00:16:47.429 the classroom, but to take them on that field 00:16:47.429 --> 00:16:50.649 trip was a was a whole other ball game for them. 00:16:51.149 --> 00:16:54.090 And and yeah, it opened the rise, you know, as 00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.889 you saw, maybe in the end, we interviewed a couple 00:16:56.889 --> 00:16:59.429 of them there and a few of them afterwards to 00:16:59.429 --> 00:17:01.889 get those feedback. And it really had an impact. 00:17:02.909 --> 00:17:05.789 I would hope it would also inspire some teachers 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:08.630 along the way to see maybe what they could do 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:12.349 in their classrooms to bring history a little 00:17:12.349 --> 00:17:14.650 bit more alive and respect for veterans more 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:18.069 alive. I know you've got a stop at we're coming 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:20.309 up to and I don't want to run out of time here. 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:24.740 Tell us a little more about Bending River Films, 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.960 how people can find it and follow, and also tell 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:30.460 us a little bit more about how they might be 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:34.240 able to see this documentary, which is titled 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.920 A Salute to Our World War II Generation. Let 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.900 us not forget. So tackle both of those before 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:44.380 we run out of time. Sure. So yeah, Bending River 00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:46.960 Films, I think I'd mentioned earlier that, you 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.460 know, we're working on several more projects 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:51.839 this year, and we're excited about those. All 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.359 PBS supported. And, you know, we're always looking 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:00.240 for support. You know, they range from one is 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.259 on the train history of Michigan called All Aboard, 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:06.240 the Great Lakes Train History. We're doing another 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.390 one called Laid to Rest. a Michigan cemetery 00:18:09.390 --> 00:18:12.390 story. And we're going to be looking at the culture 00:18:12.390 --> 00:18:14.670 of dying and the different unique cemeteries 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:17.890 and all the rituals that take place. And a number 00:18:17.890 --> 00:18:20.069 of other things, you know, farm to table about 00:18:20.069 --> 00:18:23.690 farmers and agriculture and the food we eat. 00:18:24.690 --> 00:18:28.509 So BendingRiverFilms .com is a website where 00:18:28.509 --> 00:18:31.210 people can go and they can certainly learn about 00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:34.490 any of these five, in fact, six films. The newest 00:18:34.490 --> 00:18:37.369 one, based on this World War II film, we are 00:18:37.369 --> 00:18:41.390 doing now a tribute to Just the Rosies. And that 00:18:41.390 --> 00:18:45.170 one is called Women of War Homefront Heroines. 00:18:45.470 --> 00:18:48.329 And that one is going to hopefully be completed 00:18:48.329 --> 00:18:51.730 this year as well and released later this year. 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:54.269 So if there are individuals out there who want 00:18:54.269 --> 00:18:56.210 to learn more about that or how they can support 00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:59.750 that, that will be on our website. Well, I think 00:18:59.750 --> 00:19:02.769 probably by the time you edit it. Good, good. 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.660 If folks want to see these films, you've mentioned 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:10.619 a couple of times they're on PBS. I know they're 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:14.900 on the Detroit PBS. But talk about distribution 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:19.779 of the film. Yeah, so basically the World War 00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:21.799 II film, A Salute to Our World War II Generation, 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:25.440 is available on DVD and Blu -ray. And we also 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.920 have a streaming version. I don't know if you 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:31.130 have a way of adding that to your... do your 00:19:31.130 --> 00:19:33.150 thing, but I don't have it in the top of my head, 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:36.509 but at BenningRiverFilms .com we have the information 00:19:36.509 --> 00:19:39.569 about the films, and it should lead them to where 00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:42.890 they can order the DVD, but I could probably 00:19:42.890 --> 00:19:44.890 find that here in the next minute or so too while 00:19:44.890 --> 00:19:49.269 we're chatting. Well, we really found this interesting. 