Missouri news

A new Ozarks Public Television documentary, which makes its television debut this week

KSMU | By Ben Verstraete

Published March 27, 2024 at 6:33 AM CDT

One of the monuments visited in <i>In Gratitude</i> is the Korean War Veterans Memorial, pictured here. — One of the monuments visited in *In Gratitude* is the Korean War Veterans Memorial, pictured here.

In Gratitude: Honor Flight of the Ozarks covers the history of the titular non-profit, and follows a group of veterans as they take a one-day trip to the nation's Capitol.

The trip is a one-day affair: Participants, including the documentary crew, arrived at the airport at 2 a.m., flew out at 5 a.m. and flew back at 9 p.m. As a result, most of the veterans used a wheelchair by the end of the expedition.

One of the challenges of the film’s production was not knowing who the main subjects of the documentary would be going into the day of the honor flight.

“Going into it not knowing what we needed to shoot for the interviews, because we hadn’t done them yet, it was just shoot as much as we can and get everything that we could," said Brent Ferber, producer.

The film will air Thursday night, March 28, at 8 and Monday night, April 1, at the same time. More information on the OPTV website.