Telling the Stories of the Greatest Generation with Tim Gray

Air Dates: April 12-18, 2021

Stories from the Second World War continue to educate, fascinate, and even entertain audiences around the world. Tim Gray tells those stories to educate a new generation about the horrors of war and the heroism of the generation that saved the free world.

Gray is a national award-winning documentary film director, producer and writer who has produced and directed 17 documentary films on the personal stories of the World War II generation. His latest film is “Surrender on the USS Missouri,” which focuses on the individuals who served on the ship and witnessed the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, which ended World War II.  All of Gray’s films air nationally on American Public Television and globally in China, Australia, France and England.  In 2012, his World War II Foundation dedicated the Richard D. Winters Leadership Monument in Normandy, France, honoring American leadership on D-Day and approved by the late Major Richard D. Winters of WWII’s Band of Brothers.  The foundation oversaw all the fundraising for the thirteen-foot statue and organized the dedication event in France, attended by the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Gov. Tom Ridge. Prior to documentary film making, Gray worked as a television sports and news anchor and reporter for over fifteen years in U.S. markets including Michigan, Washington State, Florida, New York and Rhode Island.

On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Gray says the Second World War still resonates with many Americans because “they look at that time [as one where young and old] came together and there was one goal and we were a team and I think that’s something that’s definitely lacking today.”

“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.