Tell America TV
Produced by James E. Yaney in 2005
Thanks to the generous efforts of several people, we have made portions of the Tell America television programs, which were produced by James E. Yaney and aired on the Ft. Wayne, Indiana-based Access TV in 2005-2007, available below.
Jim Yaney's programs appeared monthly on Channel 57 for three years in the Ft. Wayne area to a growing audience of viewers. The public access station has been very supportive and helpful in making this one of their best rated shows on their station. It required countless hours of work by Jim and his staff, but they gained expertise and experience with the productions. The staff at the TV station worked in conjunction with our former KWVA webmaster, Jim Doppelhammer, to upload the videos to YouTube so they could be made available here.
At Larry Kincaid's request, Jim Yancy supplied the following background information on how his program evolved into a very well accepted part of local television in Ft. Wayne, Indiana:
The staff members of the Tell America television program were asked to make a pilot film which would be seen over Comcast Cable TV in October 2005, for possible acceptance by the TV viewers. After the first presentation, I was encouraged by Mr. Robert Irie, station manager, to come in and sign a contract with Access TV as the producer of the show. In doing so, I wrote scripts, presented the programs, and was responsible for its contents. I felt I was taking on a tremendous responsibility.
On October 25, 2005, Tell America made its debut on Comcast Cable TV on Channel 55. Later on in January, 2006, our program was being seen by more viewers than expected so they put us on a channel that everyone watches which was Channel 57 at prime time 7 pm every other Wednesday. Our programs have grown, since then, from 14,000 viewers to over 100,000, and we are now going into our third year of production with no end in sight.
At the start of 2007, Verizon FIOS, the national telephone company fiber optic division, formed another TV network and asked Access TV for permission to present our Tell America program on their network. Permission was granted by Access TV, and now we are being seen by two networks and with the current link with YouTube being viewed internationally on the Internet.
It was my job to find a special staff that would enhance the program status, so I decided to give the program some diversity in order that people would know that we represent all veterans of the 20th century. I interviewed several veterans and found five who would participate in our TV program and our school visitation program. Those five volunteers are: Dale Parish and William Hullinger, Korean veterans of the X Corps and Chosin Reservoir, and John Pequignot and Gilbert Hoeppner, recipients of the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Silver Star from WWII.
Our programs open by presenting news from our organization, information about our comrades who have been returned to this country for burial from Korea, and a commentary that is befitting of our great organization. We feature thirty minutes of subject matter concerning the Korean War, such as the Inchon Landing, the Pusan Perimeter, and the Chosin Reservoir. We also show a number of features recognizing Medal of Honor recipients including Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, Col. James Stone, Cpl. Ronald Rosser, Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura, and Cpl. Duane Dewey. We look forward to many more years of similar documentation and programs.
We are well accepted by our peers and our viewing audience here at Access TV, and for that, we are honored. God permitting, one of our future goals is to get the program on a national television network.
On October 30, 2007, we celebrated our second anniversary on TV with a two hour show that was televised and shown on local TV. KWVA director Chris Yanacos, Indiana State Senator Dillon and several other noted veterans attended the show.
We are proud of where we started and where we are going. I must credit Larry Kinard for getting me to focus on what was to be my future work in sharing that FREEDOM IS NOT FREE and that I am no longer one of the veterans of a forgotten war.
As you can see from Jim Yaney's report, Tell America was an important program. And here is an official note of thanks from the KWVA:
We thank Ft. Wayne Access TV station manager, Robert Irie, assistant station manager, Erik Mollberg, and the station staff for all their support for the Korean War Veterans' Tell America Program. We'd also like to thank Jim Doppelhammer who is making this happen on the KWVA website through his technical expertise. They are giving Korean War veterans a major boost and an excellent opportunity by allowing us to tell the story in the cyberspace world that indeed there was a Korean War and that we were successful in stopping Communist aggression there fifty plus years ago.
Sincerely,
Larry Kinard
Director of Operations
KWVA Tell America Program
Iwo Jima - Discussion with veterans Jim Yaney, John Pequignot and William Hullinger about Iwo Jima. (09:08)
Tell America 2nd Anniversary Show - This clip contains a short interview with some of Fort Wayne, Indiana Korean War veterans. (07:05)
Veterans of the Chosin Reservoir - A short discussion with several Fort Wayne, Indiana Korean War veterans about their experiences during the war. (07:37)
The Chosin Few and the Virginia Schools - This is a short clip of a discussion between four Korean war veterans about their experience at the Chosin Reservoir. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was a battle in the Korean War, in which 30,000 United Nations troops (nicknamed the "Frozen Chosin" or "The Chosin Few") under the command of American General Douglas MacArthur faced approximately 120,000 Chinese troops. (09:42)
The Inchon Landing in Korea - A short clip from an hour-long show with local Fort Wayne, Indiana veterans talking about their experience during the Battle of Incheon. (10:08)
100 Missions over Korea - A short clip of a two-hour episode. This clip has John Pequignot (a WWII vet) talking about one of his experiences on Iwo Jima. (06:02)