WAR LETTERS

Details

• Release Year: 2002
• Genre: Documentary
• Plot: In every American conflict from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf War, American military men and women have captured the horror, pathos and intensity of battle by writing letters home. In 1998, in an effort to preserve this correspondence, editor Andrew Carroll set up the Legacy Project which subsequently collected 50,000 war letters. Using the most compelling and enlightening of these missives and newly discovered home movies, WAR LETTERS tells the story of American wars from the viewpoint of the men and women on the front lines and those who waited at home. The film features breathtaking eyewitness accounts of famous battles, intimate declarations of love and longing, poignant last letters written only days before soldiers were killed, and many profound and memorable expressions of exhilaration, fear, whimsy, exasperation, anger and patriotism. Full of poetry, compassion, humor, determination and raw emotion, the featured letters ultimately transcend the subject of war and address some of the most powerful contradictions of the human condition.
• Cast: David McCullough; David Ogden Stiers; Michael Murphy; Oliver Platt; Joe Morton; Linda Hunt; Will Lyman; Liev Schreiber; Philip Bosco; Blair Brown; Brendan Gill; Eli Wallach; John Steele Gordon; Franklin D. Roosevelt; George Plimpton; Callie Thorne; Kenneth Jackson; Robert A.M. Stern; Mike Wallace; Harris Yulin; Robert Sean Leonard; Pete Hamill; Campbell Scott; David Morse; Holly Hunter; Adolf Hitler; Robert F. Kennedy; Julian Bond; Frances Sternhagen; Calvin O. Butts III; Robert A. Caro; Luc Sante; Craig Steven Wilder; Walter Cronkite; Neal Huff; Stacy Keach; Benjamin Bratt; Carol Berkin; Daniel Czitrom; Josh Hamilton; John F. Kennedy; Harry S. Truman; Jason Robards; Stanley Karnow; Spalding Gray; Keith David; Marshall Berman; Caleb Carr; Paul Giamatti; Rudy Giuliani; Alfred Kazin; Fran Lebowitz; Peter Quinn; Paul A. Hutton; Andre Braugher; Lyndon Johnson; Thomas Bender; Martin Luther King; Andrew Young; Doris Kearns Goodwin; Andrei Codrescu; Robert Dallek; Gene Jones; Peter Coyote; Richard Ben Cramer; Ed Koch; Carol Willis; Joan Allen; Allen Ginsberg; James Hazeldine; Philip Lopate; Daniel Patrick Moynihan; Donald Trump; Rene Auberjonois; Jeanine Serralles; Laura Linney; Donald Fixico; Courtney B. Vance; T. Ryder Smith; Lee Wilkof; Hampton Sides; Michael Cumpsty; Richard Brooks; Kathy Peiss; Kate Lyn Sheil; Thomas A. Edison; Kwabena Ampofo; Denis O'Hare; Steve Annan; Ingrid Alli; Lynn Bandoria; Scott Carter; Wendy Carter; Leiv Clegg; Trina Comissiong; Michael Stuhlbarg; Crystal Cupp; Denyse Ellington; Brian Elder; Virginia Fields; Kacy Gabbert; Montrece Hill; Anthony Michael Hobbs; Natalie Racoosin; Jeff Wilhelm; Shaun Woodland; Richard Nixon; Aaron Angus; Kevin Inouye; Kevin Lawrence O'Donnell; Daniel Sheets; Paul Stober; Keith Tyree; J. Edgar Hoover; Lady Bird Johnson; Luci Baines Johnson; Winston Churchill; Orson Welles; Vernon Jarrett; Woodrow Wilson; Jean Strouse; Ronald Reagan; Tony Kushner; Peter Haydu; Ada Louise Huxtable; E.L. Doctorow; Joshua Freeman; Janeane