WGBH – American Experience: The Great War 1918

THE GREAT WAR 1918 is part of The American Experience series produced by PBS. These shows originally aired on PBS. If I am not mistaken, THE GREAT WAR 1918 aired in either 1990 or 1991. This documentary is about 55 minutes long. It begins with an introduction by David McCullough. The strength of the film comes from two types of sources: original film reels and interviews with those who fought in WWI. As David McCullough has pointed out before (but not on this video) history is made real when we know the people who were there; it is their stories that bring history to life. It is debatable whether the American Civil War or WWI was the first modern war. I’d argue that WWI was because it took place on a global scale and this film does a wonderful job at illustrating at exactly how devastating that conflict was. The documentary follows the war from the time the U.S. originally entered the conflict in the fall of 1917 until the signing of the Armistice in November of 1918. I really enjoy listening to the survivors tell part of there stories. One that sticks out to me is the one when this elderly man is recalling when a fellow soldier came in contact with mustard gas; the soldier clawed himself to death in front of his buddy’s eyes. An image like that will always stay with you and I’ll know I’ll always think about that story whenever WWI is mentioned and discussed.