When she joined the Army, Shoshana Johnson figured that she’d “save some money, lose some weight, and come back home.”  It didn’t work out as planned: in her first month in Iraq, working as a cook in a maintenance unit, her convoy took a wrong turn and she was wounded and captured, becoming the first Black American woman to be held as a POW.  But her captivity was only the beginning.

For more powerful memories from veterans, visit<a href="http://pbs.org/American" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/</a>, where you can also watch the American Veteran television series and digital short films. Learn more by using #AmericanVeteranPBS.

When she joined the Army, Shoshana Johnson figured that she’d “save some money, lose some weight, and come back home.” It didn’t work out as planned: in her first month in Iraq, working as a cook in a maintenance unit, her convoy took a wrong turn and she was wounded and captured, becoming the first Black American woman to be held as a POW. But her captivity was only the beginning. For more powerful memories from veterans, visit https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/, where you can also watch the American Veteran television series and digital short films. Learn more by using #AmericanVeteranPBS.

When she joined the Army, Shoshana Johnson figured that she’d “save some money, lose some weight, and come back home.” &nbsp;It didn’t work out as planned: in her first month in Iraq, working as a cook in a maintenance unit, her convoy took a wrong turn and she was wounded and captured, becoming the first Black American woman to be held as a POW.&nbsp; But her captivity was only the beginning.

For more powerful memories from veterans, visit<a href="http://pbs.org/American" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/</a>, where you can also watch the American Veteran television series and digital short films. Learn more by using #AmericanVeteranPBS.

That Day

In war and in peace, what veterans have done in America’s name is woven into the fabric of the American story. The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/">PBS series, American Veteran</a>, illuminates their experiences with a stunning range of veterans’ voices, presented in a 9-part podcast.Each episode revolves around the direct testimony of a single veteran - from a Coast Guard gunner’s mate who manned a landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, to an Army cook in Iraq who became the first Black American woman held as a POW; from an Army nurse in Vietnam who struggled to do her part to a satellite technician who served as a gay man during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era. This collection of riveting first-person stories provides a compelling portrait of the veteran experience over multiple generations.The series is hosted by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran featured in the “American Veteran” television series and author of the National Book Award-winning collection of short stories, “Redeployment.”

History

In war and in peace, what veterans have done in America’s name is woven into the fabric of the American story. The PBS series, American Veteran, illuminates their experiences with a stunning range of veterans’ voices, presented in a 9-part podcast. Each episode revolves around the direct testimony of a single veteran - from a Coast Guard gunner’s mate who manned a landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, to an Army cook in Iraq who became the first Black American woman held as a POW; from an Army nurse in Vietnam who struggled to do her part to a satellite technician who served as a gay man during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era. This collection of riveting first-person stories provides a compelling portrait of the veteran experience over multiple generations. The series is hosted by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran featured in the “American Veteran” television series and author of the National Book Award-winning collection of short stories, “Redeployment.”

In war and in peace, what veterans have done in America’s name is woven into the fabric of the American story. The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/american-veteran/" rel="noopener noreferrer">PBS series, American Veteran</a>, illuminates their experiences with a stunning range of veterans’ voices, presented in a 9-part podcast.Each episode revolves around the direct testimony of a single veteran - from a Coast Guard gunner’s mate who manned a landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, to an Army cook in Iraq who became the first Black American woman held as a POW; from an Army nurse in Vietnam who struggled to do her part to a satellite technician who served as a gay man during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era. This collection of riveting first-person stories provides a compelling portrait of the veteran experience over multiple generations.The series is hosted by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran featured in the “American Veteran” television series and author of the National Book Award-winning collection of short stories, “Redeployment.”

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