Ideas 3,54

Tuskegee Airmen
At the same time that America went to war in 1941 to fight 'the good fight' against the Axis powers of Japan and Germany, the U.S. Military was keeping a battle going that was good for no one. Throughout WWII the military enforced a policy of racial segregation that demeaned and deprived black soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Even so, African-American men struggled for the right to fight for their country. One such struggle took place at a little know Army Airbase in the south called Moton Field. Where a group of all black military men, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, went on to become the first U.S. fighter pilot. Ideastream reporter Dee Perry sat down with some of these men who now make Northeast Ohio their home-base, and asked them about their time spent in the military.

A foundation dedicated to preserving the history of America's first black military airmen
Red Tail Reborn
Hemlock Films

Women of WWII
One of the biggest social changes in U.S. history came about as a by-product of the Second World War. 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. David C. Barnett shows the range of these changes in the stories of two area women. Anna Bielert was the personification of "Rosie the Riveter", helping produce parts at the Brookpark Bomber Plant. Lyndhusrt's Jean Heisler was among the first class of women to be inducted into the WAVES -- the Navy's division of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.

WAVES History
Rosie the Riveter History

Ken Burns Conversation
ideastream's Dan Moulthrop has a conversation with Ken Burns about this new project and his career. Burns has been called the master of the American documentary, and, after producing award winners on the Civil War, Baseball, and Jazz, he says "The War" is his best work yet.

Listen to the entire conversation between Dan Moulthrop and Ken Burns