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USO - For The Troops | Veterans Special

Veternans Day 2016
Courtesy of Partisan Pictures
/
PBS
The stars and crew of the Spring 2016 USO tour pose upon returning to the USA after their 8-day, 7-country tour.

Mon. Nov. 7 at 9pm on WKAR-HD 23.1 | Examine the ways the USO has lifted the spirits of American service personnel for more than 75 years. 

Produced by Partisan Pictures and directed by Peter Schnall, with exclusive support from Johnson & Johnson, the film examines the history of the USO, which was formed in 1941 by President Roosevelt, who consolidated the functions of six separate groups into the United Service Organizations (USO).

The story of the USO and how it has kept military service personnel connected to family, home and country for more than seven decades is told against the backdrop of a recent USO tour that spanned seven countries in eight days.

USO – FOR THE TROOPS offers unprecedented access to the background operations that make it possible for celebrities to travel across the world to meet and perform for active duty troops. Interviews with celebrities who have been on USO tours, including Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch, Connie Stevens, country singer Craig Morgan, NFL player Charles Tillman, Miss America Betty Cantrell and others, are interspersed with moving first-person accounts.

The film also includes interviews from current and former veterans, historians who discuss the USO’s mission and the often-complicated cultural context within which they work, and comments from USO leaders as well as American leaders like former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
 

 

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