Georgia’s American Journey – 10 Good Men Documentary

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Warner Robins-based production team is preparing to debut a new documentary that preserves the stories of some of the last surviving World War II B-17 veterans.

The film includes restored and colorized archive footage and narration from Emmy Award-winning voice actor Dan Nachtrab.

Director Trent Jones said the project began after the production team interviewed a World War II veteran in 2022.

“One day, we were given the opportunity to interview an actual World War II veteran,” Jones said. “This was in late 2022, and he was 98 years old at the time. When we interviewed him and told his story, it got hundreds of thousands of views.”

Jones said the team quickly realized there was limited time left to document the stories of aging veterans.

“It wasn’t something, though, that we could sit around and plan,” Jones said. “These veterans, on average, are 98 to 103 or 104 years old, and so with that knowledge, we knew, ‘Hey, if we are going to interview more of these guys, if we’re going to tell their stories, we’ve got to do it now.’”

The filmmakers spent nearly three years locating surviving B-17 veterans and recording their stories.

“We found any of the last surviving veterans that we could find,” Jones said. “In particular for this project, we put together the interviews of all of the veterans who flew on this aircraft, the B-17 Flying Fortress into a compelling 85-minute documentary that tells the story of the aircraft and the men who flew it.”

Jones said many of the veterans rarely spoke publicly about their wartime experiences.

“Some of them just basically live without telling people what they did,” Jones said. “They might go to your church, and nobody knows that that guy flew 25 missions over Germany during World War II.”

The documentary also highlights emotional stories shared by the veterans during filming.

“One of the B-17 pilots is telling us a story, and an aircraft right in front of his in the formation takes a hit by enemy fire,” Jones said. “It explodes, and it goes right underneath their aircraft. Their ball turret gunner, who’s underneath the bomber, says, ‘What was that?’ because it just went right underneath them. The pilot says, ‘That was Jim.’ What does he have to do? He moves up and takes his spot in the formation and just keeps going on. Moments like that were really emotional.”

Cinematographer Joshua Profit said hearing the stories firsthand changed his perspective on World War II.

“Got the opportunity to film some of these vets, and my eyes were immediately opened, right?” Profit said. “Because you learn about World War II in school, and you learn how gruesome war is, what we were fighting for as America, how we were brought into it because we were literally attacked on our own soil at Pearl Harbor. But when you talk to somebody who has firsthand experience, then it really opens your eyes.”

The filmmakers say the documentary is intended to preserve the stories and sacrifices of veterans for future generations.

“Make something that people could consume, could watch, could experience together that taught them about the men who sacrificed everything so that we could be free today, but present it in a compelling and moving way that is truthful, that is accurate, and that does these men and their story justice,” Jones said.