SDPB will hold a special pre-screening of the new film Debt of Honor: Disabled Veterans in American History, Sunday, September 27, 2015 from 8:30-10:00 a.m. at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Event Center in Deadwood, SD as part of the South Dakota Festival of Books.
The event includes a discussion on the significance of writing and recording the personal stories and reflections of veterans, led by Ron Capps, founder and director of the Veterans Writing Project, a non-profit that provides no-cost writing seminars for veterans and their adult family members.
A co-production of PBS and Washington, DC’s public media station WETA, Debt of Honor takes an unflinching look at the reality of warfare and disability through interviews with prominent disabled veterans, including Representative Tammy Duckworth, former Georgia Senator Max Cleland and former Commander of Fort Belvoir, Gregory Gadson.
The film traces the history of disabled veterans in America from the time of the Revolution down through recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – exploring, along the way, significant transformations in the nature of battlefield injury, medical treatment, and survival rates, as well as in federal policy and social and cultural attitudes towards disabled veterans. Debt of Honor will air Tuesday, November 10, at 8pm (7MT) on SDPB TV.
Presenter Ron Capps served 25 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve and is a retired Foreign Service Officer for the Department of State. He is also author of Seriously Not all Right: Five Wars in Ten Years.
Area veterans are encouraged to write, record and share their stories as part of the event, some of which will be shared on SDPB’s Stories of Service webpage.
An additional special screening and writing workshop will take place this fall in Sioux Falls.
This event is made possible through partnerships with the South Dakota Humanities Council and WETA.