Garofalo; Frederic Kimball; David Levering Lewis; David Margulies; Ron Silver; Gretchen Sullivan Sorin; John Kuo Wei Tchen; Dion Graham; Kevin R. Hershberger; Eric Stoltz; Duncan B. Putney; Jefferson Mays; Dan Rather; Nathaniel Philbrick; Jake Brennan; Hector Elizondo; Scott Glenn; James Avery; Carl Lumbly; Alfre Woodard; Henry Ford; Ruth Gruber; Timothy Sawyer; Hermann Göring; Ken Verdoia; Linda Emond; T.J. Stiles; David Blight; Kevin Murray; Al Lewis; Gene Smith; Robert Murphy; John Ellison Conlee; John Curless; Charles A. Lindbergh; Daniel Gerroll; Robert Jensen; Kara Jackson; John Tebbel; Julia Morrison; Frank Pando; Chet Hansen; Clem McCarthy; Thomas Coleman; Boyd Gaines; George Wallace; Robert Redford; Vyacheslav Molotov; Nicholas Katzenbach; Herbert Hoover; William Howard Taft; Roger Wilkins; Morgan Freeman; Lynda Bird Johnson Robb; Morley Safer; George Reedy; Lois Smith; John Connally; Ronnie Dugger; James Jarrell Pickle; Amy Madigan; Amelia Earhart; Kathy Bates; Victor Reuther; Muhammad Ali; Marcus Garvey; Joseph Stalin; Eleanor Roosevelt; Peter Bogdanovich; Walter LaFeber; Theodore Roosevelt; William Randolph Hearst; Hirohito; Ruth Abram; Ruth J. Abram; Bella Abzug; Ann Douglas; Frances Golden; Cheryl Greenberg; Nancy Grose; Margo Jefferson; Frank McCourt; Patrick McGrath; Frank Pellegrino; Anna Quindlen; Susan Sarandon; Martin Scorsese; Isaiah Sheffer; Christine Stansell; Ray Suarez; Randy Quaid; Michael Hagiwara; Jean Harvey Baker; David Herbert Donald; David E. Long; Donald Miller; Mary Genevieve Murphy; Mark E. Neely Jr.; Tim L. Smith; Charles B. Strozier; Linda Levitt Turner; Margaret Washington; Frank J. Williams; Douglas L. Wilson; Marion Ross; Steve Acevedo; Ray Baker; Harry Bulkeley; Jude Ciccolella; Alex Ingram; Derek Nelson; Peter Parks; Ellen Wilson; Alan Francis; Ted Garland; John Meaney; Michele Proude; Donald Watson; Rena Baskin; Jesse Owens; Marlene Dietrich; Henry Kissinger; Will Le Bow; Liberace; Patricia Cunningham; Oscar Goodman; Brian Greenspun; Bryant Gumbel; Dave Hickey; Jimmy Hoffa; Paul Horn; Howard Hughes; Paul Laxalt; Nicholas Pileggi; Hal Rothman; David Thomson; Dina Titus; Elaine Wynn; Steve Wynn; William F. Cody; Bernhard Seifert; Lewis D. Wheeler; Terryl Givens; Marlin K. Jensen; Leslie Karsten; Emily Lodish; Richard Mouw; Margaret Toscano; Chris Cooper; Philip J. Deloria; R. David Edmunds; Wes Studi; Jason Alan Carvell; Alan Davis; Matthew Gooley; Shawn Everett Jones; William Kaffenberger; Robert Lucas Nelson; Matt Nicholas; Roger Novak; Melissa Panos; Jon Douglas Rainey; Bart Fletcher; Daniel Brown; Ted Otis; Kilon Bauno; Ruby Dee; Kyle MacLachlan; Richard Dreyfuss; Michael Burgess; Toni Cade Bambara; Hal Linden; Ron Tough; Cherry Jones; John Nash; Simon Schama; Russ Little; Will Patton; Jackson Walker; Aubrey Daniel; John Smitherman; Ron Vawter; Patrick Jordan; Peter Francis James; Edward A. Askew; Robert Hall; CHARLES LORING BRACE IV; Anna Deavere Smith; Julia Álvarez; Phil Roberts; Seabiscuit; Michael Bortin; Christopher Kraft; Marilyn Spanier; Phil Stewart; Colm Feore; Guy Gane; Carl Spaatz; Fred Widmer; Annelise Orleck; Michael Rutter; Bart Whiteman; Jennifer Lee Dake; Donald