An Interview with Andrew Goldberg from Proud to Serve: The Men and Women of the U.S. Army

Producer Andrew Goldberg shares his thoughts with APT...

Q: With the troops still fighting in Iraq, your documentary is particularly timely. When you set out to make this documentary what were you looking to discover or uncover about United States soldiers?

A: This is a human story about the people who make up the Army. I wasn't looking to uncover anything about the Army itself except that I wanted to peel back that layer that is the "institution" — and to show the people underneath it — that is, the people inside. A lot of people agree with war and a lot of people don't. But our show isn't interested in why, or any of that. It is interested in the stories of the individuals who have chosen or were chosen to serve — chosen to sacrifice and to give something back and turn that into action.

Q: Andrew, you were able to include interviews with Senator Bob Dole, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, Korean War veteran and "G.I. Joe" creator Don Levine, Operation Iraqi Freedom POW Jessica Lynch and many others. Where you there for each interview?

A: All except for two.

Q: Of their stories, which were some of the most powerful?

A: I think the most powerful interview in the whole show is of Walter Riner. Walter Riner is a veteran who served in three wars including the second World War, Korea and Vietnam. He was a POW in Korea for two years. He has at least three purple hearts, if not more. He lost two brothers in World War II — one of whom died in his arms. He tells incredible stories about what he's gone through. And despite all this loss and violence, being wounded at least three times and being a POW for two years, he says he'd go back in a heartbeat. It's pretty unbelievable. Another woman, Diane Carlson Evans, was a nurse in Vietnam who worked in the hospitals all the way up near the lines. She was dealing with wounded soldiers constantly coming in by the helicopter load. She is the woman who ultimately founded the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, D.C. She conceptualized it, raised money for it and created it. And she tells these equally moving stories about what it was like trying to save lives all day long.

Q: How can public television stations that are planning to air this documentary reach out to service people and organizations in their communities?

A: There are several key ways to do that. The first thing is that virtually every single veteran's organization has a regional structure in place. They should know that the primary veteran organizations are: The American Legion; The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW); Disabled American Veterans (DAV); and AMVETS. The first thing stations should do is contact these groups. Each one of them has a very active Web site and outreach. But more than contacting the national offices, each one of them has a local chapter. These are perfect people to answer phones. There are Army bases all over the country too. Stations likely know where the local bases are. The local bases are very eager to get involved with this and to help.

Q: What do you think audiences will take away from Proud to Serve: The Men and Women of the U.S. Army?

A: We put a very human face on the U.S. Army even though most people consider it to be a machine that is part politics and part violence. And it isn't. It's a very human machine with real people in it. If you flip on network news, it just looks like an institution of destruction — a tool of the politicians. And while it may appear that way, the Army really is a collection of individual people with a lot of feelings, and that's kind of what we try to bring to the surface. So I think they'll take away the human side.

Q: What was your hope when you set out to tell these stories?

A: Pledge! Listen, it's hosted by Walter Cronkite!