A Touching Look at Oklahoma’s Military Service in Both World Wars
Oklahoma City, OK — A Piece of Home is a new half-hour documentary from the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) which honors the lives of WWI and WWII soldiers from Oklahoma. The documentary is a part of OETA’s awardwinning Oklahoma history series, Back in Time. It is scheduled to premiere Thursday, January 9, at 7 p.m.
The documentary centers around Michael Beach of Maysville, Oklahoma. Beach is on a personal mission to leave a rose rock, the official state rock of Oklahoma, at the resting places of the many Oklahomans who gave their lives in the World Wars and who are buried overseas.
“We feel this is an important story of a man who recognized the sacrifice these young Oklahomans made,” said Robert Burch, producer of Back in Time. “They died so far away from home. Michael Beach sees the need to honor their memories and give a small bit of comfort to the families that have not been able to visit the graves themselves—letting them know that somebody cares.”
The documentary goes on to highlight the moving stories of several Oklahoma soldiers: Earl McKissick of Dewey, OK (WWI), Joseph Oklahombi, the most decorated Oklahoman of WWI, William Wilson of Shattuck, OK (WWI), Ruben Rivers of Tecumseh, OK (WWII Congressional Medal of Honor recipient) and William Verdo Hooker of Broken Bow, OK. Dr. Bob Blackburn, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, provided historical context throughout the documentary.
The program will air Thursday, January 9 at 7 p.m., Thursday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, January 30 at 7 p.m. Additionally, the program will be available to stream online at OETA.tv/pieceofhome and through the PBS app starting Friday, January 10.
About OETA
OETA provides essential educational content and services that inform, inspire and connect Oklahomans to ideas and information that enrich our quality of life. We do this by consistently engaging Oklahomans with educational and public television programming, providing educational training and curriculum, outreach initiatives and online features that collectively encourage lifelong learning. For more information about education curriculum and programs, local productions, digital television, community resources and show schedules explore OETA.tv.