00:19:49.509 --> 00:19:51.930 We recognized and knew some of the people who 00:19:51.930 --> 00:19:56.819 helped. funded as executive producer or community 00:19:56.819 --> 00:20:01.880 leaders, some of the individuals who were highlighted 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.640 in conversation with you through this documentary 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:08.420 film. But as I said, it has a much broader appeal, 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.259 I think, and I think it shows hopefully to folks 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:16.000 in the nation, hey, don't let these men and women 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.059 disappear from the face of the earth without 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:21.359 capturing their stories and capture the stories 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.529 of their kids. And even their grandkids were 00:20:24.529 --> 00:20:27.049 great grandkids who were in school and maybe 00:20:27.049 --> 00:20:30.390 need to study it a little bit more. So it was 00:20:30.390 --> 00:20:34.829 a very, very well done and high quality film. 00:20:34.950 --> 00:20:36.970 I recommend it to all our veteran radio listeners. 00:20:37.369 --> 00:20:39.910 OK, Mark, did you find the code you were looking 00:20:39.910 --> 00:20:42.609 for? I did. I did. And thank you very much. I 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:45.569 appreciate that. So the site is, if people want 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:49.490 to write it down, so it's Bending River Films 00:20:49.490 --> 00:20:57.210 with an S. bendingriverfilms .company .site, 00:20:57.210 --> 00:21:05.660 S -I -T -E. is where they can order a Blu -ray 00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:10.740 or DVD of the loop to our movie. That's excellent. 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:12.839 We really appreciate the time you've given us 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:16.420 today on Veterans Radio, and we hope folks will 00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:20.299 go to your website, bendingriverfilms .com, to 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:22.599 learn more about this story, but others that 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.220 you're working on, stories that inspire, and 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:29.319 then go to bendingriverfilms .company .site. 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:34.829 in an opportunity to order the documentary film. 00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:37.109 Mark, we really do appreciate the time you've 00:21:37.109 --> 00:21:39.630 given us today. Yeah, my pleasure, Jim. Thank 00:21:39.630 --> 00:21:44.549 you so much for having me. And I want to thank 00:21:44.549 --> 00:21:46.769 everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 00:21:46.829 --> 00:21:50.170 I am Jim Fossone. It's been a pleasure to be 00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:53.009 your host. I'm a veterans disability lawyer at 00:21:53.009 --> 00:21:55.450 Legal Help for Veterans. And you can reach us 00:21:55.450 --> 00:22:01.750 at 800 -693 -4800. or legalhelpforveterans .com 00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:04.710 on the web. You can follow Veterans Radio on 00:22:04.710 --> 00:22:07.730 Facebook and listen to its podcasts and Internet 00:22:07.730 --> 00:22:12.309 radio shows by visiting us at veteransradio .org. 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:16.269 That's veteransradio .org. We again want to thank 00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:19.390 our national sponsors, the National Veterans 00:22:19.390 --> 00:22:24.809 Business Development Council, NVBDC .org, Legal 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:28.200 Help for Veterans, A Veterans Disability Law 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:33.299 Firm with a national practice before the VA can 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:36.960 help you on your claims and your appeals. It 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.299 can be reached at legalhelpforveterans .com or 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:45.819 1 -800 -693 -4800. We also want to thank our 00:22:45.819 --> 00:22:50.700 local sponsors. This would include the Charles 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:54.650 S. Kettles chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of 00:22:54.650 --> 00:22:59.390 America, that's chapter 310, VFW Graf O 'Hara 00:22:59.390 --> 00:23:03.549 post 423, the American Legion Erwin Preskin post 00:23:03.549 --> 00:23:07.230 46 in Ann Arbor as well, the VA Ann Arbor Health 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:10.230 Care System, and certainly the National Vietnam 00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:13.609 Veterans of America Association. You can be a 00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:16.329 sponsor by going to veteransradio .org, clicking 00:23:16.329 --> 00:23:20.440 on the about us and our sponsors and help us 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:25.579 out. Keep this program alive for the 21 and 22 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:28.779 years. Keep us going for another 20. Thank you.