Chambers; John C. Ausland; Elton Fax; MATT CARLSON; David Lowe; Sarah Banet-Weiser; Barbara Feldon; Stephen Benson; Fred Gamst; Laura Hillenbrand; Timothy Findley; Susan Borman; Ken Coates; Gillian Cookson; Kanalu Young; Bob Ader; Simon Russell Beale; Fred Chiaventone; Mary Bacon; Clint Jordan; Jason Roberts; Tami Davis Biddle; Lawrence La Croix; Denise Chávez; Richard A. Greenwald; Lois Brown; Steven Watts; Robert Fields; Charles King; Scott Whitehurst; Joe Bacile; Pearl Bowser; Dan Desmond; Suzannah Lessard; Margaret Cho; Wendell Huffman; Farrell Jones; Sean McGuirk; Dan Grove; Charles Hendricks; David Edward Stannard; William Jackson; Scott Klavan; Samuel Barnett; Joanna Merlin; Alexander Fedorchak; Conrad Crane; Greg Olsen; David Von Drehle; Michael Wallis; Manisha Sinha; Douglas Brinkley; Gerald Kolpan; Adolph Mall; Geoffrey S. Barkway; Carlton Moss; MOIRA DRISCOLL; Paula Uruburu; Kimberly Clarice Aiken; Mark Carver; Norah Christianson; Ludlow Kramer; Bernard Finn; Haunani-Kay Trask; Heath Twichell; James Barbour; Robert Jackson; Christopher Phillips; Virginia Scharff; Gerry Bamman; Richard Biermann; Garman Bowers; Max Hastings; Jo Ann E. Argersinger; John M. Staudenmaier; Marty McDonough; Denise Burse; Sid Berger; Frances E. Williams; Anthony Fusco; Ric Ferentz; David Haward Bain; Sean Fitzgerald; Red Pollard; John Lester; Cobey Black; Andrew Chaikin; Donard De Cogan; William Griggs; Tom Goodrich; Whitney Harris; Shirl Kasper; Lauren Bloom; Veronica James; Michael E. Brown; Jörg Friedrich; John Smail; Steven Fraser; Mark Lee Gardner; James Brewer Stewart; Nancy F. Koehn; Thom Hatch; Wayne Dehart; Ralph Bennett; Dorothy Delfs; Susan Gordon-Clark; William Goldman; Vicki Gold Levi; Carol Bowers; Billy Connor; Colin Hempstead; John M. Logsdon; Ah Quon McElrath; Deb Goodrich; Martha Minnow; Mary Zeiss Stange; Carl Nubile; Gregory Labenz; Michael Bilton; Arthur Harris; Frederick Nolan; Julie Roy Jeffrey; Greg Grandin; Thom Ross; Scott Edson; Dale Wright; Bill Bowdidge; Olive Delfs; Rachel Miner; Leonard Horn; Ken Cheeseman; Stanley Hirshson; Jack Whitaker; Jerry Bostick; John MacKay; Kay Napoleon; Hayward Oubre; John Barrett; Michael Gooch; R.L. Wilson; William Buser; Kenneth Hodges; Keith Lowe; Drew Gomber; W. Caleb McDaniel; Hasia Diner; Anne Meadows; Ted McAdams; Cleveland Troy Simmons III; Felix P. Branham; Shingzie Howard; Amber Scott; Sue Fawn Chung; James Devon; War Admiral; John Bollin; Siobhan C. Edmondson; Glynn Lunney; Michael McColl; Benjamin Ferencz; Cathy M. Jackson; Don B. Wilmeth; Jeremiah Hornbaker; Ralph Giordano; Thomas Turner; N. Scott Momaday; David Grubin; Stephen Ives; Ric Burns; Barak Goodman; Adriana Bosch; Austin Hoyt; Rob Rapley; Robert Stone; Elizabeth Deane; James A. DeVinney; Chana Gazit; Mark Zwonitzer; Stanley Nelson; John Maggio; David Espar; Randall MacLowry; Sarah Colt; Rocky Collins; Marilyn Mellowes; Mark Davis; Robert Kenner; Ben Loeterman; Paul Stekler; Patricia Garcia Rios; Thomas Lennon; Orlando Bagwell; Christine Lesiak; Nancy Porter; Thomas Ott; David Steward; Lisa Ades; Carl Byker; Peter Jones; Chris Eyre; Cathleen O'Connell; Callie T. Wiser; Irv Drasnin; Neil Goodwin; Edward