A number of people have asked me over the past year or so when the documentary will be finished, and I believe now the end is in sight. I have marked 2024 as the year when we will finish production (filming) and then set about the task of post-production. If you’re not sure how all … More Update #11: First Filming Trips Of 2024 & Ending The Production Phase Of The Project
Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, across the Cooper River from the charming city of Charleston, is the home of the USS Yorktown (CV-10), “The Fighting Lady,” an Essex-class, WWII-era aircraft carrier that is a sister-ship to the USS Franklin and now serves as a museum. She holds the largest display and collection of USS Franklin (CV-13) artifacts as part … More Update #10: Visiting The USS Franklin Exhibit At The USS Yorktown Museum
At the recent USS Franklin reunion in Corpus Christi, attendees had the opportunity to see Donald Gary’s Medal of Honor which was brought to the reunion by Gary’s grandson, Mark Todd. In discussing the medal, Stephen Rausch wondered where Father Joseph T. O’Callahan’s Medal of Honor resided. I looked it up and found that it is stored … More Update #9: Father Joseph T. O’Callahan’s Medal of Honor
In October of 2022, during the cross-country trip from San Diego to Corpus Christi to move the USS Franklin memorial granite plaques from the USS Midway Museum to the USS Lexington Museum, we stopped along the way in Texas to interview Mark Todd, grandson of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. j.g. Donald Gary. In addition to sharing his story, Mark was … More Update #8: Lt. j.g. Donald Gary’s Letter
The 2023 USS Franklin reunion was held February 16-19 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Filming the reunion for the documentary was successful and captured some great moments for the film. On the first day of the reunion, author Glenn Ross, who is conducting research for a new book about the USS Franklin, allowed the film crew to document his … More Update #7: A brief recap of filming at the USS Franklin reunion in Corpus Christi, Texas
Dear friends of the USS Franklin documentary, We are just a couple days away from the USS Franklin reunion in Corpus Christi, Texas, and once again we will be filming for the documentary In the Shadow of the USS Franklin. We will have a similar production crew as with previous reunions: one director of photography (DP), two cinematographers, one sound … More Update #6: Preparing for filming at the reunion in Corpus Christi
Hello friends, I hope you all are well, had a great holiday season, and are starting 2023 on a good note. For me, unfortunately, I became caught up in the Southwest Airlines meltdown so things didn’t turn out as planned, but I was able to eventually spend time with my family in Illinois and I hope any travel … More Update #5: What’s new for the New Year
The road trip to deliver the USS Franklin memorial plaques from San Diego to their new home in Corpus Christi culminated with our arrival at the USS Lexington (CV-16) Museum on October 10th and an enthusiastic welcome from the staff and Angel Barnes – the host of the reunion coming up in February – and her husband Ray and … More Update #4: Delivering the memorial plaques to the USS Lexington, Corpus Christi, TX
In our last episode, we had been in historic Grants, NM to film the Ray family. After leaving Grants, we continued our trek east into Texas, first to Copperas Cove, located about an hour’s drive north of Austin. On October 8th, we had a fascinating interview with Mark Gary Todd, the grandson of Medal of … More Update #3: Grants, NM to Boerne, TX
The road trip we began in San Diego has been going well and we have seen incredibly beautiful scenery of the American Southwest along the way. On October 4th, Neal (camera) and I left San Diego and went to Yuma, Arizona and visited with an aunt and uncle of mine who live there. On October 5th, we went to Phoenix … More Update #2: San Diego, CA to Grants, NM