Introduction

American Experience, originally titled ‘The American Experience’, is an American television programme and a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) documentary series created by Peter McGhee.

Outline

In October 1967, history turned a corner. In a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion, prompting some in power to question whether the war might be unwinnable. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiralled out of control, marking the first time that a campus anti-war demonstration had turned violent.

From Robert Kenner, director of the groundbreaking film Food, Inc., Two Days in October tells the emotionally wrenching parallel stories. The film features firsthand accounts from the people whose lives were irrevocably changed by what happened – American and Viet Cong soldiers, relatives of men killed in battle, protesting students, police officers, and university faculty and administrators. Collectively, their words speak to the heartbreak caused by the war and the stark division it wrought on the home front. Two Days in October is based on the book They Marched Into Sunlight, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss.

American Experience Series

A full list of the American Experience Series can be found here.

Production & Filming Details

• Creators: Peter McGhee, Henry Hampton, and Stephen Fitzmeyer.
• Production: PBS, WGBH-TV and WNET.
• Release Date: 17 October 2005 (US).
• Running time: 60 to 120 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

YouTube Link