Gray; Phillip Whitehead; Michael Epstein; Linda Garmon; Mel Bucklin; Sue Williams; Llewellyn M. Smith; Daniel McCabe; Joseph Tovares; Mitch Wilson; Gail Dolgin; Vicente Franco; Michael Chin; Dave Pearce; Muffie Meyer; Helen Whitney; Sheila Curran Bernard; Madison D. Lacy; Louis J. Massiah; Terry Kay Rockefeller; Susan Bellows; Jon Blair; Frank J. De Meo; Robert Drew; Pat Ferrero; Craig B. Fisher; George T. Nierenberg; Anthony Potter; Martha Sandlin; Kenneth Levis; Ann Tegnell; Tom Weidlinger; Patchy Wheatley; Lise Yasui; Lance Bird; John Crowley; Tom Johnson; Robert Levi; Jacqueline Shearer; Mark Bussler; Michael R. Lawrence; David Sutherland; Hector Galan; Helaine Head; Tom Spain; Charlotte Zwerin; Charles Guggenheim; Marty Ostrow; Steven Ascher; Janet Graham; Jeanne Jordan; John W. Walter; Connie Field; Marilyn Mulford; David Dugan; Karen Goodman; Mickey Hart; Bill Kreutzmann; Kirk Simon; Richard P. Rogers; Margaret Drain; Sarah Holt; Laurel Ladevich; Lexy Lovell; Stephen Stept; Michael Uys; Mark Anderson; Freida Lee Mock; Terry Sanders; Michael Simkin; Daniel Anker; Ricki Green; Bill Duke; Andrea Kalin; Annie Mumgaard; Mark Samels; Eric Stange; Laurie Kahn; Marian Marzynski; Noland Walker; M Pink Christofalo; Kathy Conkwright; Kevin Kertscher; Tracy Heather Strain; Riva Freifeld; Lutz Hachmeister; Michael Kloft; Hilary Klotz Steinman; Ilan Ziv; Peter Adler; Alexander Berkel; Stefan Mausbach; John Rubin; Caroline Toth; Axel Engstfeld; Samuel D. Pollard; Bernardo Ruiz; Dustinn Craig; Peter Miller; Carlos Sandoval; Zvi Dor-Ner; Kate Davis; Bill Guttentag; David Heilbroner; Dan Sturman; Jamila Wignot; Aisiyuak Yumagulov; DAVID BELTON; Laurens Grant; Tim Toidze; Michelle Ferrari; Rory Kennedy; Geoffrey C. Ward; Emma Lazarus; Paul Taylor; Steve Fayer; Ronald Blumer; Marcia Smith; Henry Hampton; Martin Smith; Ken Chowder; Carl Charlson; Nick Davis; Dan T. Carter; Robert McDonnell; John Mora; David Mrazek; Lonon F. Smith; Douglas Varchol; David Axlerod; Jane Barnes; Sharon Grimberg; Jill Jonnes; Tom Jennings; Helen Ashton; Beth Ferris; Eric Sevareid; Mark Obenhaus; Eudora Welty; Elizabeth Dean; Richard Snow; Julian Krainin; William Martin; Peter Cook; Avon Kirkland; Richard Kluger; John McGreevey; Steve Bagwell; Clyde Taylor; Michael Chandler; Michael J. Moore; Pierre Berton; Ian Bodenham; Vivian Ducat; Richard Ellison; Elena Mannes; Bruce Palling; Andrew Pearson; Susan Steinberg; Judith Vecchione; Judy Crichton; Laurel Ulrich; Richard Rhodes; James Sanders; Bill Lattanzi; David Mzarek; Andrew Ward; Christine Zurbach; John M. Barry; Michael Beschloss; Kay Boyle; Andrew Carroll; Ken Emerson; Randy MacLowry; Lou Potter; Melissa Banta; David Margolick; Mary Makley; David Maraniss; Allen Rucker; Arthur Gelb; Barbara Gelb; Robin Marantz Henig; Matthew Avery Sutton; Stephen Fitzmeyer; Raymond Arsenault; David Carter; Tess Gadwa; Max George; Bertrand M. Patenaude; Drew Gilpin Faust; A. Brad Schwartz; Deborah Blum; Mark Bailey; David Cunningham; Timothy Egan; Keven McAlester; David Murdock; Sheila Rothman; Candice Millard
• Director: David Grubin
• Runtime: 1:00
• Company: WGBH Boston Video, PBS Video
• Media Format: Series