Expanding our “Virginians at War” Documentary Film Catalog

The Virginia War Memorial Foundation continues to expand the catalog of its Virginians at War Documentary Film Series. This award-winning film series includes 26 films, telling the stories of military and cultural history through firsthand accounts from veterans and families.

They are available online via Vimeo and YouTube at no cost and distributed to schools across Virginia with accompanying lesson plans. The films are typically between twenty to thirty minutes, allowing them to fit into a classroom schedule, and bridge the gap between third-person textbook entries and first-person participant accounts.

Our 2022 documentary, Known but to God: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, marked the 2021 centennial of this beloved American monument at Arlington National Cemetery. It was debuted at the “Walkway of Honor” breakfast reception last Memorial Day.

Our 2023 documentary, One Week in October, will focus on the 40th anniversary of the week in 1983 that included two fateful events: the bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut and the U.S. invasion of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Both of these events occurred within days of one another and are infrequently highlighted in conversations about 20th Century U.S. military history. Thirteen Virginians were killed in these conflicts. They are memorialized on our Shrine of Memory.

To produce these films, we are collaborating with PBS Blue Ridge, which will air the completed documentary in the Blue Ridge region this fall and make it available in other regions via streaming
service.

Interviews and oral histories with Virginia Veterans who participated in these events are already underway.